My not-so-short shortlist, tell me what you think.

[Tobermory]

DC2 is due in early June, so lots of time to really panic about names but already have a substantial shortlist.

DSS is Seb
DD1 is known as Bella
Our surname is 2 syllables and begins with P

Violet (my fave)
Alice
Freya
Felicity (put off by not having found a 'nice' shortenable version)
Beatrix/Beatrice
Juliette
Eliza ( v similar name to 2 members of close family)
Pippa
Emily ( DHs current fave)
Olivia (put off by its popularity)

Gabriel ( my fave if we are brave enough)
Christopher ( known as Kit- I like Kit but really put off by Christopher)
Noah
Oliver ( loved this name for a long time but worried its too popular)
Barnaby (Silly havign two B names?)
Tobias (like this but DC would be known as Toby, and would share his name with a close family members pet!)
Henry
Isaac
Leo

There aren't any of those that I don't like really. My least favourites are probably Juliette (better without the te at the end) and Henry (too old). Oh, actually I'm not keen on Barnaby as I can't stop thinking of Barnaby Bear!

I think your two favourites are lovely. I may revisit this list in a couple of months...

Oh you have fab taste in names. I love Sebastian (if Seb is nn for that) and I love Belle (is that a group btw?).

Violet - love it
Alice - love it / have one
Freya -nice
Felicity - love it
Beatrix/Beatrice - love the latter
Juliette - don't like the tte but love Juliet
Eliza ( v similar name to 2 members of close family) - love Elizabeth
Pippa - less fond
Emily - love it
Olivia - like but don't love

Gabriel - love it; no need for bravery
Christopher - okay - like Kit a lot
Noah - love it
Oliver - love it
Barnaby - my fave LOVE it
Tobias - love it
Henry - don't like
Isaac - love it
Leo - less fond

I think this is the nicest list in the history of name threads actually!

Oh I meant to say, could you not just use Kit and forget Christopher? Loads of people use a shortened version as the given name these days - Katie for example. Or would you consider Kester - an old form of Christopher and my DS's middle name.

gaellicsheep - juliette is not on my 'love it ' list. Its mainly there because i wondered if it might turn into a grower.

janeite, I felt very exposed writing my list of names for some reason and was almost afraid to come back and read peoples responses

thankyou

I think Kit on its own would be preferable to Christopher but is it a name in its own right? You know, you do the test.. would a high court judge be called Kit?

Maybe?

I've got a Noah so really love it

Like Gabriel, Toby, Isaac and Leo too.

Like Freya, Emily and Alice.

I dunno. I know exactly what you mean. Actually I think yes, on balance it could work on its own.

BUT, I just asked DH what he thinks of Kit and he nearly fell off his chair. Apparently it's the Knightrider car (I was thinking of a book, but that's Kes apparently), so maybe it's not such a great idea...

Unusually good list for MN!

Violet is great.
Felicity is great (I had a thread a couple of months ago asking for nn's for this, which you might like to look for if you haven't seen it already) and one of the 2 girls' names that we will be choosing between this time if we have another girl.
Pippa is fabulous (would you use Philippa with Pippa as a nn?).

I always find boys much harder.
I like Barnaby but have concerns about Barnaby Bear too.
I think you should go with gaelicsheep's Kester for a boy. I want it but dh has vetoed .
Otherwise prob Tobias from your list.

My absolute favourite boys' name at the mo (not that I will ever get to use it) is Benedict - just to throw another one into the list. Kester is quite sweet but on the whole am less fond of 'K' names.

i love Eliza, Juliet and Beatrix.

I like Leo best from your boys list.

CSWS - I'm gutted that we used up Kester for one of DS1's middle names. We never expected to be able to have more than one child. If this one's a boy I think we've used up all of our favourite names!

lol gs - we have the same problem with having given ds Elliot as his middle name, as that's the only name we agree on liking this time!

Gaellicsheep - your DH is right it is the name of the knightrider car...I didn't make that connection immediately though.
Does that make it a no-go?
Will every person over the age of 30 hear the name and think of a talking car?!

Can'tsleep - I also worry about the barnaby bear thing.... am not convinced how well Barney makes the transition from cute baby to grown-up.

Janeite - I like Benedict but not so keen on Ben which it would inevitably get shortened to!

I'm at having just referred to DS as DS1. I wonder if I know something subconsciously??

I think it was more the falling off his chair reaction that got me. I still like it and it definitely was not my first thought.

Violet - not too keen, sorry
Alice - ok
Freya - ok, pretty
Felicity - not keen; my DH quite likes this name apparently
Beatrix/Beatrice - quite pretty
Juliette - not very keen
Eliza - prefer Elizabeth
Pippa - I see this as a nn for Phillipa
Emily - nice traditional name quite popular
Olivia - my fave from your list; popular but nice

Gabriel - not sure
Christopher - OK, not that bothered about it
Noah - OK
Oliver - my favourite and wha DD would have been called if she'd been a boy
Barnaby - don't like this
Tobias - quite like Tobias, less keen on Toby
Henry - quite nice
Isaac - OK
Leo - not keen

Pippa and Tobias for me - cos I have Piper and Toby.

Favourites: Beatrice & Henry

Least favourites: Pippa & Leo

Violet (my fave) NOT KEEN
Alice NOT KEEN
Freya OK
Felicity NOT KEEN
Beatrix/Beatrice NOT KEEN
Juliette...LIKE
Eliza ..NOT KEEN
Emily NOT KEEN
Olivia OK

Gabriel REALLY DISLIKE
Christopher BORING
Noah LOVE IT
Oliver FAR TOO POPULAR
Barnaby REALLY DISLIKE
Tobias NOT KEEN
Henry OK
Isaac LIKE
Leo LOVE IT

Love Pippa, (not Phillipa)
" Eliza
" Freya
" Juliette
Like Beatrix
" Violet
" Alice
not so much Beatrice
" Olivia
" Emily
don't like Felicity, sorry
I would put:
-Gabriel
-Christopher
-Oliver
-Isaac
-Leo
Above:
-Noah
-Barnaby
-Tobias
-Henry

Ooh, lovely list!

I LOVE Violet - def my favourite.
Felicity not so keen, though for nicknames you can have Fliss or Flic.
Pippa - don't really like.
Emily/Olivia - nice but v popular.
Like all the other girls names but not as much as Violet.

Boys - like them all apart from Barnaby and Tobias. My favourites are Gabriel and Noah.

Great list! I am expecting in June and my current list looks a little like yours!

Violet - LOVE love love! Wish my friend hadn't called her baby Violet in June..
Alice - It's OK
Freya - Love
Felicity - Love the full version, not the nn's
Beatrix/Beatrice - Beatrice is lovely
Juliette - Not so keen
Eliza - Lovely
Pippa - Not so keen
Emily - Lovely
Olivia - Popular but lovely

Gabriel - Gorgeous
Christopher - Similarly to you, I love this but I'm put off by thinking of a baby 'Christopher'. I am using this for my DC's middle name if they are a boy.
Noah - Looove
Oliver - Popular but lovely
Barnaby - I'm not so keen on this one
Tobias - Lovely, DC vetoed. Boo
Henry - Like
Isaac - Like
Leo - Like

Great names, lots similar to mine. As for Freya, I wouldn't worry about shortening it, my DD has a 2 syllable name that can't really be shortened and I've never felt like it needed to be.