HELP! We only have one boy & one girl name! - Pregnancy, Birth & Baby Forums ~ BellyBelly

Hummingbird · #1 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 04:10 PM

Hi Everyone

DH and I are having trouble getting more options for names....our bub is due in January and we really only have 2 front runners (one boy name and one girl name), which I know you really only need to have one but as I am fairly indecisive at the best of times I feel I need more options!

Our girls name is Charlotte, we both love the name and an added bonus is that it's MIL's middle name (who I love)...the only downside is that I think it's one of the most popular names...

The boys name is Henry, DH has had his heart set on this for ages and it started with a flat no from me as I thought it was old fashioned but it's really grown on me of late. But I have a habit of shortening everything and you can't really shorten this...'Hen'? perhaps not...though with only 2 sylables maybe you don't need to shorten it?

This has been doing my pregnancy-head in!

The kind of names that we both tend to like are names that when you say them everyone knows how to spell them, names have been around for donkey's years and names that are not too uncommon...I know that these are probably some people's 'reasons not to pick a name' but each to their own I guess.

So my question is....
When it comes to Charlotte - Is it really a bad thing to use the most (or one of) the most popular names? I can see the good and bad but would like other people opinions..

When it comes to Henry - Is this name a winner?

Does anyone else have any other names that fit with the kind we like?

Thanks everyone, hopefully my waffle hasn't gone on too long!

Shar · #2 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 04:25 PM

What about George, can't be shortened and nice name for a bubba, boy and man, I think it means strong?

I think Charlotte is nice, I was going to use Charley, which sometimes Charlotte can be shortened to?, if I was having a girl but have since found out its a boy.

grub17 · #3 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 04:50 PM

hi love,
we are having a name dilema oursevles so am hearing you especially regarding 'is it too popular' query ... but personally i would cut the ''is it too popular'' criteria from your list. if you guys love it then that is all that matters. And charlotte can be also be shortened to lottie.

i like henry, i think it's 'cute' for a little boy but grown up for a man.

remember you can also be super inventive with the middle name if you are worried about 1000 charlotte/henry smith's in 10 years time.

Plus your bub will be a special and unique version of that name... he/she will make it their own, no matter how many other bubs there are with the same name.

Have you thought of John for a boy? it's not as common thesedays but is very traditional.

nella · #4 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 05:09 PM

I like both your picks.

Other options:
Isaac
Andrew
Peter
William

Violet
Anabelle
Anna
Lauren
Catherine

GL choosing the right name

*Ali* · #5 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 05:34 PM

Just wanted to say I love your name choices- my niece and nephew (brother & sister) are Charlotte and Henry!

jamakin · #6 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 07:21 PM

just wanted to tell you I really like your names too!

sneakysparkle · #7 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 07:33 PM

I personally dont like to use super common names, but having said that if there was a name I really loved I would use it anyway!

I think Henry is a fabulous name!

Some other suggestions:
Antoinette
Elisabeth
Sophia
Abigail
Chanel
Renee
Luciella

Charlton
Spencer
Lucas
Micah
Nathaniel
Jonathan

HTH

ktdancer · #8 (**permalink**) October 24th, 2009, 10:02 PM

There's nothing wrong with having a popular name if you love it. Charlotte is a lovely name, and Henry is great too.
I wouldn't have them cause we like names that you don't hear alot, but if our chosen names did suddenly become popluar we would still use them, cause we love them and have come to see our baby with these names whether it be a boy or a girl.
As for having more names to chose from, if your indecisive this may be worse for you to have more options. You have 2 names that you both like, so don't feel that you need to have a list of names just for the sake of having more then one to choose from.

Hummingbird · #9 (**permalink**) October 25th, 2009, 07:12 AM

Thankyou so much to everyone for your responses....they have been very helpful!

Ali - DH loves that your neice and nephew are named Henry & Charlotte!
KT I think you might be right re having too many choices when it comes to my indecisivness!
Shar - If it's a girl and we call her Charlotte, we were going to use 'Charlie' day to day already!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, some of them are no's for various reasons (close friends names, nieces names etc) but it's all good food for thought!

Hopefully I will stop over thinking this and start obsessing about something else!! LOL!

smiles4u · #10 (**permalink**) October 25th, 2009, 01:42 PM

Me too not a fan of super fady names but i must i like Charlotte and i didn't think it was a popular name at present !!

I would stick with CHARLOTTE if that's the name you both love

Some nice but easy spelt boy's names ;

Adam
Brendan
Christopher
David
Evan
Grant
Joel
Liam
Matthew
Micheal
Ryan
Phillip
Trent

Muppity · #11 (**permalink**) October 25th, 2009, 03:38 PM

I love both your choices.

Henry is often "shortened" to Harry - even though they are the same length (so I don't really understand it) - not many people know that Prince Harry's real name is Henry.

jenjams · #12 (**permalink**) October 25th, 2009, 05:14 PM

Henry can also be shortened to Hank...

Kirley64 · #13 (**permalink**) October 31st, 2009, 05:02 PM

I like both your names

maybe have a couple options for middles names... if your set on the first names then keep them, and just have a couple extra names you can change to suit bub

...I'm with you i do like traditional names - but not overly common... we are going with Jasmyn Isabelle if its a girl and William John Neville if its a boy.... so similar in style to yours.
My friend named her daughter Charlotte Ava-Grace... which i think is really pretty. I think the middle name adds to the first name (plus i don't have a middle name - hence why i love them lol)
As for a nickname for Henry - ppl get nicknames for things they do and like also not just a shortened version of their name.

~Kim~ · #14 (**permalink**) October 31st, 2009, 05:42 PM

Hard work naming babies isn't it?

FWIW we only had one name for each sex too. We thought we were going to deliver at 25weeks with Nate and picked the 2 names then - and then never changed them. It seemed so natural to have his name 'ready' when he was born.
With Darcy we had a few and even I was surprised when she was born and they asked her name and with out any consultation Dh said 'Darcy'. lol I love it now though.

nickers · #15 (**permalink**) November 2nd, 2009, 11:12 PM

we only ever had the one namepicked for our children, if you both like them you may never add any names to a list because they wont compare to your chosen name! oe you will always keep going back to those names!