I have two secret loves. Well, not really secret, I just know that we won't use them. Laelia and Elodie. I love how rhythmic and lilting they both are, but I know we would have HUGE pronunciation issues where I live. Sigh.

I actually really like Gweneth Paltro's idea for Apple. It's so simple and pure, and it sounds nice too!

Wren for a little girl! My husband thinks it is too "out there" so that's really what is holding me back. Personally, I love it.

I love Ellis for a girl, but I don't like the trend of using traditional boys names for girls.  (And I don't like it for a boy.)

I love the name Ethel for a little girl, I think it sounds so charming and quirky. But to everyone else it's one of those "horrible old lady names", a Bertha rather than a Matilda, an Irma rather than an Alice. I think I'm just before my time and Ethel's due for a come back ;) 

For a girl I love Cordelia, but it's usually met with a disgusted look. Shame, I think it's so pretty.

I adore Clarabelle, but I just can't shake the cow association. *sigh* I love how classic and open it is, but I swear I hear cow bells every time I say it aloud

Just for the sake of fun, my husband's is Agatha. I wish I could get behind it, but I just think it has an over-the-top old lady feel.

Love the sound of Kiriath, meaning stronghold. But I'm not sure I could actually do it, even if I could get DH on board.

For a girl, I like the sound of Inara. But I first heard the name on a character that wasn't exactly a role-model, so I don't think we'll use it.

I like the name Aviva but I'm not Jewish and it reminds me a little too much of the paper towels.

My husband came home one day and said, "I have a name I heard today and that I really like, that I'd really like to consider for our daughter: Scarlett."

And I said, "I love it.  And we can never use it."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because our last name is Hickey... Scarlett Hickey?  Red Hickey?"

Never gonna happen.

I adore the name Dinah, but every time I bring it up, my husband sings the chorus to "I've been working on the railroad." You know, "Dinah won't you blow your horn." It has made me a bit leery of the name because it's such an annoying chorus.

Also, my mother-in-law insists on pronouncing it as you would in Hebrew: Dee-nuh. All I can think of is Dina Lohan.

Still love Dinah, though.

It's no secret to anyone that I talk to that I love the name Grant but I will never be able to use it. My husband has a very "civil war" themed name (first middle and last) , as well as his dad and our first boy will follow that. He thinks that if we were to name a boy Grant it would be to much and asking for trouble naming our sons after the two opposing generals of the civil war.

We also cant use anything that ends in ly, lee or anything with to many Ls.

I love the name Millicent, but afraid that it is still considered too old-fashioned for a baby born today in my part of the country.

We have a baby girl coming before the end of the month and I would really love to name her Sawyer. I am worried that people will think it is too masculine sounding. Other than this there are no other names that my husband and I agree on but I am really hesitant to use Sawyer for my daughter.

I really like the name Arthur for a boy, but my in-laws have an accent whereby the name would be pronounced more like "Ah-tah," which reminds me of nothing more than Mohamed Atta, of September 11th infamy. o_0  I'm not sure I could ever use a name that half the child's family couldn't pronounce "right" (me being the sole arbiter of what is right, of course!).

I love the name Remember, the meaning, the nicknames, the history, all of it! Despite all that I don't think I could use it, it's just a little too bold.

Prudence. I also LOVE Constance. I love the tone, the purpose and the feeling of them, but I think they would be a burden to a child.

maybe, though :-)

I'm really drawn to Agatha, but I worry that people see it as an "ugly name".  And the Saint Agatha story is particularly gruesome, which doesn't help.  And then there's the fact that my mother used to have a cat named Agatha...

As people on here might know, Ursula's another one for me.  Been almost about to use it, but not quite sure I have the guts.  So many people just find it distasteful, but DH and I like it.  

I love the sound and the meaning of the name Saoirse, but I am not quite Irish enough to pull it off! A friend of mine used it for her daughter, though, so I can live vicariously through her!

I really like the name Honor - maybe one day as a middle.

A lot of the names I love but wouldn't use are names that point strongly to an ethnicity that's not my own or future children's: for example Kerensa (Cornish) and Ifeoma (Nigerian) for girls, Lev (Hebrew/Russian) and Jacinto (Spanish) for boys. Interestingly, if my kids were going to be "generic Americans" of European descent, I might feel freer to use those names out of simple affection for and interest in the culture they came from, without having those roots - for example, being active in Irish music circles makes me feel less hesitation in being drawn to Irish names. Just one more manifestation of white privilege, I suppose! But since my kids will be biracial with an immigrant parent and ties to his country, using an ethnic name not from his or my background seems like it would be misdirection and create unwelcome confusion and/or identity crisis.

I also love a lot of unusual nature names but feel like they might just be too much in combination with an Indian surname and mixed background or that they might not translate well into their father's culture. Kestrel and Lark are the two I'm having most trouble letting go of at the moment. Although I usually like names that have a clear gender reference, I could see using these for either boys or girls and that's actually something I like about them. (Others: Linnet, Celandine, Cedar ...)

Fortunately there are plenty of other names, Indian and "American," that appeal to me too!

I love the name Ava... classic and beautiful.

Love the name Torill. For a girl. Tori for short. The nick name is cute. The full name is strong. I think its a perfect name. People say the "Tor" Sounds masculine, "Tori" reminds them of Tori Spelling, or the whole name just sounds like Twirl. But I dont think its masculine, I dont think about Tori Spelling and I love the sound of Torill.

I love Solomon for a boy, but I first heard it on Sister Wives, and I don't know if I can do three syllables

I think my number one is Shepard.

I just think a little boy named Shep would be darling.

I've even met one.

But, yes, it does scream, "Dog's name!!"

Cash - one of the very few, possibly only, boy names my husband & I agree on.  But I know a lot of people around me don't think of it as a name and would only associate it with money, not with cowboy cool like I do.

Mine is Evangeline. I worry about it being "too much name" and people pronouncing it EvangelEEN instead of EvangelINE.

Patience. I think it sounds so pretty. I wouldn't want her to be constantly teased about losing her patience though.  Kids will be kids, and (unfortunately) temper tantrums will happen. 

I love the name Benedict -- the sound, the meaning, the nickname potentials -- but I'm not Catholic and it's the current Pope's name, and I'm just not super-comfortable with that connection.

Sophonisba. I think Sophie, the nickname this four syllable name would get truncated to, is just a bit too popular... Especially where we live. But even more so, I'd hate to have people assume it mst be Sophia, a name I oddly dislike. We do a lot of saying, "no, not JUlian - JOEleeuhn" with our eldest, but it doesn't irk me as much as "no, not Sophia" would. Still love the namesake and the chameleon option of the nickname and how it brings out the ancient Greek aspect of our top girl choice as a sib set. Spend some time on bike trips bemoaning this.

Runner up is Imogen which is not great with our surname and also is
present in the book that popularized our son's name singlehandedly. While Imogen has many other associations, our son's name does not and we feel another nod to the same book would be too themey.

Lysander.  It's the name of a Spartan general, so it has this fun historical association, and we could call him Sander for short.  But we just CAN'T seriously consider it.  It's fun, but everyone we've run it by hates it.