Thoughts on our list 2025

[daffodilandrose23]

We like more sturdy, traditional names and are completely aware that most on our list will be perceived as “dated.” But we’d much rather give our child a slightly dusty sounding name and one that they can carry through all stages of their life. We aren’t looking for people to try and convince us against any of the names, nor why people don’t like them, but we’d welcome your thoughts and a general consensus on which you like the best. Basically we’re just testing the waters with them on a somewhat neutral ground. No negativity please!

For girls, we're leaning towards Laura at the moment. For boys, Michael.

Anne
Harriet
Joanna
Judith
Laura
Léa
Lydia
Maud
Olive
Rachel
Victoria

Christopher
Jamie
John
Joseph
Matthew
Michael
Paul
Robert

Others we like for reference but aren’t necessarily on the front runners list. Feel free to change my mind:
Ada, Daisy, Diana, Felicity, Julia, Molly
Benjamin, Daniel, Luke, Peter, Theo

Harriet, Matthew and Benjamin. Love all those. Don't care for the rest.

For girls, we're leaning towards Laura at the moment. For boys, Michael. - both are lovely names.

Anne
Harriet
Joanna
Judith
Laura
Léa
Lydia
Maud
Olive
Rachel
Victoria

——— Laura is my favorite. Lydia, second.

Christopher
Jamie
John
Joseph
Matthew
Michael
Paul
Robert

———Michael is my favourite, Christopher is my second.

Others we like for reference but aren’t necessarily on the front runners list. Feel free to change my mind:
Ada, Daisy, Diana, Felicity, Julia, Molly
Benjamin, Daniel, Luke, Peter, Theo
——-not keen on any of those names except for Theo which is lovely.

Other names you might like - Louise, Iris, Elliot and. Christian.

My favourites are Laura, Lydia and Harriet. I imagine someone independent and no-nonsense with one of those names.

Of the boys I like Christopher, Jamie and Robert. I imagine there are a lot more boys called Jamie/James than the other two, if that's important to you.

John and Julia are my faves- I know a sibset with these names and think it’s great as they are timeless but currently underused classics with great historical and literary namesakes (and Julia in particular is really international too).

Laura and Michael are so lovely as well and do give similar classic vibes - but were so popular in the 70/80’s that I do think they feel slightly more middle aged if that matters (which is weird because Michael is still Top 100!)

Lydia and Joseph would be another great pairing- more classics but I’d struggle to guess the ages on these as Joseph has always been well used and Lydia drifts in and out of the Top 100.

But as someone who loves a classic name, I actually like almost all of your boys and girls lists - as I don’t like faddy names (such as nicknames or very trendy retro ones) and prefer ones I can easily envisage on an adult as much as a child. For these reasons the only ones on your lists I’d probably avoid are Jamie (though James is great), Daisy, Molly, Olive, Maud, Lea, Ada. It would honestly be interesting to meet a little Paul, Peter, Judith or Anne now too because I don’t know any under 50 and they are nice classic names.

I'm totally a fan of solid trad names.

Love James (not Jamie), John, Diana, and Jane.

I love:
Joanna, Victoria, Felicity
Joseph, Banjamin

I really like:
Laura, Ada
Christopher, Jamie, John, Matthew

I quite like:
Anne, Harriet, Lydia, Rachel, Julia, Molly
Michael, Daniel, Theo

I am ambivalent towards:
Lea, Daisy, Diana, Judith
Paul, Robert, Luke Peter

The only ones I actively dislike are:
Maud, Olive

Olive and Theo are the only names I would consider. Love both names.

Laura and Michael are both lovely, solid names! I know young children with some of the names from your lists and some of them were on my lists too. My favourites are:

Laura
Joanna
Julia
Felicity
Olive
Victoria nn V
Prefer Anna to Anne
Really like Daisy and Molly too but know a few dogs with those names.

Christopher
Johnathan/Jonathan nn John
Matthew
Benjamin
Peter
Michael
Joseph
Paul
Robert
Daniel
Theo
Really like lots of these names but couldn’t use them for my own children as they already belong to family members. Would love to have used one from the top 5!

Laura, Lydia, Harriet or Victoria for me if you have a girl. Definitely NOT Maud as it's such an ugly name.

I like all of your boys' names. Particularly Benjamin and Daniel.

From your boy's list I like Joseph and John best. Also like Daniel and Daisy from your maybe list (but probably not for siblings).

Maud is a hideous name. She sounds 95 and hasn’t even been born yet. It’s not pretty or feminine. And immediately makes you think Maud Flanders from the Simpsons.

Also don’t care for Harriette as it sounds harsh all the rest are lovely

Maud and Jamie are my favourites

They are all perfectly fine names.
The only one I don't like is your spelling of Lea (my phone doesn't do the accent).
If it was spelt Leah it's better.

Olive and Christopher or John. I love Daisy most though!

I like a lot more of your boy choices than the girl ones. It's only really Lydia and Ada which appeal to me. Is Léa pronounced Leah? I do like this, but spelt the traditional way. I do love a classic girls name though. Have you considered Charlotte, Lucy, Emma, Alice, Sophie, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Catherine, Sarah or Hannah? Or Anna, I much prefer Anna to just Anne.

From your boy's list the stand outs for me are Matthew, Joseph, Benjamin, Peter, Christopher. I do like Theo, but it's very now compared to the rest of your list. I much prefer James to Jamie, much more classic and can be shortened to Jamie when he's little. Have you considered Thomas, Adam, Samuel, Mark or David?

We have similar taste.
Anne
Harriet
Joanna
Judith
Laura
Lydia
Victoria
Really like all these! Anne, Harriet, Lydia and Laura are my favourites.

Léa
Maud
Olive
Rachel
Don't like these ones.

Christopher
Jamie
John
Joseph
Matthew
Michael
Paul
Robert

Love all your boys names. Especially Michael, Matthew and Joseph.

Lovely list. The only things which stuck out were Jamie (prefer James) and Léa (prefer Leah).

Anne - prefer Ann, Annie is lovely
Harriet - also like Hattie but not Harri
Joanna - will be Jo
Judith - not keen but like Judi/Judy but not Jude
Laura- like but a bit 1980s
Léa - without the accent it reads as Lea, a surname said as Lee
Lydia - don't like Lyds but Lydie is OK
Maud- like
Olive - No
Rachel - like but a bit 1980s
Victoria -like

Christopher - Kit too popular
Jamie - yes if James on BC
John - like and like Johnny
Joseph - ok
Matthew - ok, like Matt
Michael -like
Paul - ok
Robert - ok

Laura and Michael are both great.

Harriet and Lydia are my favourites of your other girl names. I know some Harriets and all love their name.

Jamie, Joseph, Matthew are my favourites of your boy names. Joseph could be Jos as well as Joe. I know a Math and a Thew as well as lots of Matts.

Lovely choices, if I were choosing from these lists I’d probably have Lydia or Joseph.

EDIT - sorry for accidentally quoting OP! I’m ill that’s my only excuse

I should have specified as I knew I'd get a few comments about Léa! It's pronounced Lay-a and is French. We have french roots and would have loved to consider more French names but this one we felt was the easiest of our choices for people to get their heads around.

Of the girls names you suggested, such a shame as seven of them are the names of close family members so we can't use! For boys, unfortunately the same situation although a lot less boys in our family than girls. I quite like David but OH isn't so keen. Thank you for the suggestions!

I like Harriet, Lydia, Olive for girls.
Benjamin, Joseph, Theo for boys,

Love Léa, but the accent may be a bit of a pain depending on where you live? Also love Felicity and Julia. Really like Laura and Diana; both feel really underused to me now (for babies), but that may be because they were popular for quite a long time. Anne, too, although its height of popularity is further back; I definitely prefer it to Ann or Anna especially with a French connection. Maud seems to be having the beginnings of a comeback lately (but I think the Maude spelling may be more prevalent). The only one I kind of dislike is Olive.

Matthew is my favourite of your boy choices, followed by Benjamin and Daniel also solid. I like Jamie too, but would probably use James.

Laura and Olive for girls, and Christopher and Joseph for boys are my favourite.

Laura and Matthew are the nicest.

I think with the accent issue for Léa, we've talked about this one and even if the accent is often missed off things, as long as family/friends/school/work etc know how it's pronounced, then it isn't a problem for us.