Ooh, good game!
Names I like but just can't or won't use:
Axel:
Love this boy name but just don't think I have the guts to give it a go...even for a sweet child o' mine.
Rupert:
Hubs loves this name but I just can't bring myself to use it. Esp if we were ever to move back to the Midwest where I'm from. Ruperts get beaten up. By Brads, Jeffs, Mikes and Daves. Just can't do it... Plus it sounds too pauncy and posh to my ears.
Hercules:
Hubs loves this name, as well. Though maybe he just says he does to make me laugh? Either way, I just can't do this to a child...especially if he's a little weedy kid who's not a natural risk-taker. Can you imagine it?! Oh, it does make me laugh. Hubs and I laugh a lot about this. At swimming lessons. Time to jump off the diving board for the first time. Plop, plop, plop. In they all go. Except my kid who remains at the end of the diving board, shaking with fear, gazing into the abyss. Teenager swimming teacher below, just about setting new record for treading water, yells up to my kid in an attempt to encourage him, "Hey, kid, what's your name?" The scared little voice replies, "Hercules". !!! Can you just imagine it?
Noah:
I like the sound of this name but it's just too Biblical for me, I'm afraid.
Elizabeth:
I love this name. The name of my grandmother who was very special to me. As much as I'd like to use this name, I feel I can't because I like names that aren't shortened. I like the name to be used as it is. And Elizabeth, perhaps more than any other name, has a huge number of nicknames that people may impose, and I feel we'd be fighting a losing battle. Maaaaybe I'll come 'round on this one but I expect not. Sniffle, sniffle.
Hermione:
I've loved this name for ages and ages. Every since meeting a very cool friend of a friend with this name. Then Harry Potter came out. Oh, JK Rowling. Why did you do this to me?! Now I can't name my clever, sporty, witty yet-to-be-conceived daughter Hermione! Boohoo.
Coco:
Interesting that this name appears on loads of people's list! I like the name very much. Then Courtney Cox named her baby Coco. More problematic is that baby's surname has these sounds. Just too similar. Too matchy matchy. Sad! (Maybe a nickname?!)
Esme:
I really like this name. I like the sound of it. And I like that it's familiar yet kinda special all at the same time. My problems with it are two-fold:
(1) As it's a French name, I feel it really should have an extra 'e' on it (for a girl's name) and I think it will be let off, dropped, some people might remember 'oh there's an extra something toward the end of her name', and add an extra 'm' instead of 'e';
(2) I just think in English giving a kid with an accent is troublesome. People don't know how to format them in Word. Sometimes it'll be included. Other times it won't be. And I think a name should be consistent and 'dependable'. Very sad because I like this name very much!
Sylvia:
I also really like this name. Sounds nice. Recognisable but not too boring or 'old'. Problem is: I just can't get the 'Oh, Sylvia?' 'Yes Mickey?' 'How do you call your loverboy?' 'COME 'ERE, loverboy' 1950s song out of my head when I hear the name. (Remember the dance studio scene from Dirty Dancing?). I do love the song and I love the name but just can't summon up the courage to name my daughter this.
Lillian:
I like the name but somehow it's too 'L' heavy. And as someone who likes to think she generally has good annunciation skills (I'm a language teacher), this is saying something. Just can't do it sadly
Francesca:
I do like this name but think it's just a bit too Italian for me to have the guts to use it.
A few names I'll never use because I just don't like them:
Deirdre:
Can't stand this name.
Madison/Madyson/Maddyson/Matison/Mattison/Mattysen:
Enough already.
Willow:
To me, willow is a dropsy tree that sheds branches I need to pick-up before I mow the lawn. Not a positive association for me.
India:
I'd no sooner name a daughter India than I'd name her Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
Eve:
Too Garden of Eden for me. Also, that classic movie about multiple personality disorder. Not good. For this reason I also wouldn't choose Evie.
All I can think of now...