Opinions on these lists please - least favourite, favourite etc

[ElmerTheElephant]

I already have a DD called Emma. All opinions welcome. Thanks !

Polly
Robyn
Henrietta
Ingrid
Alice
Margot
Mary
Faye
Margaret
Edith
Josephine
Meredith
Merryn
Tabitha

Lawrence
Rufus
Caspar
Wilfred
Elijah
Theodore
Hector
Rafferty
Ronan
Hugh

[emsyj]

Polly - went to school with a really sanctimonious, irritating, smug, vain Polly - which turns me off it.
Robyn - nice. Also went to school with a Robyn who was bright and sensible, if a bit dull.
Henrietta - a chicken's name
Ingrid - I want to like it, but it sounds awkward and harsh - has no 'flow'
Alice - really hate this name, worst name ever (ties with 'Grace' for this position) - just a personal feeling, no reason behind it.
Margot - my mum's name! Emma and Margot sound bizarre together to me as that's me and my mum... Quite a pretty name really, but will be shortened to 'Marg' (with a hard 'g') judging by my mum's experience.
Mary - boring. Never known a Mary who was pretty or interesting.
Faye - I know a really lovely Faye, so quite like this
Margaret - ugly, old lady name
Edith - my nan's name. Prefer Elsa or Elsie.
Josephine - a cat's name
Meredith - surname of a really scary family who lived near me growing up - much MUCH weirdness in that house (which smelled of wee)
Merryn - ok.
Tabitha - my favourite - would be my choice from your list. Has been on my list for both DDs but DH not keen unfortunately.

Lawrence - ok
Rufus - like this (but would use 'Rupert' myself - my favourite boys name)
Caspar - the friendly ghost
Wilfred - a cat's name
Elijah - a bit like Ingrid - sounds awkward and has no 'flow'
Theodore - a cat's name (again)
Hector - love this name (although it is a dog name) - my favourite from your list
Rafferty - hideous
Ronan - Keating - Urgh
Hugh - ok, but much prefer Hugo

[Sugarpiehoneyeye]

Emma and Alice
Emma and Josephine
Emma and Tabitha
Emma and Wilfred
Emma and Rafferty
Emma and Hugh

[Loyly]

Favorites: Ingrid and Hector
Least: Robyn and Ronan

[Farmerinthoseclothes]

Ronan and Hugh are my favourites, I think they are both great! And really wouldn't get your son beaten up at school

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Wow I'm surprised these names are so unpopular on this thread! They all come up all the time on here!

Today 16:47 ElmerTheElephant

My opinion:
Polly - not for me, I've only known mean ones
Robyn - love love love
Henrietta - bit stuffy
Ingrid - adore, edgy, but kickass
Alice - nice, safe, plain
Margot - like, edgy, bit kickass
Mary - not for me
Faye - bland
Margaret - OK if she's exclusively Maggie
Edith - like Edie
Josephine - like, love the awesome nn Jos.
Meredith - beautiful
Merryn - love it!
Tabitha - too twee for me

Lawrence - like it
Rufus - makes me think of a dog for some reason
Caspar - awesome
Wilfred - wet
Elijah - overused
Theodore - love but overused
Hector - absolutely not
Rafferty - but try hard
Ronan - like it
Hugh - bit stuffy, like Henrietta.

[0pti0na1]

My favourites from your list:

Alice
Mary
Edith
Josephine
Merryn

Rufus
Caspar
Wilfred
Elijah
Theodore

[user1474133568]

Faye
Ronan

[katemess12]

Favourites:

• Mary
  
• Edith
  
• Josephine
  

• Caspar
  
• Hugh
  

Least favourites:

• Robyn
  
• Henrietta
  
• Margot (I don't mind Margaret though)
  
• Merryn
  

• Rufus
  
• Elijah
  
• Hector
  
• Rafferty

[RalphSteadmansEye]

Of course your child won't get beaten up with those names, OP. I work in a fairly ordinary (mixed) comprehensive and we have several of each of those boys' names, except Rafferty and Hector, but I'm sure there'll be some coming through in the future - they're more common in smaller boys at the moment, I think.
My favourites from your list are Robyn, Faye, Margot and Josephine, plus Elijah, Hugh, Theodore and Lawrence. Of those, I think they all go with Emma, except for Margot which really doesn't really match in terms of vibe.

[RalphSteadmansEye]

(I actually also quite like Polly with Emma, even though I would usually think of it as a 'nickname' name.)

[RJnomore1]

I like ingrid abd margot.

I also like rufus abd rafferty.

[katemess12]

Rafferty and Hector certainly wouldn't go down well here in Australia, but the others are fine.

My best friend has a cousin (who lives in England) named Hector, and everyone still thinks his name is weird after 4 years. His brother is Edmund and that doesn't get the same reaction. But, considering he lives in England, I'm willing to consider that it gets a better reaction there!

[astormgivenflesh]

I like the shortened versions or nicknames for some of these; Maggie, Hatty (Henrietta)

Laurie, Theo and Rafe etc but not really keen on most of them my love. Many seem quite severe or staunch, esp for tiny babies! I know they grow fast but I always go for names that work at all ages or can be shortened

Alice is nice, Margot is ok but neither can be shortened well and think about when they have friends, they'll want nicknames!

[enchantmentandlove]

I love Alice and Polly - really pretty names
I don't personally like Ingrid so much

I love Theodore (Theo for short) and Elijah
I don't really like Rufus very much

An interesting list though

[JollyHockeyGits]

Polly - No, sorry. Bit too Malory Towers.
Robyn - Not a fan of this either
Henrietta - Nor of this one
Ingrid - Or this one... Sorry!
Alice - Yes, I like this one!
Margot - Pretty.
Mary - Pretty again
Faye - And again
Margaret - Not so much
Edith - Nope
Josephine - I just hear 'Not tonight, Josephine'
Meredith - I hear Kercher.
Merryn - Love this, go for this one!
Tabitha - Like this too.

Lawrence - Nice.
Rufus - Bit too posh for the likes of me.
Caspar - Nice.
Wilfred - Not nice.
Elijah - Lovely, don't understand why people think he'd be bullied for this.
Theodore - Not keen on this, though I love Theo.
Hector - Dislike this.
Rafferty - And this.
Ronan - Keating.
Hugh - It's ok.

[CrepeDeChineWag]

It's horses for courses isn't it OP? Someone on here thinks Margot is pretty. I think it's a harsh barky sort of name but maybe that's because I think of Margot Ledbetter from The Good Life.

Henrietta sounds like a total stuff shirt of a name to me but others like it.

Rafferty? Don't do it to the poor boy. Ditto Hector.

Polly I like, Alice is passable. The others are painful really with the possible exception of Mary which is just dull. Actually so is Alice.

Theo is ok but not Theodore. That's about it.

Whatever though, it's not like you're going for something ridiculous like Moonshine or Frangipan.

[CakeRattleandRoll]

I really like most of your girl's names. Favourites would be:
Josephine
Mary
Tabitha
Merryn
All of which would have been on our list for DD, but didn't go with surname, were already taken by close friends, etc.
(I would definitely associate the Robyn spelling with a girl and Robin with a boy.)

From your boy's list I like:
Rufus
Theodore
Caspar
Hector

[Spring2016]

My top picks from your lists.
Ingrid
Mary
Margaret
Tabitha

Lawrence
Rufus
Ronan
Hugh

[DramaAlpaca]

I adore Emma, it's my favourite name but I have boys so didn't get to use it.

From your list of girls' names I only like Alice, and IMO it's the only one that's in the same style as Emma.

From the boys' list, Hugh is OK and works with Emma. I also like Ronan, but I don't think it works with Emma as well.

[Buntysoven]

Really like your girl's names apart from Margaret and Ingrid with Merryn and Robyn as favourites. The boy's names not really my cup of tea apart from Rufus which is great.

[VforVienetta]

Favourites:
Margot, Edith, Meredith
Laurie nn for Lawrence, Caspar, Wilfred, Rufus

Not keen on: Tabitha, Henrietta, Elijah, Hugh, Theodore, Ronan

[GirlOverboard]

Favourites = Margot, Meredith, Tabitha, Rufus, Wilfred

Least favourites = Faye, Caspar, Hector, Rafferty, Ronan

[GoldFishFingerz]

Adore Josephine Lawrence rufus Wilfred

[Gypsiestar]

Margot and Hugh

[ElmerTheElephant]

Wow thanks for all the responses!

Just to mention some things. There is an Irish connection which is where Ronan came from. I also like Oisin (pronounced Ush-een) and Rory. Sort of like Patrick too. Ronan Keating was definitely not my inspiration!

Margaret I love. I would probably use the nn Maggie or Peggy which I think is really sweet for a little girl.

Mary; I love the (obvious) bible connection and also the Jane Austen connection as we already have an Emma. Elizabeth (as in Bennett) as a name is an absolutely not for personal reasons. Jane maybe?

Lawrence (Laurie) is because I love the name (and I prefer Lawrence to Laurence), but also because of Little Women which is another of my favourite books.

Wilfred was my grandfather's name, so it would be nice to honour him, but I will admit that I wouldn't be so keen to use it if I didn't love the name anyway!

I do think Alice possibly 'goes best' with Emma but also see some people have called it boring. I know some people think Emma is boring too (I don't of course), but I sort of see their point re Alice... It has the potential to be quite insipid where Emma is strong (IMHO).

I don't like "pretty" or "cute" names really (except with nns), so thank you to anyone who clarified that that's why they don't like some of the names as that kind of makes sense.

What is Polly a nn for btw? Pauline?

I think I'm struggling most with boy names as I don't like any of the classic Thomas, William, Jacob etc type names but don't like anything too modern either really. I love some biblical boy names like Jonah, Isaiah etc but think they don't go at all with Emma.