Your thoughts on my names list! Boy & Girl!

[BetsHilton]

Hi all,

Finally came up with a bit of a proper shortlist. Would love to hear others views. We aren’t finding out the sex so have a list of both. In order of preference:

Boys:
Bryan
Michael
James
Rowan

Girls:
Violet
Olivia
Norah
Juliet
Clara

re Violet. We love it but I worry if child was being bullied is it an easy target to call her ‘vile’ or ‘vile it’ or am I overthinking?

I know Olivia v popular in U.K. but I’m in Ireland and it’s less popular here - outside top 20 and we don’t know anyone in our social circle, extended social circle, work etc with this name or any children with the name.

any suggestions for names welcome but our surname ends in -ee so names like Emily, Amelie etc are out as too rhymey. We’ve also had to veto loads of names our friends used! So names like Charlotte, Louisa, Lily, Isabelle, Cara, Eliza, Evie, Layla etc all out.

I can’t imagine Bryan on a baby! I would rank them in this order:
James
Michael
Rowan
Bryan

Juliet/Clara (love both!)
Violet
Olivia
Norah (don’t like this - bloody Norah)

Bryan - nope
Michael - nope but Mikey for short is fairly popular I guess
James -, best on the list, straight forward solid name. No massive feelings.
Rowan - I mean I can't disassociate from Mr Bean but I'd put it second to James.

Girls:
Violet - love
Olivia - another one??
Norah - love
Julie - probably due a comeback tbf
Clara - ok but the others are better

Boys:
Bryan - prefer Brian.. Like
Michael - like
James - like
Rowan - like but Roman and other R names are very popular in the UK, so no

Girls:
Violet - will be Vi. not keen
Olivia - too popular for too long.
Norah - don't like
Juliet - people tend to say Julie ETTE, so nice only as middle name
Clara - don't like

Boys:

Bryan - love this. An under-used classic. Outside the top 500 boy names.
Michael - really great choice- about to fall out the top 100 so really underused these days and refreshing 📉
James - great name. The most classic name there is. More common than the above two if that's a factor but just such a classy choice.
Rowan - really trendy compared to your other more classy choices. Prefer this name for a girl. Now RoMan (with an M) is THE fastest rising boy name (top 30 and still rising), I'd avoid a name so similar. I know 5 baby Romans with an M. Don't like shortening to Row.

For girls I love all your choices. Least favourite Norah.

I like Michael and James from your list. Rory is a favourite of mine that you might consider!

I like all your girls names, especially Clara and Violet.

Lovely lists @BetsHilton !

I like Rowan and Juliet the best.

Violet sounds like violent to me.

Suggestions:

Alice
Kate
Frances
Olive
Genevieve
Zara
Lucille
Laura
Rhiannon

Benjamin
Ewan
Fraser
Jonas
Patrick
Adam

Bryan and Clara

I agree that Bryan is due a comeback. It sounds good and strong in comparison to the cutesy Teddie, Archie names out there

Boys:

Bryan- v dated not ready for comeback

Michael- 50yo man
James- nice but safe
Rowan- like

Girls:

Violet- somehow seems like brat name
Olivia- boring
Norah- ok
Juliet- love

Clara

I like Bryan because I haven't heard it in a while.

Hi love all your names! You will know as soon as you see your baby what to call her/him....
My daughter is called Violet Eva, I love the name and everyone that meets her comments on what a lovely name it is. Yes she can be a brat at times but all kids have their moments 😂
She does get called Vi, especially by me, which I said I would never do.

Like them all but would pick Michael and Juliet.

Norah or Rowan for me. Dh has an uncle Bryan. Nice chap but no!

Michael, James, Juliet or Clara.

I like Michael and James of your boys list.

I also like Brian with an i rather than y, and think it is due a comeback. One minute a name is way out of fashion, the next there are 5 in each class.

I'm not particularly keen on Rowan, it makes me think Atkinson/Williams.

I like most of the girls list but not keen on Norah which is a bit frumpy (Norah Batty). My favourites would be Violet and Juliet.

Love Michael.
What about Olive for something a little more unusual?

Bryan - noooo, far to early for a revival. Awful
Michael - great
James - nice, bit dull maybe
Rowan - nice (tho in the uk overused and will date

Girls:
Violet - nice, v popular in the uk, I can’t imagine it as a cause for bullying
Olivia - lovely, a great classic
Norah - I am mystified by it gaining popularity, it makes me think of sad spinsters in 50s boarding houses (much like Bryan in fact..)
Juliet - nice enough, prefer the less fussy Julia
Clara - pretty - second choice to Olivia

Lydia, Serena, Oona, Estella, Esther, Stella, Ida, Adela, Philippa nn Pippa, Frances, Lois, Vivienne, Marianne, Adelaide, Clementine, Jasmine, Harriet, Astrid, might all be alternatives to the names you can’t use

or for boys, Laurence, Robert nn Robin, Jerome, Jude, Joel, Nathaniel, Rufus, Rafe, Miles, Alexander, Alistair, Marcus, Matthew, Arthur, Noah, Elijah, Jonah, Jonas, Oscar, Justin, Julius, Sebastian, Tobias, Zachariah nn Zach, Elias,

I think you've got a nice list of names, much nicer than some on here!
Boys:
Bryan 4
Michael 3
James 1
Rowan 2
Girls:
Violet 2
Olivia 3 would be 2 if it was Olive
Norah 1 Love
Juliet 4
Clara 5

Thanks everyone! Lots of food for thought here! Bryan is a family name so anyone we know would get why we went with it but I wanted to gauge what other people might think and it’s definitely a mixed bag! Most of the boys names are family related so still some choice there.

re girls I hadn’t thought of bloody Nora! Now it’s all I can hear 😂

I love Juliet and Violet just don’t know if we are brave enough to not go with the bog standard Olivia as a pretty but safe option! I’ll run Olive past DH!

Who would’ve thought names were so hard!!! Thanks for all the feedback

I'll go through your options @BetsHilton

Boys:
Bryan -great choice and love the fact you have a family connection to it. underused.
Michael -retro in a good way.
James -a classic, classy choice.
Rowan -Rowan is my baby girl's name - so of course I do/did like the name. I dislike the seemingly inevitable shortening to Row though. I also hate that Roman has surged in popularity. If I'd realised Roman was the fastest rising name, I'd not have picked Rowan as it does get confusing for people and I do get a lot of comments at nursery and baby groups when inevtiably there's a couple of baby Romans there and my Rowan.

Girls:
Violet -love this and do not think it would attract bullies at all.
Olivia -classy choice but fairly overused. Depends if popularity is a factor. At least with Olivia and James they have been in the top 100 throughout history so won't date in the way a trendy name like Roman /Rowan likely will.
Norah -sounds like you've already discounted.
Juliet -top choice
Clara -also joint top choice

Thanks @bloominglovelyorange For your feedback. I also think Rowan is a lovely girls name too - it definitely works for both. I didn’t realise Roman was getting so popular.

Boys:
Bryan
Michael - nice.
James
Rowan

Girls:
Violet - love it!
Olivia
Norah
Juliet
Clara

Am I the only one who absolutely loves Nora and Norah? I am definitely the only person who doesn't like Olivia it seems. I don't know why. I do like Violet. I like the name Michael a lot as normal as it is! I too like Rowan for a girl. More than for a boy. I think of Rowan (row like ouch an) for a girl and row (like a line) an for a boy.