Opinions on our list please

[zazie7]

Hi, I am 18 weeks pregnant with our first baby and struggling with names. I used to love thinking about names in the abstract before I was pregnant but it seems a lot more difficult now there is a real baby to name! Would appreciate any suggestions as well for names in a similar style. Middle names would be Elizabeth or Thomas after family unless we decide to use these as first names.

Girls:
Clara
Matilda
Elizabeth (we would plan on using Elsa or Eliza as a nickname)
Josephine

Boys:
James
Thomas
Samuel
Benjamin
Theodore (Theo)

Any if these would be lovely. Great list!

I like Clara and Josephine.

I find the boys names a little dull/common in comparison.

Love Navy's suggestions of Lucinda, Cecily, Cassius and Magnus. Or how about Rufus or Quentin?

I have both an Eliza and a Josephine (Posey). They get loads of compliments. Elizabeth has plenty of nicknames too

My name is Elizabeth, so I'm slightly biased. I would just say, though, that it's likely she'll get Liz/Lizzy as a default nickname by a lot of people (I always have, despite my family either using my full name or calling me Liza, like Liza Minnelli).

I LOVE Josephine. Josie is so gosh darn cute.

Of your boys names... I can hardly choose a favourite. Samuel is the front runner on my own list, and James and Thomas were both considerations. I've known a couple of Theo's born lately, so if popularity is something you're trying to avoid, that might be something to consider? Overall, I do have a soft spot for Thomas and Samuel... but I love the nickname Jimmy (James). Sorry, that was no help at all.

I LOVE Josephine. Josie is so gosh darn cute.

Liz09 got to agree with you there!

Clara Elizabeth is beautiful.
Boys names, from your list, Samuel then Theo.

Thank you so much for the comments and suggestions. NavyWhite, I really like Anna and William. I love Eleanor too but don't think it sounds right with Elizabeth.

Congrats on your pregnancy, katiegg!

Pipilangstrumpf, I know what you mean about the boys' names being more popular than the girls' names. I'd prefer something not as popular really but struggling to find something we both love further down the charts and would rather pick a common name we love than a less common name we are only lukewarm on. Boys' names do seem more difficult though.

Again thank you to everyone for the comments. We're not sharing our lists with friends and family so it's really good to get some external views!

For the girls...
Clara is nice, but I don't really like the others, Mathilda and especially Josephine are old sounding and not in a good way. Elizabeth is meh- if you choose Elsa or Eliza make those the actual name, as they are much prettier!

For the boys...
Thomas and Benjamin (but not shortened to 'Ben', bleurgh) are both ok, not so keen on the others.