How did you narrow down your name list

[newmummy0094]

Hi
We are having a baby girl soon and we have made a list of all the favourite names. The problem is we have 30 altogether and know idea how to narrow them down.

How did everyone narrow down there lists.

Wait until she's here. She won't 'look' like some of the names you like. IYKWIM.

Wrote the names down on bits of paper, folded them up, put them in a bowl and pulled them out until we found the name that suited him (poor soul was nameless for 6 weeks though).

Ignored our list and went with the midwife's suggestion.

Pull them out of a hat at random in groups of three. Chose the least favourite and discard it, or put it in a 'middle names' list and you will cut it down to 20. If you only keep your favourite (as in can most imagine using, or have always loved, or ticks all boxes etc) and discard the other two you will be down to 10. You could do this together, or separately, which will produce slightly different lists so you could keep only the 'shared' favs or find another system. Then wait til the baby is here and see what they 'look' like. I think that would be hard with 30 odd names but totally doable with 10.
Can you splash out on two middle names if there really are some names you are desperate to use?

Post them on here and ask for comments

@kenandbarbie
I have done that but didn't narrow it down.
This is the list and I would love your opinion.
1. Luna
2. Sky
3. Primrose
4. Daisy
5. Emmeline
6. Henriette
7. Fleur
8. Scarlet
9. Lottie
10. Polly
11. Lara
12. Laura
13. Lyra
14. Elke
15. Posy
16. Pansy
17. Clara
18. Levi
19. Lovi
20. Adaline
21. Alara
22. Elara
23. Rosalina
24. Leia
25. Adelaide
26. Primrose
27. Harbour
28. Esme
29. Elora
30. Alora

My top five from your list are:
Emmeline
Scarlet (I actually LOVE this spelling)
Clara
Adelaide
Esme

My bottom five from your list are:
Levi (this is a boy's name)
Lovi (this just sounds like 'lovey', like 'dear')
Alora
Harbour
Alara

Names on your list that are perfectly fine, just a bit overused or a bit dated, so I wouldn't pick them unless you absolutely LOVE them and nothing else:
Luna
Sky
Daisy

Names on your list that sound a bit babyish:
Daisy
Posy
Pansy

Names that sound made up:
Henriette: usually Henrietta
Levi: for a girl
Lovi
Adaline: usually Adeline
Alara
Elara
Rosalina
Harbour
Elora
Alora

Names which sound like product names not people:
Elora
Alora
Elara
Alara
Lovi

By the way, you have Primrose twice, so that's already narrowed your list down to 29!

@bridgetreilly
Thank you for spending so much time on this and for narrowing it down to 29

Personally I started with a name that would suit both a little girl and a woman that I would want taken seriously.

1.	Luna - dog's name 
2.	Sky - no
3.	Primrose - maybe
4.	Daisy - no again dogs name 
5.	Emmeline - yes
6.	Henriette - no, not even with the right spelling.  It's really harsh. 
7.	Fleur - no
8.	Scarlet - yes 
9.	Lottie - no, but yes to Charlotte 
10.	Polly - had a dolly that was sick sick sick - no
11.	Lara - yes
12.	Laura- yes
13.	Lyra - no. Old Italian currency and one c away from Lycra 
14.	Elke - no - very unfortunate if she was a bigger girl.  I wouldn't tempt fate. 
15.	Posy - no too babyish
16.	Pansy - see above 
17.	Clara - love it 
18.	Levi - no.  Boys name 
19.	Lovi - wot? No. 
20.	Adaline - no
21.	Alara - no
22.	Elara - No 
23.	Rosalina - yes
24.	Leia - no 
25.	Adelaide- no. I don't like place names 
26.	Primrose - duplicate 
27.	Harbour - are you in glue? Sorry I couldn't help it. No
28.	Esme - yes 
29.	Elora - no 
30.	Alora - no

1. Luna no 2. Sky no 3. Primrose ok 4. Daisy nice but popular 5. Emmeline lovely 6. Henriette lovely 7. Fleur sounds like bleurgh 8. Scarlet ok bit of its time 9. Lottie lovely as nn for Charlotte 10. Polly nice 11. Lara ok but a bit popular 12. Laura ok 13. Lyra no 14. Elke lovely 15. Posy ok 16. Pansy ok 17. Clara I think my fave from your list 18. Levi no 19. Lovi no 20. Adaline lovely 21. Alara no 22. Elara no 23. Rosalina lovely 24. Leia no 25. Adelaide no 26. Primrose ok 27. Harbour no 28. Esme lovely 29. Elora no 30. Alora no

Are you having a middle name? I'd write them all down with the surname and any middle names. Say them out loud a few times. Imagine how you'd feel saying it to someone else, at the doctor's for example, or shouting it at the park. Think about potential nicknames she could end up with for each name (eg Rosalina she could end up being called Rose, Rosa, Leena)

Check there aren't any dodgy initial combinations with middle name surname. (Like ASS, FFS, etc lol)

Tbh I struggled to find a few names I liked that much so don't know how you've managed to get 30 😂😂

Agree to think about her as an adult or teenager trying to navigate life as well as a cute little baby.

Also go to a park with DP and holler the names at each other from 20 feet away - something you will be doing when she is a toddler/child. Some will be ridiculous and easy to drop.

Also please don't name her Pansy.... That's a word people use to insult someone 🙈

For DS middle name DH and I separately ranked them from favourite to least favourite (1-10). We then used the name with the lowest "combined score" (my number three, his number four to score of 7 IYSWIM)

Both pick your top 5 separately and compare lists... Any the same become your new list. If none are the same then you both have to pick the top 3 together 🙂 Simples.

Had two names each time. DC1 was obviously more suited to the girl's name than the boy's name. The unused boy's name was also not used for DD2. Still love it.

Luna - no
Sky - maybe
Primrose - listing it twice won't make me like it
Daisy - I like it but many don't
Emmeline - no
Henriette - duckface
Fleur - yes but as a mn
Scarlet - maybe
Lottie - not unless short for Charlotte
Polly - yes
Lara - yes
Laura - too popular in the 1980s
Lyra - no. will date badly
Elke - reindeer
Posy - as a nn for Primrose maybe
Pansy - no
Clara - no
Levi - no.
Lovi - Just no.
Adaline - horrid
Alara - typo for Alarm?
Elara - No
Rosalina - No
Leia - No
Adelaide - Sydney?
Harbour - no
Esme - no
Elora - no
Alora - no

Adelaide is a girl's name not a place name!

I mean, obviously it is a place, but it is a place named after a person, not the other way round. You don't have to have any connection to the place to want to give your daughter that name. And it's a beautiful name - I like it much better than the German version Adelheid.

The OP has done three threads on this list now, I think...

"Lovi" is the result of the OP misreading some Latin... I'm not sure if any of the rests are misspellings too.

*Luna - no, who wants to be called Loo?
*Sky - no
7.Fleur - no rhymes with bleugh
10.Polly - no , a name for a great aunt
14.Elke - not a pleasant sound
15.Posy no will always be misheard as Rosie
16.Pansy no!
18.Levi a dogs name
27.Harbour just please no

What about Emma? That sounds my daughter’s name.

And..it’s the only one I picked

I love Clara

When DH and I were choosing a name for DS, we spent a day or 2 using each name when talking about the baby. It was a good way to sound out the names and think about them as belonging to an actual person if you see what I mean! It really helped us and one name definitely stuck - it wasn't my favourite to begin with, but the more I said it, the more I liked it and ultimately it was the name we chose.

Incidentally, I did comment on one of your other threads but I do still like Luna! It isn't a favourite on mumsnet but would definitely be on my shortlist if I ever had a girl.