I’d love to hear some of your top choices, that you personally can’t use for whichever reason. Why can’t you use them?
[name_f]Laura[/name_f], because a dear friend chose it
[name_f]Clara[/name_f], because it is much too close to my own name.
I love [name_f]Jessamy[/name_f] and [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] but they rhyme too closely with my surname. ”
Names vetoed by DH include - [name_f]Clodagh[/name_f], [name_f]Aislinn[/name_f], [name_f]Annora[/name_f], [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f], [name_f]Claudia[/name_f], [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] and [name_f]Jessamine[/name_f].
Names I’m not brave enough to use (i.e. guilty pleasures) - [name_f]Annabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Cassia[/name_f], [name_f]Cressida[/name_f], [name_f]Clothilde[/name_f], [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] [name_f]Mariska[/name_f], and [name_f]Lorelei[/name_f].
I’m sure there’s more, but can’t think of them!
[name_f]Celestia[/name_f] - [name_m]Friend[/name_m]'s name
[name_m]Jacob[/name_m] - Two members in my family are already named it
[name_f]Isabella[/name_f] - Loved the name unitl a girl in highschool with the same name was not so nice to me
[name_f]Mia[/name_f] - My sister adores this name and I couldn’t take that from her
[name_u]Michael[/name_u] - I have an ex with named this
[name_m]Christopher[/name_m] - I’ve known 5 [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]'s most of which haven’t left the best impressions
[name_f]Birdie[/name_f] and [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] because dh vetoed. And [name_f]Indi[/name_f] because my last name is cline.
[name_u]Hero[/name_u], Saro, [name_u]Caro[/name_u], [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_u]Jude[/name_u]: too close to DD’s name
[name_f]Katya[/name_f], [name_f]Katinka[/name_f], [name_f]Kitty[/name_f]: too close to DS’s name
[name_f]Saskia[/name_f], [name_f]Esther[/name_f], [name_m]Pippin[/name_m], [name_f]Arrietty[/name_f], [name_f]Ida[/name_f], [name_f]Delphi[/name_f]: names taken by close friends or family
[name_f]Zara[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Matilda[/name_f], [name_f]Eve[/name_f], [name_f]Liv[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Flora[/name_f], [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], [name_f]Elinor[/name_f]: too popular, or too close to a very popular name
[name_f]Endellion[/name_f], [name_f]Madelief[/name_f], [name_f]Tigerlily[/name_f], [name_u]Vesper[/name_u], Lumen, [name_f]Primrose[/name_f], [name_f]Anoushka[/name_f], [name_f]Theodora[/name_f], [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f], [name_f]Antigone[/name_f]: too much, especially with our surname and sibling names
[name_f]Vita[/name_f], [name_f]Iona[/name_f], [name_u]Bay[/name_u], [name_f]Fern[/name_f], [name_u]Wren[/name_u], [name_f]Clover[/name_f]: don’t work with the surname
[name_f]Meg[/name_f], [name_f]Pippa[/name_f], [name_f]Gwen[/name_f], [name_m]Sol[/name_m], Lupin: vetoed by DH
[name_f]Lorelai[/name_f]- anyone I brings this name up to brings up [name_m]Gilmore[/name_m] girls
[name_f]Winifred[/name_f]- partner vetoed it because it just made him think of the character in Hocus Pocus
[name_f]Rhiannon[/name_f]- also vetoed by my partner because of the [name_m]Fleetwood[/name_m] [name_m]Mac[/name_m] song.
[name_f]Penelope[/name_f]- too popular
[name_f]Yvaine[/name_f]- seems out if place next to brother’s name/shorter than I woukd personally use for a first name
[name_f]Lydia[/name_f]- surprisingly my partner didn’t veto this one despite the tie to Beetle Juice, but like [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] it’s a little too popular.
The common threads among these names we like but won’t use are ties to iconic pop culture or general popularity.
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f] has always been my favourite name, but unfortunately, my husband doesn’t want to use it at all .
[name_f]Anais[/name_f], anouk- pronunciation issues
[name_u]Vesper[/name_u], verity, [name_f]Cosima[/name_f] and [name_f]Tallulah[/name_f]- DH vetoed them
[name_f]Fara[/name_f], because it sounds odd with my surname. Also most names that begin with Ma or Am and that writes off a lot of my favourite names.
[name_u]Jameson[/name_u] - ex was [name_u]James[/name_u]
[name_f]Elaina[/name_f] - sister is [name_f]Lana[/name_f]
[name_u]Emmett[/name_u], [name_m]Edward[/name_m], [name_f]Esme[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_f]Alice[/name_f] - all out because SO has decided on [name_u]Carlisle[/name_u] and I don’t want to use two names already closely associated
[name_f]Savannah[/name_f] - SO doesn’t care for it
[name_u]Arlo[/name_u] - recently a dog has been adopted into the family and it was named [name_u]Arlo[/name_u]
[name_f]Katrina[/name_f] 
[name_f]Harriet[/name_f], [name_f]Cosima[/name_f]/[name_m]Cosimo[/name_m] and [name_f]Iris[/name_f] are all very similar to the names of childhood friends of mine.
Oleander (I like it for a boy though it’s technically unisex) reminds me too much of my mother’s name
[name_f]Caroline[/name_f] is far too popular for me
[name_f]Philippa[/name_f], because people would call her [name_f]Pippa[/name_f] and that’s a sexual word in Greek, my native language
Edit: Forgot to mention Theodosia and Dorothea, they’re too religious for me since Theos/Thea mean god/godess in Greek and I’m an atheist
Minnie, makes me think of Minnie Mouse right away
[name_f]Mary[/name_f] - with our last name, would sound like “marry right!”
There are lots of first names that sound less than ideal paired with our last name, actually, but not being able to use [name_f]Mary[/name_f] made me saddest.
[name_f]Edie[/name_f] - The baby would have a close relative who goes by [name_f]Addie[/name_f] and I think those names are too close I keep it on my list, but I wouldn’t use it.
Also [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], a dear friend used that for her daughter.
I just had my 3rd and last baby so all the girl names my husband and I agreed on can now never be used. And girl names were so easy for us!!! The ones that make me the saddest are:
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]: was on my list with my daughter but once we made her middle name [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] and [name_f]Bea[/name_f] became one of her nicknames, [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] was forever removed from our lists.
[name_f]Isadora[/name_f]: [name_u]Lennon[/name_u] would have been [name_f]Isadora[/name_f] if he was a girl. I do worry it’s a bit too much for some personality types… but I think it’s so gorgeous.
[name_f]Coretta[/name_f]: [name_m]Truman[/name_m] was most likely going to be [name_f]Coretta[/name_f] had he been a girl.
[name_f]Frieda[/name_f]/ [name_f]Frida[/name_f]: one of our front runners if [name_m]Truman[/name_m] was a girl. The only downside is that if can be spelled so many ways. We would have done one of these spellings to either honor my [name_m]German[/name_m] heritage or honor [name_f]Frida[/name_f] [name_f]Kahlo[/name_f].
[name_f]Melba[/name_f]: obsessed with the name, hate the nickname [name_u]Mel[/name_u].
[name_f]Maris[/name_f]: love the name, don’t like that it can be pronounced a couple different ways.
[name_f]Gilda[/name_f]: [name_u]LOVE[/name_u]! Husband was never as into it as I was.
[name_f]Swanhilda[/name_f] is my ultimate guilty pleasure name. I know it’s too much for a child born in 2018 [name_u]America[/name_u] to carry but I think it’s so beautiful and quirky and fun and I love the ballet connection.
[name_f]Lorna[/name_f] is the only L name I would have considered to finish our sib set after [name_f]Lucille[/name_f] and [name_u]Lennon[/name_u]. I think it’s so simple and beautiful and I love the book [name_f]Lorna[/name_f] [name_u]Doone[/name_u]. But ultimately I didn’t want a 3rd L name as it made all my kids names seem a bit too corny.
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f] and [name_f]Indie[/name_f]
Family members used these names unfortunately
[name_f]Virginia[/name_f], for obvious reasons.
[name_f]Theodora[/name_f] - I love the name in full but don’t like any of the nick names.
[name_f]Margot[/name_f] - I don’t like [name_f]Margo[/name_f], but the -t ending might cause pronunciation issues outside of [name_f]France[/name_f] (plus, it looks too similar to ‘maggot’ when written).
[name_f]Rhea[/name_f] - sounds too similar to [name_f]Leah[/name_f], which is a family member’s name.
I forgot to mention [name_f]Adele[/name_f]! I love this name, but it’s too associated with the singer for me to actually use it.