[name_m]Hi[/name_m] ,
So if you’ve seen my 75 bajillion posts you know I’m incapable of letting names go. I may let them go for a bit but they nearly always come right back. How do y’all do it?
First of all, I just wanna say that you don’t have to let names go! It’s perfectly fine to love a bunch of names and then have a long list.
One thing I’ll suggest is going through your list and creating a separate list with names you absolutely love or are very special to you. If you’re keeping a list for future children’s names, use this list to sort names you can’t imagine not using.
Another suggestion is kinda the opposite; go through your list and weed out the names that you don’t have a strong attachment too, that you’d be perfectly fine if you don’t use. This might help you find the names that you could want to get rid of, or even make a separate ‘names I kind of like’ list with.
I think my biggest tip would be to separate your big list into multiple smaller ones! Maybe based on the aesthetic or imagery they give you, newer vs older loves, origins, anything will go!
I personally have three lists: my ‘shortlist’ with names I love and realistically would use on my children; a ‘longlist’ with names that are unusable for me or I just don’t adore but still stick to me, you get the idea. Then, I have the ‘thinking about’ list where I put all the names that I’ve, well, been thinking about! Maybe I’ve heard them used on a person, maybe I saw it here on NB but I’m still not sure about. [name_f]Every[/name_f] now and then, I go through these names and add a few to my longlist if I still like them!
I hope this helps!
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I don’t 
Maybe it’s because I’m not planning on having kids, but I have long, long lists that I just keep - I showcase some, or share them with others, I enjoy just playing about with them, making combos and just knowing a lot of names. Sure, I’ve got a few that I might name a child in the unlikely event I have one, but otherwise I keep them just for fun, or to name characters, pets, plants, etc.
You could try having a couple of different lists? One big name bank of everything you like, and smaller lists of favourites? Like, you don’t have to let go of them. but you don’t have to have them all on your more refined list if you find it overwhelming?
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I’ll add that if you can’t pick out top favourites, you could separate them into lists categorised by other things, like initial, specific imagery, number of letters, names that best suit an eldest, middle or youngest child- anything at all. Then you’ve got, say, ten lists, each containing what may feel like a more manageable amount of names. I agree that you don’t need to let any names go, all that you love can be kept and treasured. I think good old time is what leads to most letting go. This time next year you’ll find that you look at some names differently, some have lost their shine, or you’ve developed some new association which makes you strike the name off etc!
Is there a specific reason (or set of reasons) that makes you unhappy about keeping a big list of names?
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I see everyone with these nicely curated lists where everything goes together and they have long descriptions about how every name fits and makes their heart sing. And in comparison mine feels like a hoarder house with 3 dead cats hidden under piles of old newspapers.
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Hehe, you are always making me laugh with your descriptions! I do think this may be a case of what you are seeing in posts and UC’s isn’t necessarily the same as the giant lists and name turmoil going on behind the scenes, in many (if not the majority) of cases? Like, the perfectly curated bits are the best sitting room of the house that we let visitors see, then there’s a back room stuffed floor to ceiling with everything from [name_m]Aaron[/name_m] to [name_m]Zanzibar[/name_m] struggling to break free 
Thank you! I wish I could even get a curated side though. I’m going to take your suggestion. Do you have any like imagery/style category suggestions?
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To be honest I’ve got lots of list on my phone still full of things and truly only move things over if I love them. Always things going on that others won’t see. Like others have said, choose your favourites, but still keep the rest. Plus, I’ve recently learned listography is great for those extra long lists. haha 
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