I suggest Grace, Anna, Lydia, he suggests Yvette... I'm thinking the problem is bigger than babynaming....have you had any suggestions from DH/DP that made you choke on your cereal?

[Jackaroo]

fortunately this was idle chatter about a not-yet conceived child, so we have time to work on it....

Yvette quite pretty?

There will be something out there that you both like

Ask what he likes about Yvette. You're allowed to veto.

Isobel/Isabelle?

OMG, yes, didn't think of that... feel free to completely ignore this thread now! Please!
PS Probably nothing wrong with Yvette, but can only think of tame girl on Blue Peter.. he doesn't know what he likes about it.. just throwing names at me hoping I'll go away I think.
pps you choked @ isabelle? my favourite!

ok... if isabelle is your favourite (lovely name, I agree)... why did you suggest Grace, Anna, Lydia???

always ask for what you really want, he might really want it too...

maybe you meant something else in which case I apologise

I really liked Clement but DH refused completely. I thought I could win him round unilt one day we were watching a programme and there was someone called Ptolemy on it. I said "God, how ridiculous, who would give their son a name like that..." and he said "THat's how I feel about Clement"

How could feel that way about Clement?

But, he won and I am now only allowed to have a cat called Clement if we ever get another one

DH suggested Malcolm (!!) for a theoretical boy..I couldn't believe it, but he's American and there are totally different cultural associations there ie more Malcolm X and less middle aged bald man in brown stained suit.

I've actually come round to it a bit now...

obviously you both need to be happy, but dp was choking on my favourite boys' name about a month ago and slowly, slowly I have brought him round

I am not 100% keen on his favourite girls name, but am willing to keep it in our 'top 5' or whatever as I know it would be his first choice

oh dear we loved Ptolemy - just show what works for 1 wont for another

yes... DP suggested Aloisius

Yep, DH's first suggestions were Emmanuelle for a girl and Jocelyn for a boy (ponce). Count yourself lucky!

Would stress that Emmanuelle from actress NOT porn star

We'd already covered Isabelle and he has a problem with the fact that one of our close friends has Isabella (seeing as DS has same 1st and 2nd name as another friend. Doesn't bother me, they're not living in the same house )

The 3 names in the title are just examples of my wild stabs in the dark btw, he doesn't like Edith or Lily, or Louise. Which I thought covered old-fashioned, modern (although once old I suppsoe) and middle of the road ... can't get a handle on anything! boys we've got covered in one go - maybe we'll be blessed with another baby and maybe it will be a boy!

Thing is, I don't think any of my names are that interesting (mrs Clement and Mrs Ptolemy)as to cause a stir, but he scrunches his nose as if I've suggested Aardvark... now, there's a thought..........

it's all about compromise

before DD was born I was up for Susanna / Phillipa / Arabella etc while DH was for eg Jane / Mary / Ann

we got there eventually by analysing what it was about the different (ahem) styles of name that we liked. I was worried that a short name would sound too harsh and unfeminine with our short surname, and DH was worried that a long frilly name would be too feminine as well as being hard to spell.

Keep talking.

Message withdrawn

how do you pronounce 'ptelomy'?

i cant even spell it- lol

It's Greek - the P is silent so you say Toll-a-mee

leanne

shit you not

DH was taken with Leanne

ah...

ah i see re isabelle...

i have to say, dh only ever had one girls' name, and this is quite common in men [that i have been out with, anyway]. I said 'my shortlist is gabrielle, tabitha, miriam or rosalind' he looked at me as if i had farted in public and said 'not keen on those, i quite like rachel though'. i said 'i have a cousin rachel. i also like isobel, cordelia, rowan and elisabeth'. he stared off into the middle distance and said 'i think rachel is a GREAT name...' I got the point in the end. And learned to love Rachel.

Thank God we had a ds.

Me - Rose
DH - Crystal

Me - Violet
DH - Gertrude.

Crystal???
And I can only think of 'dirty Gertie from no. 30', as Basil Brush used to say.

Augustus.

I got my own way, though, and it moved from first name, to second name, to not being used at all.

Thank the Lord...

people who like Ptolemy - how about Anatole? (pronounced Ann - a - Tolly)
similar vibe but not quite so ouch

DH and I had a very easy time choosing a girl's name. But for a boy we each had a list of about five names we liked. And each of us hated every name on the other person's list. Compromise was essential. I think this is normal in a relationship -- or there wouldn't be so many name threads on MN. I used to envy the single mums then cause they could just pick the name they liked.

DH and I generally agreed on names but he did suggest Amber for a girl which kind of made me boggle a bit. It's nice but imo not really us.