Struggling to Narrow Down Baby Names

[cheribakewells9]

DH and I are planning for our first baby and we’ve started talking about names, but we’re struggling to narrow down our picks for baby’s name. We would really appreciate MumsNet’s help.

Ideas for girls are:
Donna, Claudia, Ruby, Azul, Lilly, Liv, Paige

Ideas for boys are:
Lewis, Tom, Harry, Leo, Austin, Rapha, Lisandro

I like solid, traditional/semi-traditional names but everyone has their preferences so go with what you love. From your list I like - Thomas (Tom as a nickname), Austin and Lewis. I know two Leo’s and it seems like a nickname to me, ditto for Harry.

Tom - my relative called their DS this on their birth certificate and later regretted it not being Thomas officially

For girls I like Claudia and Ruby. Liv seems like a nickname, and I like Lilly but it’s quite over-used now.

Ultimately, go with what you love and as time goes on you might find other names you like too.

From your girls list, I ADORE Claudia and really like Liv too. Claudia is classy and strong and beautiful and Liv feels fresh and pretty.

I strongly dislike Azul, Paige, and Donna.

From your boy list, I only really like Leo. I like Louis (pronounced Loo-ee) but not Lewis, I like Raphael but not Rapha.

Claudia and Ruby are my favourite for a girl.

Louis as pp above suggested and Tom.

All nice except Donna.

Not keen on Paige either.

I like Claudia, Ruby, Lewis and Leo.

PP is wrong about Leo and Liv being nicknames - both are full names. There are popes called Leo! Latin word for lion. Liv is a Scandinavian name.

Claudia and Leo.

I have a Leo, so obviously I like the name.

Donna is a bit 80s chav.

Really like Claudia.

Love your boys name list, especially Rapha.

Claudia for the win! It’s gorgeous and not overused

Sorry I find it tougher to narrow down your boys list but if I had to I’d go with Keo, closely followed by Tom and Harry

I mean Leo!!

Just my opinion:

Donna - don’t like. Feels very 70s (assuming you’re in the U.K.)
Claudia - nice, classic
Ruby - ok, not really to my taste
Azul - do you have Spanish/Latin American roots? It seems a bit odd to name your child a colour
Lilly - fine if spelled Lily, but a little overdone Liv - nice. Would it be short for anything?
Paige - I don’t like it.

Lewis - fine, it’s not my taste but there’s nothing wrong with it
Tom - nice with Thomas as the full name Harry - very popular but fine
Leo - love it as a nn for Leonard or Leopold
Austin - don’t like it
Rapha - nice as a nn for a longer name, eg. Raphael
Lisandro - nice. I’m assuming you have some Spanish/south American heritage? It might be a bit much for a boy from Barnsley, for example!

Ruby, Harry or Leo

I like Claudia and Rapha

I'll go against the grain and go for Donna. Forget the 80s connotations think glamorous Donna Summer.
Lewis got a boy.

Definitely not Donna or Paige. Both sound awful in my opinion. Lilly is nice but very popular. Ruby would be my pick.

Lewis, Harry, Leo or Austin are all lovely

Lily and Paige are nice, the others are really dreadful imo.

For the boys I like Harry, Leo or austin

Paige
Ruby

Lewis
Austin

Both times I went into hospital with 2 girls names and 2 boys names then picked the name when they were here!

Claudia
Harry
Leo

Donna - I like it but this could just be as I think of the fantastic character from Doctor Who
Claudia - It's alright, not for me
Ruby - I really love it, and haven't heard of any for ages
Azul - No, doesn't seem very nice to me
Lilly - I genuinely like it, but as Lily
Liv - Olivia?? or Livia is prettier. Not just Liv
Paige - I don't like it, seems like a surname to me

Lewis - It's quite nice, but defo surname like
Tom - Thomas is good
Harry - I like Harrison or Henry not just Harry, it's a bit plain
Leo - Love Leo! One of my fav boys names
Austin - Quite like it, the place is cool too
Rapha - Seems a bit of a misspelling of many other boy names
Lisandro - Makes me think of Lysander for some reason. Not for me

Favourites are Ruby and Leo

Are you pregnant or are you planning to conceive soon?
If you are not, leave it for a bit. The names seem a bit of a mixed bag.

Claudia is stunning - elegant, internationally very well used but underused in the UK.

Less keen on your other girls choices - Paige and (especially) Donna are a bit dated, Lilly and Ruby are trendy, Liv would likely be assumed to be a nn here and Azul is so uncommon it will likely be misspelt or thought masculine.

Thomas (Tom), Harry and Leo are fine, if very popular (I do really love Thomas though! - so classic and international). Lewis is also okay and in some ways easier than more classic Louis which can have spelling/pronunciation issues.

Austin is trendy, Rapha a nn again -although Raphael is lovely (although might be a bit incongruous with a typical UK surname). It would be my preference over Lisandro I think, as it's more internationally used.

From your lists I most like:
Donna and Claudia
Lewis and Leo

I'll go with:

1. Claudia 2. Ruby 3. Paige
2. Austin (I NEVER hear that anymore!) 2. Harry 3. Thomas (nn Tom)