Would love some advice please!

I’m finding it very hard to narrow down my rather large lists of names, and because of this I can’t seem to find any combos I love because there’s so many names on my lists!

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you berries have any advice on how I could make my lists any smaller? I’ve eliminated ones I don’t really really love and any I wouldn’t consider for future children, but I’m still left with so many!

To give you an idea on the size of my lists, I’ve got 20 more unusual, 45 familiar (65 in total) on my boys list and 42 more unusual, 51 familiar (93 (!) in total) on my girls list. As you can see, I need some new ideas on narrowing down!

If anyone has any ideas that could help please let me know!

[name_f]TIA[/name_f]

Go through each name and yell them out loud. [name_f]Do[/name_f] they sound fine when yelled? [name_m]How[/name_m] about spoken softly? [name_m]How[/name_m] about creating scenarios (e.g. “(insert name) dinner is ready!” or “(insert name) do your homework!”)? [name_m]Cross[/name_m] off each name that makes you feel even a hint of awkwardness or names that just don’t sound right said out loud, and then work from there.

Thankyou eoxima! I’ll try that and see where it takes me.

Good advice from @eoxima.

I’d also give some thought (if you haven’t already) to what kinds of names you’d intend to use as first names vs what kinds you’d prefer to use as middle names and separate them along those lines (some could end up on both lists, of course). I have a list of potential first names, a list of family names, and a list of other names that’s probably along similar lines as your “more unusual” list. This works well for me because when I think about creating combinations I’d like to use for actual children, what I’d like to do would be to use a not-too-popular, not-too-out-there sort of first name, one family-related middle name, and one “more unusual” middle name.

If your goal is to put them into combos, you might also consider separating them according to the number of syllables and if you wanted to take that further even, their rhythms (so, a list of one-syllable names; a list of two-syllable names that stress the first syllable; a list of two-syllable names that stress the second syllable; etc). If you figure out theoretically which rhythms you like in combos, you could mix and match them that way - if you know you like four-syllable names that stress the second syllable to have two-syllable middle names that stress the first syllable, like for example [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] [name_f]Katherine[/name_f], having your lists divided that way could save you some headaches).

The other thing I’d say is that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with just having huge lists. Maybe they’re unwieldy, sure, but that’s what rainy days are for! :slight_smile:

I wrote a huge response to this but my computer crashed just as I was about to post it :frowning: So here’s a condensed version of what I said.

In addition to eoxima’s advice, I’d say pretend that you are the one with that name. [name_m]How[/name_m] would you feel if you had that name? [name_f]Imagine[/name_f] sending out resumes or seeing resumes with that name. [name_f]Imagine[/name_f] it on a college application. [name_f]Imagine[/name_f] having it called out at Starbucks or in a waiting room. [name_f]Imagine[/name_f] it on a Kindergarten wall or high school locker. [name_f]Imagine[/name_f] someone having that name saved in their phone. Basically, take everyday situations where you see or use names and insert your own favorites. Some of them “fit” and some don’t - maybe those are just better as middles. I’ve done this, and it’s helped me narrow down my first names list immensely because a lot of names I like seem rather awkward when envisioning these situations.

Could you group them?

For example if you have [name_f]Elodie[/name_f], [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] and [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] - pick a favourite.

Thankyou so much to all of you, these ideas are great! I’ve noted all your suggestions down and am now waiting for a rainy day to go through my lists! Once again, thankyou to you all.