I'm going to be a daddy

[Sundae]

First off - congratulations. You lucky dog.

Don't worry too much about rules - just saying the name and surname over and over will show how easily it can be pronounced and understood. With both my maiden and my married name I've always had to insert a significant pause between the two - they "flow" far too well and teachers/ shop assistants/ people on the phone can't work out which is which!

Great suggestions from Glatt re checking for peaking names & Shawnee re having an unusual middle name.

My personal favourite girls names:
Beatrice
Cecilia
Dodie
Edith
Esme
Grace
Hester
Lily
Madelaine
Odile
Rose (or any variation thereof!)
Ruby
Theodora

Yes, I like old-fashioned names, it's true. Sadly these are all really popular now - must be everyone else my age having babies

(oh and the list was to hand because we had a chat about this in the office a couple of months ago - I don't have babies' names and wedding dress swatches lying around just in case!)

and finally - if you end up picking a name just because you like it do try to work out a cover story. Almost everyone I know ended up in a class exercise of "Where did your name come from" and the kids without a story felt really left out. Still, they were better off than Peter who was named after a budgie and burst into tears when everyone laughed at this.