So I’ve been finding in the process of looking for names I keep coming across names that I absolutely love but couldn’t ever see giving to my kid. Some of them sound weird with our last name, some of them are just not that accessible for an American audience. [name_f]My[/name_f] favorite unusable names are:
[name_f]Titania[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleni[/name_f]
[name_f]Ilona[/name_f]
[name_f]Liesl[/name_f]
What about yours? Any thoughts?
[name_u]Phoenix[/name_u] (hubby won’t allow)
[name_f]Alyx[/name_f]
[name_f]Marlena[/name_f]
Kalia
Names I love but don’t see myself giving them to a child?
[name_f]Every[/name_f] English name that doesn’t have a [name_m]German[/name_m] pronunciation I like. Well at least not as a first name.
Those would be:
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Violet[/name_f]
[name_f]Madeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Juliette[/name_f]
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - I’ve loved [name_f]Clara[/name_f] for a long time but I feel like it’s not for me.
I have the same problem as opheliaflora - many names that sound awesome in English but awful in [name_m]German[/name_m] 
For example:
[name_f]Isla[/name_f]
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]
[name_u]Keeley[/name_u]
[name_u]Piper[/name_u]
[name_f]Lux[/name_f].
I adoreeee this name but I know it will cause all sorts of nn problems…
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f]
[name_f]Cordelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Louisa[/name_f]
[name_f]Scarlett[/name_f]
[name_f]My[/name_f] partner loves it but I’m completely turned-off the name by the character [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f] from ‘Gone with the Wind’. I also find [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f] Johansson nauseating. So, this lovely name doesn’t have a lot of positive connotations for me personally. Otherwise, it’s a very pretty, feminine and enchanting name that is absolutely beautiful when I hear it on others.
[name_f]Linnea[/name_f] - what a gorgeous name, but it feels a bit frilly for a first name to me
[name_f]Stella[/name_f] - was my number one name until I met my husband :(, he despises it
[name_m]Jethro[/name_m] - I’m not sure I can get past some of the negative associations, but I do love it
[name_m]Archer[/name_m] - my mums maiden name, very handsome, but I hate the nn [name_m]Archie[/name_m]
[name_f]Domitille[/name_f] - unpronounceable for many, and maybe a little harsh
[name_f]Orla[/name_f] - teasing potential
[name_f]Ailis[/name_f] - pronunciation
[name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f] - pronunciation
[name_f]Apolline[/name_f] - family name, love it, but feels like a bit “much”
[name_f]Betsy[/name_f] - I’d only feel comfortable using it as a nickname, but I’m not too enamored of most of the names it can be short for - yet I couldn’t bring myself to use just [name_f]Betsy[/name_f]. [name_f]Annabeth[/name_f] is the long form I’d most likely use.
I love some more exotic (for us) sounding names but they don’t work with our daughters or our mundane last name
[name_f]Leonie[/name_f]
[name_u]Simone[/name_u]
[name_f]Francesca[/name_f]
[name_f]Lilou[/name_f]
We also love clunky names but again with our girls and also our last name, Cook, I get the image of a scullery maid
[name_f]Edith[/name_f]
[name_f]Agnes[/name_f]
[name_f]Frances[/name_f]
[name_f]Olive[/name_f]
[name_f]Winifred[/name_f]
Probably for me those ruled out by my husband
[name_m]Rafferty[/name_m] and [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] which I love
And those that sound bad with our surname
Bartholemew (our surname is like Simpsons)!
I absolutely adore [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] / [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] but everyone I know can’t pronounce it correctly and that would forever annoy me so I can’t use it.
I pronounce it Be-ah-trice / Be-ah-trix
Everyone else I know pronounces it’s beat-rice / beat - rix.
I would say 90% of the names I love would never make an ACTUAL short list of baby names. So, way too many to list. The ones that come to mind immediately are [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], [name_f]Persephone[/name_f], [name_f]Atalanta[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_f]Oceane[/name_f], [name_f]Afton[/name_f], [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], [name_f]Christiana[/name_f], [name_f]Belle[/name_f], [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f]… for various reasons.
When I was pg last year, I loved the name [name_f]Emmanuella[/name_f] for a girl. I didn’t want to shorten it and at 5 syllables it was just too much of a mouthful.
We also like Kormak for a boy (DH’s family has a tradition of using names that start with K, so [name_m]Cormac[/name_m] wouldn’t have worked). We looked it up and it is a legit spelling, but it just looked too kre8ive for our tastes.
I love about 714 million names, and can only see myself using about 8. So… I’ll just stick with some serious loves.
[name_f]Alyssa[/name_f], [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], [name_f]Annabel[/name_f], [name_f]Bridget[/name_f], [name_u]Brooke[/name_u], [name_f]Evie[/name_f], [name_f]Fiona[/name_f], [name_u]Hadley[/name_u], [name_f]Laura[/name_f], [name_f]Lucie[/name_f], [name_f]Maeve[/name_f], [name_f]Noelle[/name_f], [name_f]Sadie[/name_f], [name_f]Valerie[/name_f], [name_f]Vera[/name_f], & [name_f]Wendy[/name_f]
[name_f]Imogen[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f]
[name_f]Rachael[/name_f]
[name_f]Briony[/name_f]
Oh my goodness, I adore [name_f]Eleni[/name_f], too! It’s been on my list for years. I’m not sure I’d have the guts to go through with it, but since I can so easily see me with a little [name_f]Leni[/name_f], it stays for now. I might just opt for [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] nn [name_f]Eleni[/name_f]/[name_f]Leni[/name_f], though, because [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] seems to be more like my style.
For me:
[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] (I love it and it’s gorgeous, but there’s no real nns I love, so I can never commit to it)
[name_f]Odilia[/name_f] (similar for [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] for me. I love its [name_m]German[/name_m] roots and the story of St. [name_f]Odilia[/name_f], but I feel like everyone would always spell it [name_f]Odelia[/name_f] instead (which I don’t like nearly as much) and I’m not really a fan of the nns. I thought of maybe getting [name_f]Lili[/name_f]/[name_f]Lily[/name_f] from it, but I’m not sold)
Madelief (I think my family would kill me if I used it, but I love it so much!)
And then I just have names I really, really, really love, and flirt with using all the time, but I just can’t commit to them. Not because they’re too GP-ish, or because they sound bad with my surname, or because a SO refused to let me use them… I just can’t commit to them up front. [name_f]Adeline[/name_f], [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f], and [name_f]Zara[/name_f] are the foremost on this list, but I’m sure there are others I can’t think of. On this same list would also be [name_m]Peter[/name_m], [name_m]Linus[/name_m], [name_m]Calvin[/name_m], and [name_m]Charles[/name_m] for boys.
Hmmm probably because I wouldn’t have the guts to name them as where I am there are pretty common names
[name_f]My[/name_f] favs that I wouldn’t give:
[name_f]Leonor[/name_f]/[name_f]Lenore[/name_f]/[name_f]Leonore[/name_f]
[name_u]Vivian[/name_u]/[name_u]Vivien[/name_u]/[name_f]Vivienne[/name_f] (maybe I would)
[name_f]Penelope[/name_f]
[name_f]Clara[/name_f]
[name_u]Quinn[/name_u]
[name_f]Olive[/name_f]
[name_f]Hazel[/name_f]
[name_u]Dylan[/name_u](yes for a girl)
[name_u]Frankie[/name_u](also girl)
[name_f]Harlow[/name_f]
[name_u]Blair[/name_u]/[name_u]Blaire[/name_u]
[name_f]Lila[/name_f] (Lie lah)
[name_f]Nala[/name_f]
[name_f]Marina[/name_f]
[name_f]Anja[/name_f]/[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
[name_f]Nia[/name_f] (knee ah)
Aia (Eye ah)
Isäbell
I just dont see myself using these, yet I love them, or I’m not brave enough to use them
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Ivy[/name_f]
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Lauren[/name_f]
[name_f]Bessie[/name_f]
Eirlys
Eirys
[name_f]Saoirse[/name_f]
[name_f]Aoife[/name_f]
[name_u]Aoibheann[/name_u]
[name_u]Darcy[/name_u]
[name_u]Addison[/name_u]
[name_u]Hunter[/name_u]
[name_u]Hudson[/name_u]
[name_u]Ryan[/name_u]
[name_m]Caradoc[/name_m]
well…
[name_f]Zelda[/name_f]
[name_f]Naya[/name_f]
[name_u]Ever[/name_u]
[name_f]Delphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Zinnia[/name_f]
[name_u]Rue[/name_u]
[name_f]Capri[/name_f]
[name_f]Parisa[/name_f]
I just alove all, but when I say them out loud, they just don’t sound like the right names for. But I think they are all stunning.
And I’m also afraid that [name_f]Capri[/name_f] might be teased with CapriSun or gets called Carp.