10 Baby Names I Love But Will Never Use

Pregnancy is like a rollercoaster ride, a loop the loop of emotions, exhaustion and elation and an experience that I wouldn't change for the world. I may not have had the labours that I'd always imagined but my children were born healthy and that's all a mother ever hopes for. They are also two of the sweetest souls you will ever meet, I'm very lucky.

There's countless moments in both my pregnancies which bring a smile to my face and leave me with a feeling of nostalgia. I can't help but sit and reminisce. From the pregnancy announcements and the 12 week scans (here and here) to gender predicting and gender reveals, there's been so many moments to enjoy and to savour.

Another exciting part of pregnancy has got to be thinking of baby names! Very early on in my pregnancies I brought out the baby name books and started to write my lists. Names are so important, you've got to get it right and it's also got to sound right with your surname. Having two children there are so many names that are still on our baby name lists, one's that we probably won't ever use as we don't plan on having anymore children.

Having taken inspiration from a few fellow bloggers I decided to write a post all about them as I thought it'd be nice to look back at when the children are older. So here we go, 10 baby names that I love but will never use.

1. Darcy
This name was my second choice for Ava and up until the last few weeks I was still deliberating over which name to go for. I'd often message friends asking which name they liked the best and for a while I didn't know which name I preferred out of the two. Nick and most of my family didn't like it as much as Ava so I eventually decided against it.

2. Rose

This was another name that I would have liked for Ava. For a first name I adore the name Rose as I think it's a timeless classic, it's such a pretty name and one which suits all ages. When Ava was born she actually really suited Rose but it didn't really flow well with her middle name and surname so we stuck with our first choice.

3. Harper

I think we've all got the Beckham's to thank for bringing this name to our attention. It's such a lovely name and one that I liked for both children (before I knew either child's gender) but it was veto'd straight away as Nick didn't like it.

4. Sophia

Like the name Harper I had Sophia on my list for both children. In fact I think that Noah would have most probably been a Sophia or Daisy (see below!) if he'd have been a girl. With the name being on my list twice, for both children it was a main contender for sure. 

5. Daisy
Daisy was the front runner with Sophia if Noah had been a girl. I'm pretty certain we'd have used one of those names for Noah if he'd been a girl but I'm not sure which I'd have gone for. What's strange though is by the time I fell pregnant with Ava I had totally gone off the name, for my own child that is but I do still think it's a sweet name.

6. Louie

Before we found out that Ava was a girl this was one of the only names I had on my boy name list. I really struggled finding boy names that I loved while I was pregnant with her and I think that was my body was telling me that she was female before we'd even found out that she was. When I was carrying Noah, it was the opposite way around, I only liked boy names! 

7. Harry

Noah was very close to being a Harry as it was out second choice. Although Noah is super popular these days I think Harry is just a little bit more so and it didn't sound as good with our surname. I'm glad we decided to stick with our number one choice.

8. Max
Third in our list for Noah was the name Max as it's a name that we'd both said that we'd liked in the past. We didn't use it because again it didn't sound quite right with our surname. It sounded like a superhero name, which I suppose would have been very apt in hindsight considering Noah's obsession with everything superhero! 

9. Charlie

Now who doesn't like the name Charlie? If you say no then you must be fibbing, it's such a classic and one that tends to always make me smile. It's another name that's been on our baby name list twice but unfortunately we weren't able to use it either time.

10. Dawson

Last but not least I have to mention this name as it's quite a special one to me. The moment I fell pregnant with Noah I knew that he was a boy and the first name that I fell in love with was Dawson. I'm not sure what made me think of the name (no I hadn't been watching Dawson's Creek!) but I liked the sound of it and I didn't know anyone who'd used the name either. For the first few weeks of pregnancy I was adamant that I was carrying a boy and I had my heart set on the name but as time went on it became a name that I'd mention in passing but no one seemed to love it like I did.

What are your favourite baby names? I'd love to hear them! 

Naming Our Baby

One thing I have always really enjoyed to daydream about ever since I was a little girl is what I would name my future children. Over the years my likes and favourites have changed dramatically. Naturally as soon as we started trying to conceive I began my baby name list. I would spend hours trailing websites, ebooks, polls, forums, chat rooms for baby names that caught my eye. I found a good twenty or so names that I liked in both genders but only three or four names that I really loved. Out of the ones that I loved my better half would like the one if I was lucky. We are very similar when it comes to our likes and wants but we did have a tricky time with names. We only agreed on one or two.

There are so many different things you have to take into consideration when picking the perfect name for your baby. Not only do you want to love it, it has to suit your baby, your last name, it has to age well and so on. I also made the mistake on asking friends and families advise on the names we liked. Bad move as everyone has a different opinion and you shouldn't have to please everyone. Next time I wont be asking any opinions I will just be telling them that this is the name we want! 

My favourite boy names; Noah, Dawson, Tobias, Harry and Blake. 

Noah. It's a name I've loved since I used to watch Home and Away as a child. I think it's one of those names which ages fantastically and it sounds great. I know it's rising in popularity each year but I love it that much that I don't really mind. I told our family that Noah was the name we would probably go for and it stuck. They all referred to him as Noah ever since then, even though I told them not to in case we changed our minds.

Dawson. Probably one of the most out there names that I liked but at first it was the forerunner believe it or not! After I thought and said it out loud for a few weeks I began to like it less and less. It also got some questionable looks when I mentioned that I liked it, so I think that put me off a little too.

Tobias. I love the name Tobias but unfortunately Nick and my family all loathe it. I think it's one of those nice names that you don't hear often and the nickname Toby is just adorable. 

Harry. It wasn't really a name that was a full on favourite until a month or so ago. It really grew on me although it is incredibly popular. It has come a close second but I don't think it really suits my other half's last name which is Kelly. Harry Kelly. It sounds like a cartoon character.

Blake. Lastly we have Blake. I really like American names and think Blake is a cool name. Probably my least favourite out of the lot but it was still an option. 

My favourite girl names; Sophia, Daisy, Poppy and Harper.

There was a lot more girl names that I liked but not many that I really loved. I did find it trickier falling in love with a girl name compared to the boy names. I don't know if it's because I was certain I was having a boy. If the baby was a girl we would of probably gone for Sophia or Daisy. We did toy between the two before we found out we were team blue.

As you may or may not know we are 99% sure our little one is going to be named Noah. Hopefully we don't have a change of heart and hopefully he will look like a Noah! I am sure he will do. Now we just need to decide on a middle name! Let the fun begin!