Thoughts on our shortlists

[Havanalily1806]

Really struggling to find any names we love to add to our list to consider, but at the same time, not committing to either name on the lists either.

girls names: Zara is the front runner at the moment, also like Poppy and Lola. Have another daughter with a 2 syllable name and strong sounding.

boys names: only name we really like is Rafe. Until a thread on here about the name put doubt in our mind but we still think we both really like it and we both don’t hear what the thread suggested when we hear it, but it is still stopping us committing to it…

recently added Miller to the list and Jesse which we think we like.

other names I like but have reasons I can’t get past not to use include: Felix- cat/catfood, Casper- the ghost, Austin- too American? Jack- we like but it’s maybe not enough for us (hard to explain), Cooper- seems to now be a popular dogs name.

any thoughts or ideas would be more than welcome 🙂

Zara and Rafe are both nice! I love Casper too. How about

Ralph
Rudy
Spencer
Fletcher
Flynn
Phoenix
August
Jasper
Caspian
Rio
Jude
Elliott
Carter

Cara
Zoe
Pippa
Molly
Cora
Daisy
Lila
Romy
Callie
Edie
Sienna
Cleo
Freya

Think Zara is lovely. Havent met any others but know a few Poppy's and then Lola/Luna/Lula is popular too. Not sure how to pronounce Rafe? But people would soon learn!

I also love Casper, and Jasper. I think it's okay to put the ghost to rest now 😂😜

I LOVE Zara. Lola is lovely.

Poppy is not to my liking, sorry.

Polly
Mary
Philippa

Ralph
Rafael
Rufus
David
Robert
Thomas
Stirling

Sorry I don’t like Rafe at all. Written down the f can look like a p and that is not good.

my favourite girls name from your list is Zara followed by Lola. Not keen on Poppy, it’s a bit more twee. Zara and Lola are both stronger names.

Zara is fab. Way too many Lolas around and Poppy is very twee and not strong sounding at all.

i also like Jesse for a boy.

If you like Rafe, how about Rafael with Rafa for short? A couple of other boys names that give me the same vibe as your list are Logan and Dexter.

For a girl, I love both Zara and Poppy. Lovely choices. Another possibility - Chloe.

Love Zara, and Rafe is short for Raffety for me. Quite like Poppy, but not Lola due to the song.

Alternatives -
Tilly
Tegan
Jasmine
Bethan
Gemma
Amber
Leah

Callum
Finley
Thomas
Jacob
Robert
Lucien
Zackery
Adam

Too many Lolas around, same for Poppy. I’d go with Zara.
Why Rafe and not Ralph? Ralphie is cute for a baby boy.

I like Zara

Other suggestions for a girl: Mara, Nina

For a boy: Jacob, Cassius, Caspian

I think all your names sound really good together (aware you’re just having one baby, but what I mean is you have a strong and cohesive style!) Honestly I like them all.

I have a Rafe, it’s a great name. I say “Rafe like safe” if somebody questions the pronunciation. We get a lot of compliments on his name, many from mums who wanted to use it themselves. If others are thinking “rape” they aren’t saying it to me… 😅

Oh, but I meant to say — if DH had been into Jesse I’d have gone with that instead. LOVE

I like Poppy and Rafe.
Ignore the thing about Rafe, there’s many names you could say things about.

I like Zara. There are 100s of Poppys and Lola’s.

Zara reminds me of the shop. Rafe is just too close to the f looking like a p and potential for being bullied. Lola is my favourite of the names you suggested.

Poppy and Lola sound like dog names

Zara is great. Very strong.
Rafe is ok, prefer Ralph.

Thank you- I think those reasons are why I’ve never committed or nudged Poppy or Lola further up the list.

Rafe would be pronounced like “safe” 🙂

I think this why I’ve never had Lola or Poppy at the top of the list. My DD name is strong sounding too and I didn’t want anything “frilly” which although I like Poppy it goes against that for me.

Thank you, I don’t think we’d consider Rafael with not having any Spanish heritage, I’m very much someone who still thinks Luca is Italian so I don’t think I could get past that 😅

I know Rafe is the traditional pronunciation of “Ralph” but the area of the country we live in, Ralph is pronounced as it’s spelt and I’d hate for them to constantly have to correct that. Ralph is also very popular where we are and we know of a couple through friends of friends etc.

Ralphie isn’t strong enough sounding for us. We prefer stronger names and something that works into adult hood too.

It’s lovely to see all the praise for Zara though, which did hold top spot for us.

Thank you 🙂

Thank you for this! It’s good to hear from someone who has the lived experience of the name. We do love it and would have been our choice last time so it’s passed the longevity test 2 years on.

I would avoid Poppy, it's very wet and too girly.

Zara is great and I would guess in 15 years the shop will be gone or will be something very different, I wouldn't worry about that.

Rafe is a bit posh, are you OK with that? Casper the ghost will be forgotten in 15 years. How about Finn, for another one syllable option?

Zara and Rafe are lovely ☺️

Also like Jesse

Jared, Rex?

FWIW I almost went for Luca (not being Italian) and husband wasn't keen (because we're not Italian) so we didn't choose it. Don't regret the choice, even though it was my favourite name at the time.

Oh and I like Jesse.

Is Jesse pronounced Jessy or Jess? It’s a soft sounding name compared to Rafe and Zara, I love Zara it’s a great name, I think Rafe is fine, reminds me of Max for some reason!