Recently I’ve been going through a bit of ‘name upheaval’; lots of new crushes & feeling a bit uninspired with old favourites. So I decided to put together some shortlists of the solid core of names I’ve loved for a long time & still love now:
[name_u]Arden[/name_u], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Naomi[/name_f]
[name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Arthur[/name_u], [name_m]Nathan[/name_m], [name_m]Raphael[/name_m], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], [name_u]Henry[/name_u], [name_u]Milo[/name_u]
These are by no means my only loves (like I said looooads of new crushes recently), but they’ve been on my lists for a long time & still give me a happy feeling now! So my question is from each list, which is your favourite & which would you drop? If you could explain each decision that would be great, but feel free to just list the names!
These lists are lovely 
[name_f]My[/name_f] favourites:
[name_f]Clara[/name_f]: bright, clear, pretty and lovely with solidness too
[name_m]Raphael[/name_m]: elegant, arty and cool with cute nn [name_m]Raffy[/name_m] too!
(runners up are the charming, strong but sweet [name_u]Henry[/name_u], and the sparkly Eliza)
[name_f]My[/name_f] least favourites:
[name_u]Arden[/name_u]: I don’t hate it, however, it does remind me of someone saying ‘harden’ by dropping the H and it puts me off?
[name_u]James[/name_u]: I know, I know it’s a solid, well loved classic, but it gives me the feeling of chewing sawdust or sitting through your least favourite lesson at school 
sorry!
[name_f]My[/name_f] favourites are [name_f]Rose[/name_f] & [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]. They’re both timeless classics, they feel elegant and they never get boring.
I think I’d drop [name_u]Arden[/name_u] & [name_m]Nathan[/name_m]. [name_u]Arden[/name_u] feels trendy to me, which isn’t a bad thing by itself, it just doesn’t have any spark for me and blends in with all the trendy names. [name_m]Nathan[/name_m] is just not a favourite of mine. I like [name_m]Nate[/name_m], I like [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m], but [name_m]Nathan[/name_m] somehow doesn’t do it for me.
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorites are [name_f]Anna[/name_f] and [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], and my least favorites are [name_u]Arden[/name_u] and [name_u]Henry[/name_u]. They’re all lovely names, and I chose based on which sounds appeal to me most and least.
Absolutely love [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Naomi[/name_f], [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Raphael[/name_m], and [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] too!
favorites: [name_f]Iris[/name_f] & [name_u]Milo[/name_u]
least favorites: [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] & [name_u]James[/name_u]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f] and [name_u]Milo[/name_u] are both soft, sweet, warm, and cuddly!
[name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] and [name_u]James[/name_u] both feel very overused, which makes them feel plain and expected to me!
I also really love [name_m]Raphael[/name_m] and [name_u]Henry[/name_u], and I like [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] and Arden!!
Favorites: [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_u]Milo[/name_u]
Least favorites: [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f]
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorites are [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_m]Raphael[/name_m], [name_u]Milo[/name_u], & [name_u]Henry[/name_u]. 
Funnily enough, I love the look and sounds of [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] more than [name_f]Iris[/name_f] and [name_f]Naomi[/name_f], however, [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] has been used so much and for so long that she just doesn’t excite me anymore. So [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] might be one I’d drop, unfortunately.
[name_u]James[/name_u] & [name_m]Nathan[/name_m] are handsome, but just like [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], I’ve known so many! I think I’d drop either of these.
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorite:
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] - a classic name that still feels fresh when it is ever used a first name.
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] - like [name_f]Rose[/name_f], it’s very classic but still not too common and the nickname [name_f]Annie[/name_f] is really cute.
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m] - such a classic and timeless name
[name_m]Nathan[/name_m] - ^^
[name_f]My[/name_f] least favorite:
[name_u]Arden[/name_u]: just looks out of place among your other names
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f]: nothing is wrong with it, but I prefer it as a nn for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
[name_m]Raphael[/name_m]: to me since the new TMNT movie came out, it’s too tied to the franchise.
[name_f]My[/name_f] favourite from the girls is [name_f]Iris[/name_f], I think it has a cool sound and lovely meaning. [name_f]My[/name_f] least favourite is [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], something about it is a bit clunky to me.
[name_f]My[/name_f] favourite from the boys is [name_u]Arthur[/name_u], it has the cool nickname possibility of [name_m]Art[/name_m] while also having a soft, warm vibe. [name_f]My[/name_f] least favourite is [name_m]Nathan[/name_m], I just don’t find it very inspiring.
[name_f]Special[/name_f] mention to [name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_m]Raphael[/name_m] which are my second favourites.
Favourites:
[name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f] & [name_f]Clara[/name_f]
[name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] & [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
Least Favs:
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] & [name_u]Arden[/name_u]
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f], because I am simply not a fan whereas [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] & [name_u]Arden[/name_u] don’t go well with the rest.
I like all your boy names but if I had eliminate a few, then it would [name_m]Nathan[/name_m] & [name_u]Milo[/name_u].
favourites: eliza & james - classic, lovely appealing sound, nice associations
least favourites: iris & henry - slightly irrational but i don’t really like the sounds, i think it’s the long ‘i’ and ‘ree’ but there’s nothing really wrong with them per se
Favourites:
Clara - it’s a classic that fits very well with your other names, has such a nice sound to it, is so pretty written down, makes me think of elegant and cottagecore-ish imagery which I love and it isn’t too overused.
Nathan -love the vibes, the way it’s written and the sound of it!
Honorable mentions to Rose (of course) and Raphael!
Least favourites:
Arden -
This puts me off after @Greyblue said it. I also think Arden doesn’t quite fit with your other names.
Milo - I like the name, but it kind of looks out of place with your list (but it isn’t extremely unfitting or anything, just a little bit)
And I actually love your list so much!
Least faves:
[name_u]Arden[/name_u]: the similarity to harden bugs me a bit and the more modern/unisex vibes isn’t really my thing.
[name_m]Alexander[/name_m]: I like how classic it is but between all the variations I feel like I’ve known 8 thousand Alexs.
Faves:
[name_f]Anna[/name_f]: I’m a huge [name_f]Annie[/name_f] fan and by extension most [name_u]Anne[/name_u] names and I really like how graceful it is an the elegant simplicity of it.
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m]: I love this name and can’t personally use it so I’m always really excited to see it other people’s lists.