My shortlists regularly run a little bit wild and I have to put my sensible hat on and think realistically about which names I could actually see us using.
I’m curious how others do it? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have a limit to how many names are allowed on the shortlist? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you only include names you know would pass the OH test? [name_m]How[/name_m] many of your top names would you actually be deciding between if you had a baby tomorrow?
Our short list consists of 3 girls’ names and 5 boys’ names. I don’t use them or say them much, except to our closest friends.
My short list is 5 boys names and 5 girls names. They’re not combos and they’re names that I can actually see myself using and would be able to use.
My short list is;
[name_u]Jesse[/name_u] & [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]
[name_m]Will[/name_m] & [name_f]Felicity[/name_f]
[name_m]Connor[/name_m] & [name_f]Hallie[/name_f]
[name_u]Noah[/name_u] & [name_f]Lilia[/name_f]
[name_m]Henry[/name_m] & [name_f]Thea[/name_f]
My shortlist is about 5ish names for each gender. In my heart I think I have a top two for girls (Fiona and Aurelia), but I would stay open to another 2 or 3 options to pick from when it’s time. This actually applies to my middle names as well, since they all have personal significance and I would need to see which one fit the best on a real person. (I have a top 2 for those as well that I’d most likely use.)
I feel a little less picky with boys, but my shortlist for them is about 5ish names I would be happy using. I’m probably going to use the middle name Jeffrey regardless, to honor my father, so my partner would probably have the final say on the first name out of the shortlist :).
Regarding passing the partner test, that’s a tough one. My current partner is on board with some of my favorite names but not all of them, which has actually helped narrow them down a bit. I would keep one or two “non-approved” names on the list if I really loved them though, just in case!
i have five girl combos and three boy combos
Three names - 2 for girls, [name_f]Sarai[/name_f] and [name_f]Florence[/name_f], and 1 boy’s name - [name_u]Tristan[/name_u] (though [name_u]Beau[/name_u] or [name_u]Keegan[/name_u] are sometimes included)
My shortlist is maximum 5 names for each gender, middles included. I used to just put each names I love but now I only out names I can see myself using in the future.
My lists in their entirety are about 30 names for each sex. I have about 6-8 that stand out as “I would definitely use this” names.
I usually try to keep my lists 5 names and under. If that’s possible haha 
My short lists have 25 names each, separated into 5 “layers” of 5 names. My short lists are actually quite short if you take into consideration that my long lists have over 300 names for boys and 400 names for girls
Since I’m not in a position to need a super short shortlist, being a single college freshman, my “short” list contains about 15 names for each. I’d say that my signature is a pretty good representation of my shortlist with the girl’s being slightly longer.
I am quite sure of my top names and don’t have an S/O, so I’m quite set on just using them, but I have other options if I really couldn’t use them, which I guess would be my shortlist. I only started making shortlists recently, but they’re a bit complicated. I want my first daughter’s name to have a good meaning, so some names on my girls’ shortlist I wouldn’t actually consider if I had a daughter today, but I would think about for a second daughter, if that makes sense. As of now the names I love and fit that criteria are [name_f]Pandora[/name_f], [name_f]Phaedra[/name_f], [name_f]Zelda[/name_f], and [name_f]Adira[/name_f], so technically I have 4 name on my shortlist, but I actually have 14, including sister names that I love for the above.
My boys are less confusing, as I would consider most of the names on there for a son today (as well as siblings), but there is more of an order of preference with them, so I can’t imagine picking a name lower down. I have 13 on there.
My “short” lists used to be very long, with around 15 names per sex. That was when I was younger, and more importantly, single. Since I have had my husband in my life, my lists have somewhat changed, as we have to find names that we both like. As it stands now, our actual shortlist (discounting names that we just like in theory, but aren’t actual contenders, and individual names we haven’t matched yet) has 2 boy names and 1 girl name. It could change, but I don’t see the list getting too big again.
We don’t really have a set process on creating a shortlist. They just have to be names that both of us like and could see ourselves using everyday, plus be names that we feel would suit a child/adult well. Keeping our thoughts on “wearability” and the potential children who would have to use the names definitely helps keep our tastes and lists in check. That’s why I think we’d be happy with using any of our top names, if we had a child to name immediately.
I have about three names I would definitely use for a boy, and five for a girl. I didn’t intend my list to be so short (in fact I wish I could find more boys names that I love as much as the top three) but I’m extremely picky.
I don’t really keep a shortlist, though of course I do have favorite names from my long list.
My thought process has always been that DH and I typically butt heads in a lot of things (love him to death, but we’re just both incredibly bullheaded), so why try and narrow myself down when there’s a very high likelihood that he’ll hate my entire shortlist. In attempting to name our first child that has become a godsend given that he took my long list from over 200 girl’s names to less than 40 in about 15 minutes and the best thing he had to say about any of those names is that they’re “not completely terrible.”
This has been really interesting to read!
My boys’ shortlist is quite long compared to many of yours (10+) but I have a definite favourite if we have another boy, and another couple of second-tier favourites just in case. The order of preference has been pretty stable for a while.
My girls’ shortlist just always seems so much more complicated! I love plenty of names, but the order changes frequently, I find new favourites, I’m not sure some of them “go” with my other kids’ names, I have too many I want to use and can actually see us using, etc. etc. Sigh. Right now, I’ve got a top 2-3 that would be real contenders if we had another girl tomorrow, but I expect that will have completely changed again if and when the time actually comes!
I have around 15 names on my boys list and maybe 10 on my girls list. I used to have 30+ names on each list, but I started trying to limit myself to no more than 15 names. I only add names that I would 100% use.
I am actually not 100% sure myself. There are about 12 (or more?) girls’ names I can actually imagine myself using, and about 7-8 boys’ names. I tend to like similar names though, so if I already use one I may not get to use the other even if both are in my short list. Last but not least, I am single right now, so while I do have top picks, I’d rather keep a longer list (so if my possible future SO dislikes one, I am still hopeful he likes another, haha) than have a fix top five or something.
I’m much more sure of girls names - I have 2 names on the shortlist, with a second tier of 1 name.
As for boys names… the list is probably 10+ names. I’m much more uncertain and the names rotate in and out of the list a lot.
I have about eight-ish combos as a mental shortlist per gender, a few of which are relatively stable (my boys more so than my girls) and the rest which switch out relatively frequently. But, as I’m in no position to have children anytime soon, I’m not too concerned about the length of my written shortlist (about twenty) as, according to my logic, I need a longer list to present my future SO with should I ever have children and they be a particularly picky namer :).