Help naming my third child please!!!

[Sunshine28]

Hi! We are expecting our third baby at the end of November and are really stuck for names. We already have two boys who have quite traditional names and would like something a little different / more usual for this one (but not too 'out there' either). We don't know the gender. Here's our shortlist. Would love to get your thoughts and any other suggestions you may have too please?

Girls:

1. Matilda
2. Ember
3. Lara

Boys:

1. Arlo
2. Rafferty (shortened to Raffy)
3. Charlie (not unusal, I know, but I do like it...)

Thanks!

I like Lara, Matilda and Charlie

Any of them apart from Ember

Lara or Charlie are lovely names.

Ember, no, it's 'a small piece of burning or glowing wood or coal in a dying fire'. Amber is quite nice. Matilda is overdone these days.

Arlo, hmm, seems to be getting popular, to me it's just a bit odd and I don't see the appeal. Rafferty, no just sounds like a posh thief or conman, not sure where I'm getting that from! It's a surname, anyway.

I like Lara and Matilda. Prefer Amber to Ember.

Other girls names that are traditional come a little different

Amelie
Maddison (Maddy)
Phoebe
Aylissa

Or what about Charlotte and she could be Charlie/Charley.

Boys I like Charlie.

Also

Sebastian (Seb)
Matthew (Matty)
Jackson (Jack)

Lara, Matilda and Charlie (would use Charles in case adult wants to use a more grown up name).

I love Charlotte also.

Ember / Arlo

Matilda and Rafferty

Florrie ( flo or flossy)

Lara and Charlie or Rafferty for me. Don’t like Ember or Arlo at all.

Matilda is the only one I like (love it). Lara is OK.
The boys' names aren't 'unusual', they're faddy and of-the-moment. They'll date him.

Matilda or Lara. Ember to me is something in a fire.

Charlie is good.
Not so keen on the other ones.

Matilda is a nice name but there's are lots around right now. It's a name that crops up at school and ea h activity we do at the moment so definitely not unusual. There's a lot of different shortening so it's worth being sure you're happy for it to become Tilly/Tilda/Mattie etc too as it's rarely a name that stays long ime.

I really don't like Ember as it's the last bits of a fire which confers an odd meaning I think. Emma is traditional but not commonly used now though?

I prefer Laura to Lara but like Lara nonetheless.

We know of a few Arlos so not particularly unusual but also not ubiquitous. Easy to say and spell!

Rafferty is more likely to jar with some v traditional names I think but I love Raffy as a cute nickname. Not sure about it on a grown man though.

I really like Charlie and think it would go well with traditional names. It's well known but not massively in use here at the moment.

Laura is gorgeous and due a revival I think

Ember is terrible.

I know tons of Arlos. Absolutely loads. I feel like it'll be the most dated name ever in about five years. The Darren of the 2010s.

I know a few Embers.... I don't know where it's come from because up until about a year ago, I didn't even think it was a name. I don't like it. Stick with Amber or Emma.

Lara is sweet- I know about three.

Matilda is not unusual in my circles but I do think it's a nice name. I like Mattie rather than Tilly as a nn. I know one who gets called Tilda but it reminds me of the rice.

I know two Raffy's. One is Raphael and I don't know if the other is Rafferty or Raphael or just Raffy. I don't really like Rafferty, it reminds me of when I thought Jude Law and Sadie Frost were cool (their son is called this), which was a long time ago so I guess it feels a bit dated to me. Raffy is a cute little name though and I can see it suiting a little boy.

Charles/Charlie is nice and I don't actually know any but I guess it must be high up in the name charts?! It's a lovely name.

(I'm mentioning popularity because you e said you like unusual names. I don't think there's anything bad about popular names per se, although I do think it's unfortunate when people choose something that they think is unusual only to find it's a huge current trend)

Thank you so much for your replies! I'm still undecided but things are possibly becoming a bit clearer!!! Naming baby number three is way more difficult than I anticipated!

Arlo has got too popular for my tastes
Rafferty- I know a couple on my road
Matilda- Roald Dahl- all i associate with the name
Lara- a little popular
Ember- hmm not sure
Tough chooing number three.. we didn't finally decide until the day we were registering his birth!

Anyway Tobias...toby for short, Jemima, Jem for short, Heather, Jasper, Enzo, Sebastian,

I have a Rafferty so I'm biased. Love that it makes @Pemba think of a conman . He's a Raf rather than Raffy although sometimes a Rafa to MIL. Have only met one other Rafferty so far of a similar age.

Lara was my top girl's name so I'd go for that for a girl.

Rafferty is nice but raffy sounds like a dog.

Matilda & Charlie

Love Rafferty, I know one nn Rafa
Love Lara

Casper
Finlay
Sofia
Erin

Peter

Lara and Charlie.

Clara?

Rafferty is fab. Know a couple. Charlie to me is cheeky and naughty but I think that's because of the ones I know!