Vote on our shortlists please? Or other suggestions!

[isastillgame]

Looking for votes for your favourites, or alternative suggestions based on our tastes, (which are admittedly a bit varied!)

Finding boys names harder than girls, though seem to like more popular girls names. Surname is Scottish and begins Mc.

Girls:
Olivia
Eva
Anna
Emma
Nina
Sienna

Boys:
Andrew (this is a maybe)
Arthur
Malcolm
Owen
Lloyd
Graeme
Murray

Also thought about Lennox for a boy (nn Len or Lenny?) Though not sure if this is too way out / too boxer centric!

Like Nina, Malcolm and Arthur, the rest are fine but not my cup of tea, a bit dull imo. Like Len and Lenny but not Lennox! Prefer Leonard.

Nina and Owen are lovely

Anna or Emma. Classic and not super common any more. The others are lovely but very popular if that bothers you. I don't like Nina at all but that's just personal taste.

Owen and Andrew are both great choices.

I love Andrew. So refreshing these days!
Lenny also nice

Anna and Emma and Olivia are all gorgeous

Thanks guys, helpful feedback so far!

@Merename I really, really like Malcolm, but DH has pointed out that in Scotland he'll likely get the nickname "Malky" which I hate and is also slang here for slashing someone with a razor 😭🙈 FML! And we have a cat Leo, so think Leonard is probably out. Think you're right on Lennox though!! 😂

Nina and Owen

Throwing Alistair into the mix too. Not sure if it's too grown up for a baby but I suppose would be baby Ally!

Like all the boys although Arthur is probably my least favourite. Think Owen would top my list from them but they're all nice.

The girls names are nice, I prefer slightly more unusual so Eva, Nina or Sienna stand out to me. Anna, Emma and Olivia I just know too many already.

Selection of suggestions:

Angus
Fraser
Finlay
Alexander

Flora
Isobel
Harriet
Lucy
Ailsa

Alastair was on our shortlist for DS

Nina is a lovely name, you don't see it very often but I think it's beautiful! Arthur is my favourite boy name of the ones you've listed

Anna & Andrew

I love Andrew and Emma or Anna
All beautiful and timeless.

Girls - love Emma - great classic, not overused right now. Rest a bit overused, other than Sienna and Nina which am not mad on. Other thoughts - Iona, Rosanagh, Fenella, Flora, Lorna, Ailsa (all great Scottish names) or Serena, Cecilia, Cordelia, Adela, Cassia, Phoebe, Sylvie, Adela, Marianne, Annabel

Boys - LOVE Alistair, also love Arthur but overused, Andrew a great underused classic. Quite like Owen. Malcolm and Graham - both sound v old fashioned outside Scotland (if you care) and bit early for a revival. Lennox, Lloyd and Murray are all a bit downmarket, and I think that when surname names get popular they can end up w a very downmarket rep eg Ryan, Taylor.

Other thoughts - Alexander, Kester, Struan, Lorne, Angus, Robert, Guy, Joel, Luke/Lucas, Nathaniel/Nathan, Reuben, Ronan, Jerome, Jesse, Jethro, Michael

Olivia - ok, very overused. I like Liv as a nn or even a standalone name
Eva - prefer Eve and Ava, but all are pretty overused at the moment - I like Ada a lot
Anna - bit dull? Anya?
Emma - pretty, but same as above. Emmeline, nn Emme?
Nina - love
Sienna - quite like - prefer Serena and Seren

Boys:
Andrew (this is a maybe) - nope
Arthur - cute, but will date (like Alfie)
Malcolm -like it
Owen - ok, prefer Euan, Ewan or Ioan
Lloyd - no
Graeme - definitely not
Murray - no

I love Fraser. How about Aidan, Henry, Finn / Finley, Rory, Alistair or Angus?

Like most of your names but love Anna and Murray!

Thanks all, some really good and helpful feedback, lots positive but also lots constructive!

Eva is definitely my favourite of the Eve / Ava / Ada options, and I do prefer Anna to Anya, though I know where you’re coming from @Noodlesnoodlesnoodles with Anna and Emma - both very pretty and classic, which is what I love, but because of that I think that means people either love them or find them dull / boring!

I do really like Emmeline as a variant, and love the suffragette coupling, though I’ve seen it pronounced variably which puts me off a little? (Emma-LEEN like Jacqueline; Emma-LINE like Caroline; Emma-LYN like Carolyn 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Serena’s come up a couple of times and it is nice but makes me think of Serena Van Der Woodsen from Gossip Girl (showing my age here I think!! 😂)

Haven’t heard Adela before @partyatthepalace - quite like that! Also like Pheobe and Cassia... and I like Alicia, which is similar, but hate a-LEESH-a!! Would need to be Alyssia.

Boys wise I really don’t like Aidan / Finn / Finlay / Fraser. We do like Alistair (💙) which it's nice to see getting a bit of love on this thread, and also Rory, though can’t use Rory due to close family having beaten us!

Also love Alexander, but have a female Alex in the family too so feel it would be too confusing!

Really like Olivia but it is maybe getting a bit overused just now.
My favourite boy names are Arthur or Murray. I’m trying to name a boy just now too, our surname is Mc as well so not sure if we can use Murray when it sounds a bit like the surname!

@sarah13xx Yes, Murray Mc.... is a bit OTT! 😂

It's so interesting with Olivia - I looked up the actual council area rankings and while it's #1 in Scotland overall, it's actually joint #10 here locally?

Same popularity ranking as Anna and Emma, all joint tenth. #1 locally is Amelia, with Emily, Grace, Jessica, Isla, Sophie, Ava, Mia and Orla are all higher up the rankings than Olivia. It's quite surprising! Maybe just as it's been so popular for so long, people are avoiding now. Be interesting to see the 2020 data when it comes out!

[quote isastillgame]@sarah13xx Yes, Murray Mc.... is a bit OTT! 😂

It's so interesting with Olivia - I looked up the actual council area rankings and while it's #1 in Scotland overall, it's actually joint #10 here locally?

Same popularity ranking as Anna and Emma, all joint tenth. #1 locally is Amelia, with Emily, Grace, Jessica, Isla, Sophie, Ava, Mia and Orla are all higher up the rankings than Olivia. It's quite surprising! Maybe just as it's been so popular for so long, people are avoiding now. Be interesting to see the 2020 data when it comes out! [/quote]
Well as it happens I have been impatiently waiting for the 2020 Scotland data to come out, to the point that I emailed them last week 😂 it’s out tomorrow they said!
I had always liked the name Harris for a boy and thought it was relatively unusual because I’d obviously been looking at the name lists for England 🤦🏼‍♀️ When I looked up my council area it was number 1 for 2019 so I’ve kind of ruled it out now as being too popular 🙄 I’m a teacher so the main thing that I’m bothered about is my child not going to school and ending up in a class full of kids with the same name. I’ve had so many kids over the years having to be called their first name and second initial as if it’s their actual name, feel so bad for them every time so I’m determined that won’t be my child 😂

I like all your girls choices apart from Sienna (which is too celeb/trendy for me) - my favourite is classic, elegant, international Anna, followed by pretty, underused Nina.

My boys favourite of your list is Alistair (gorgeous, traditional Scots name), closely followed by the lovely Owen - but I'm not keen on your other boys choices, sorry.

Girls:
Olivia - overused
Eva - overused and I dislike it. Eve is so much nicer. Don't like Ava, Ada or Ivy at all.
Anna - like a lot
Emma - like a lot
Nina - ok, a bit trendy maybe
Sienna - not keen at all

Boys:
Andrew (this is a maybe) - good
Arthur - bit too popular
Malcolm - goes well with a Mc surname, otherwise not keen
Owen - ok
Lloyd - really like
Graeme - Graeme/Graham spelling issues
Murray - like but how does it sound with the Mc surname?

I'd go with Emma or Anna and Lloyd or Andrew, choosing the one that sounds best with the surname.

I like Emma and Alistair

Other suggestions:
Douglas nn Dougie
Gordon nn Gordy
Simon
Ross

Anna and Owen

@sarah13xx Oh I love that you've emailed them!!! I wanted to do that, knew it was due from the dates of the last few years 😂 Will see tomorrow then!! I love Harris, but we have one in the family already. I do think all the island names have gone super popular... I'd actually considered Lewis as a bit of a retro island option. Totally get your teacher requirements in terms of being known with an initial, I was at school too! Though not an issue now I'm working. I think it's diluted once you leave school, as all the names of other generations mix in, it's just obviously school is all kids born in the same year as you, so popular names are super obvious!

@KirstenBlest Weirdly, the records data here show Olivia, Emma, and Anna are all joint on the same spot in terms of useage? Though Olivia has been more popular nationally and has been higher over the past few years. I thought the same as you though, maybe as so many toddlers already it's just oversaturated regardless of how many there might actually be in her class at school.

@Happenchance I quite like Douglas / Dougie!

DH has now veto'd Lloyd, Malcolm and Murray.