Can you please put on your judgy pants and tell me what you think?

[maimainomai]

Suggestions from my DH and I (those that neither of us hated / tossed out straight away).

More suggestions are also welcome. Thanks :)

Clarissa
Gemma
Katharina
Carlotta
Severina
Dora
Dana
Alma
Leta
Helena
Elena

Anton
Emil
Sebastian
Emmanuel
Immanuel
Julian
Severin
Boris
Florian
Louis
Erik
Julius
Dimitri
Max

@KateReddy

I feel like I know what trying too hard means but it doesn't seem to make sense in this context.... What do you mean? Thanks!

Sebastian try hard?? I know four in our school! (All lovely BTW!)

"I'm not sure there's a clear trend... Seems like the responses are pretty much all over the place"

Well Max is popular on this thread and in general.

I imagine you will not use Severin if you Google it.
Your dh likes Caspian how about Caspar?

Katharina
Dana
Helena
Max
Sebastian
Erik
And as a middle name Dimitri

Elena and max

I like Clarissa, Dora and Helena for a girl.
Julian and Eric for a boy.

Clarissa - teenage witch. I like it
Gemma- so 80's
Katharina - prefer Katarina
Carlotta - cute
Severina - really really no. No. No.
Dora - the explorer. Better as a nn for something longer imo
Dana - I suspect from your previous post about it sounding different to Day a there. Might be pronunciation arguments over ot
Alma - no
Leta - no
Helena - ok
Elena - better than Helena

Anton - du Beck. No
Emil - no
Sebastian - adore
Emmanuel - I like it
Immanuel - prefer to E
Julian - meh
Severin - no no no
Boris - jesus no. Especially if you're having a European baby.

Florian - lovely but I'm not sure how we'll it works in the UK
Louis - Prince. No.
Erik - I like and prefer this spelling
Julius - Caesar. No.
Dimitri - as per Florian
Max- nn. I'd go for Maximus or Maximillian

NameChange

True. But it's so short! Maximilian is ok (I suppose). And then there's Maxim. Or Maxwell, I suppose... (?)

Right, seems like I'm off to Google try hard. (or I'll simply ask DH when he comes home tomorrow).

@maimainomaii wouldn't worry about try hard. It's just a way for people to accuse you or trying to be more interesting, upper-class etc than you are. As if it certain people can use names that aren't typical top 10

FWIW:
Maxim - love
Maximilian - OK (too long for my taste but fine if only used on birth certificate)
Maxwell - dislike

@ SleepingStandingUp

Ah, so it's basically telling someone that they are uninteresting and low class? I mean, that's a somewhat subtle insult but those are sometimes best, I guess...

I have googled Severin. I see a CEO, a household appliance brand, an author, a Saint, an English journalist, an athlete....?

Yeah. If you were the Duchess of King Eaton you wouldn't be try hard for Sebastian but if you live on a counc estate in Birmingham you aren't good enough for the name. Apparently.

Severin is too close to severe and Severus Snape.

Some of the names on your list are lovely! The ones I like best are:

Helena
Elena
Katarina (without the h)
Severine (instead of Severina)

Julius
Sebastian
Louis
Anton
Maxim

What about Serena, Alexandra or Alicia? Eleonora is fab.
For boys I like Caspar, Benedict and Jonathan.

Max is absolutely fine on its own fgs

Maximillian is hideous and poncy. As is Maximus.

My ds has a common name with common nickname (think Mike and Michael). He always says he wishes the short version was what he'd been given as he never uses the long version and hates it.

DH sorry, not ds!

Op you might need to google poncy too. DH will be impressed with your acquired knowledge 😂

Out of your girl's names I like Leta best.

Helena is ok but fairly well used so nothing unusual

Katarina and Elena are also very nice.

Do not like the others, but Gemma definitely not. It's gone out of favour with good reason. It was very common. In the not good sense. One day it will return but not for now.

Out of your suggestions for boy's:

Florian, Louis, Dimitri and Max are lovely.

Well, I'm definitely not a duchess. (or king.)

Caspar sounds like the boy that starved because he didn't eat soup tbh...(Idk if you have that in the UK. My grandmother liked to read it to me. There's also a part about cut off fingers and dying because you're distracted. It gave me somewhat horrible nightmares if I'm being honest.)

I like your boys a lot more than your girls!
Don't like any of the Severus type names! V severe.
I like Dana and Elena and most of your boys.

Caspar sounds like the boy that starved because he didn't eat soup tbh...(Idk if you have that in the UK nope, us and America have the ghost

poncy. DH will be impressed with your acquired knowledge 😂

That one I know ;)

I think DH may come to curse mumsnet.

'But honey, you liked this one?'

'Well, you see... Strangers on the internet said....'

But tbh, I still don't get why / how it matters that we may not be interesting or classy enough to use certain names? I mean... What?

I'm not too fond of Maximilian either (which is my issue with Max). But mostly because I know 2 and they're both prats (ok, one has hopefully improved. But I went to kindergarten with a Maximilian who bit me. Twice.)

Ah, I thought you were googling Venus in Furs.
Book written by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch (see Masochism)
About a man called Severin who is enslaved by a woman who treats him with increasing cruelty.

I have an Elena, shes 25. 😁

Hi OP I hope you choose the name you love the most regardless of our opinions but if it helps and as you are not native to U.K. here’s my opinions on how your list works in British culture
Clarissa - posh name and pretty
Gemma - a bit old fashioned (in a bad way 😀)
Katharina - ok and you could spell it Katarina which is becoming more common and doesn’t have the awkward th sound
Carlotta - fine
Sevarina - doesn’t really work in an English accent, sounds too much like severe
Dora - ‘the Explorer’ - so probably not a good idea
Dana - I think you want to pronounce it Darna but in U.K. we would probably say Dayna so maybe avoid
Alma - old fashioned and pronunciation will vary

Leta - ok. You could also use Lettuce which is unusual and posh but many people hate (I think it’s pretty)
Helena ok
Elena ok

Anton ok
Emil ok
Sebastian ok
Emmanuel reminds me of dodgy soft porn film Emmanuelle- and probably will to many Brits
Immanuel - as above and looks like a spelling error
Julian ok posh name
Severin doesn’t sound right in an English accent
Boris - has negative connotations with a current British member of parliament
Florian - unusual but ok
Louis - will be very popular as a prince’s name
Erik fine
Julius fine
Dimitri ok
Max you could use Maximilian or Maximus or Maxim