Short, shortlist

[starcrossed.livejournal.com]

So I thought I was all set for my boy's name, and 95% sure of my girl's name. I was going to go with Oliver for a boy and Charlotte for a girl. It's quite essential I get this right and love so many names it's not true but for financial and housing reasons (live in a two-bed house and can't afford to scale up) the liklihood is I will only have one child. So it has to be the perfect name.

I can really see myself with a son called Oliver and like the nickname Ollie, I don't mind that at all. I'm going for Oliver as a kind of 'middle of the road' name though I know several children called Oliver (I'm a teacher) and also know of babies being named Oliver (a lot!) in my area.

My family don't like it but I just can't shake how much I love the name George (even though I know children called George and know it doesn't particularly suit them when they're younger and in elementary school and I can't really find a middle name I like with it.) I've also got the comment that they're "dog's names" but I also really REALLY love the names Max and Archie. I also really like the nickname "Ace" (but maybe it's a bit out there to use as a first name?) so am also considering Mason and possibly using the nickname Ace.

So this is what I have so far:
George Oliver
George Riley
George Owen
George Connor
Mason Max
Max Mason
Max Oliver
Oliver George
Oliver Ace (this was my original choice I *thought* I was settled on)
Archie George


Aaron, James, Jack, Thomas, Riley, Callum, Joshua, Alexander (Alex,) Wesley, Evan, Jacob (Jake,) Samuel (Sam,) Benjamin, Leo, Quinn, Gabriel (Gabe,) Connor, Roman.

I'd love to know what you think and also how you know when you've found the name that is 'the one.' Particularly if you're likely to have only one child.

I'm 95% sure if the baby is a girl I'll name her Charlotte Gwendoline (but know Charlotte is my sister's #1 choice for a girl when I last spoke to her about it so if she beats me to it my reserves are Ava and Maisie.)

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

Honestly, it didn't really feel like "the one" until we started calling the baby that a lot in utero. I just can't imagine calling him anything else at this point. And beforehand, it was the only name DH and I could really agree on. We hope to have two children, though. So perhaps it wasn't as "big of a deal?" We took it very seriously though since I had gone through 2+ years of infertility + a miscarriage. Who knows what will happen after this baby is born...

As for your choices, I really like the George combos. Oh, and my family wasn't 100% into our name choice but now they happily call the baby by that (and he's not even here yet!). I dig Mason with the nn Ace if you're going to go that route. I don't like Mason Max though. I think it's "too much." Oliver is nice and fine but I'm more drawn to the other options. Archie is a nickname to me, so I would use it as a nickname for Archibald or Archer.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

Oh and is Gwendoline pronounced "gwen-doh-line" or like the typical "gwen-doh-lyn"?

[starcrossed.livejournal.com]

it's the typical lyn sound on the end- I believe it's the welsh spelling

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

http://www.behindthename.com/name/gwendoline

That has it pronounced with with the -line ending or the -leen ending.

Gwendolen is the traditional spelling. Which I love and adore, by the way. I really like the original spelling.

[starcrossed.livejournal.com]

Oh, I should've said in the original post Gwendoline is my beloved Nan's name. That's why I'm using it with that spelling :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

Hm. Interesting. I would fully expect to get people pronouncing it the wrong way but go for it if you're willing to deal with that (it's a middle name so people will likely not use it as often).

[rubberducky1467.livejournal.com]

I love Oliver George the best with George Oliver coming in a close second. I used to think the name George really doesn't work for the young crowd either, but I think since that royal kid came along that it's helped the name.

I taught kindergarten last Thursday and one of my students was called Archie. I thought it worked for him, too. Like George, I previously thought of it as only an old man name (it was my great-grandfather's name). So I think Archie George can work just as well. Do what you like best.

Good luck :)

[lil-cherub.livejournal.com]

For our first, we decided to not find out the sex, but I felt the baby was "Benjamin" when I was around 4mo pregnant. I just knew it was the baby's name and once I told my husband - he felt the same way. We decided he would be Benjamin Jacob because it had family meaning to us, it just rolled off the tongue and it was perfect. To the point my husband refused to help pick girls names. We both just agreed the baby was Ben. We were both very happy and thankful he was a boy!

For our second, we did find out the sex and we knew it was another son. However, we were at a loss for a name until I was 9mo pregnant. We decided on Timothy, Thomas or Joseph. At first we thought Timothy Allen and we seriously said we could call him Tim Allen.... O-o nope, that won't work on second thought. We ended up with Timothy James and it really was decided a couple weeks before birth.

IMHO, Max and Ace are dog's name. I actually feel that way about Riley too.

[redfield79.livejournal.com]

My cats name as Max and I feel the same way. His name was Maxwell, after the beatle song, but we always called him Max for short. Also, I've only known 1 human with that name and 283947823974 pets. :/.

[quinnthevixen.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I want to know how people know they have"the one" too! I have loved dreaming up baby names for years but now that it comes time to actually assign a name to a little person who will have it forever, I'm terrified I'll make a decision I regret!

That said, I love your girl name and for boys, George Oliver, George Owen, and Oliver George are all cute (and sound pretty dashing as well!)