Names for a first baby

[bouquetofpeonies]

Hello all,

Looking for opinions on girls and boys names for a first baby.

Girls:
Hebe
Amelia
Lara
Madeline

Boys:
Max
Finn
Sebastian
Sage

Hebe - bit odd - feels like Phoebe but not Phoebe
Amelia - nice enough but overdone and also means a disease/deformity of having no limbs
Lara - lovely and underused
Madeline - prefer Madeleine, lovely name

Boys:
Max - lovely
Finn - lovely
Sebastian - my favourite
Sage - isn't this a girl's name?

Hebe - fine, might get shortened to Heebs
Amelia - it's been too popular for too long
Lara - ok but shortish L names are everywhere - Lily, Lyra etc
Madeline - prefer Madeleine, but not keen on Maddie
Max - fine, quite popular
Finn - popular
Sebastian - don't like it but not my baby
Sage - not keen. Too herby
The site darkgreener site will give you an insight as too how popular the names are but bear in mind that it will only give you the data for what you enter. Finn will only give you Finn, not Finley, Fionn etc
If you combine Amelia and Emilia that will also skew the figures etc
Check how the name and surname go together without a middle name, and do the same for potential diminutives, in case the combination is a bit silly. Hebe G B, Sage O'Nions or Seb O'Rear or something

I really like Hebe, but perhaps a bit bold for much of this country, so I’d go for Lara, Lara or Finn.

I like Madeline and Sebastian. Yes to the spelling of Madeleine, too. Hebe - I quite like it, but agree with the Friends association.
Lara is dated to me.
Max and Finn - meh.

Hebe - the rest are overused

Sebastian or Max for a boy

Sage is mostly a girls name, so I wouldn’t do that

Hebe is terrific...and so is Sebastian.

From your list Amelia and Lara and Finn are nice. The rest are not my cup of tea.

Amelia is quite nice.

Max and Finn are nice.

Really, really don't like either Hebe or Sage

Hebe - I only know one and have never met another. Not keen though. The one I know gets called Heebs which sounds a bit like vomiting to me.

Amelia - never been keen on this. Don't like the mealy sound.

Lara - love it. Pretty, elegant and relatively unusual while being known.

Madeline - is this said differently to Madeleine? If not and it's just an alternative spelling of the same name then yes, I really like it.

Max - like it. Would probably go with Maximilian or Maxwell for options.

Finn - really like it but again would put Finley on birth certificate.

Sebastian - quite like it. All the ones I know get Seb or Bas, which I'm less keen on.

Sage - really like it for a girl. Not sure about a boy. I know a Serge?

Madeline and Finn are my picks

max, Sebastian and Lara are ok

Girls:

Hebe- love it
Amelia- quite popular but nice
Lara- I like it
Madeline- pretty

Boys:

Max- not a fan
Finn- not a fan
Sebastian- nice
Sage- love it

Hebe - not a fan, I taught a girl with this name once, always found it odd to say out loud.
Amelia - it's a bit bland to me and there are tons of them.
Lara - ok.
Madeline - lovely, my top pick from the girls list.

Max - good name, I like it.
Finn - so many of them, bland.
Sebastian - love! My top pick for a boy.
Sage - I'm not really a fan of this one although it's definitely unusual if that appeals to you.

Hebe! All the others are mentioned on here quite a lot. This one seems really characterful and I like the sound of it and Hebes are nice plants too. Of the other girls' names I like Madeline best and Maddie. Which is the same length as Hebe so why would people bother to shorten it? Teens do the Phoebes Mags Jules etc thing to make it sound cool, but that's up to the child isn't it at the end of the day and I wonder if this will be the same for the next load of teens where it might be quite old-fashioned to do this. Boys names are quite nice but maybe not as quirky.

Hebe and Sebastian

I like Amelia and Lara for a girl, Max for a boy.

Amelia is a medical term. If that bothers you, how about Emilia?

I like Larissa with Lara is nickname.

I used to like Hebe, but then I found out that in the US it is used in an antisemitic way, pronounced Heeb and short for Hebrew.

How are you pronouncing Hebe?

The little Hebe I know is "Heba" which is lovely but I suspect she is in for a lifetime of correcting people.

I like Lara and Max the best.

@Crunchymum , it's Heeby. Rhymes with Phoebe

Thank you all for your messages! :)

Lots to think about wrt popularity and potential nicknames. We love Hebe, it's really a 'coup de coeur' although it may be a bit too 'out there' (even if it is an easy pronunciation). Madeline (pronounced Ma-da-line) seems to be a solid and safe bet (and Maddie is so lovely as a nn).

Sebastian seems to be a definite favourite for a boy (although would have to insist on Seb as a nn).

I like Amelia I know someone who spelt it Emilia which is also nice. Personally I think Amelie is nicer but close to Amelia.

Lara is sister in laws name and I think it's an underrated name and tbh not used very often.

Madeline is nice. I have a Maddison which I love and she likes to be called Maddie.

I like Finn but would personally use Finlay/Finley for birth certificate but thats just my preference x

I would use Sage for a girl and Sebastian for a boy.

Lara or max

Hebe - I love it, it's a beautiful name. It is very marmite though. If you love Hebe you will probably like Phoebe too. Another beautiful name

Amelia - it's ok, a bit meh
Lara - I generally find L names a bit bland as they all mix together and sound very samey but Lara is my favourite of them. I also don't mind Lyra or Leah

Madeline - lovely pronounced Mad-uh-line. I also like Madeleine pronounced Mad-uh-len. You might also like Adaline (ad-uh-line)

Max - I like it but prefer as a shortening for Maxwell or Maximilian

Finn - nice enough

Sebastian - I love it but dislike Seb. I really like it shortened to Basti but obviously then there is teasing potential

Sage - I quite liked it pre COVID but now I just think of SAGE. I've only ever met one Sage, though she was a girl