I love love love the nickname
Annie. It's one of the sweetest girl nicknames in my opinion, and not so widely used that she'd have to be
Annabel to distinguish her from all the other Annies in her class.
Susannah is a nice full name for
Annie as well, though I'm enamored with the nickname
Sunny for
Susannah at the moment.
Katherine "
Kate" is also one of my favorites, though I prefer the spelling
Catherine. You can't go wrong with
Katherine, and
Kate feels much more elegant than 90's
Katie.
Eliza and
Louisa are nice names, but don't do much for me personally.
Virginia is one of my personal favorites. I'll probably use it as a middle name, but I really love the nickname
Ginny. It has such a cozy, summer morning kind of feeling to it.
Beatrix is nice, but I greatly prefer
Beatrice "
Bea." I think the x sound is just a little abrupt for my taste. I love
Bea as a nickname, though.
Ginny,
Annie, and
Bea might be the cutest sisters ever.
Julia and
Claire are both very pretty names, but I'm not overly fond of either of them. They work well as baby names in today's climate, and are definitely prettier than many alternatives!
Mary is one of my favorites as well. I'm more likely not to use a nickname, but if I did I would pick
Molly over
Polly. Personal preference on that one, I believe.
As far as the boys go...
Magnus and
Edmund are a little clunky for me.
Henry is one of my favorites as well. I love the nickname
Harry and the no-nickname route equally well.
James is lovely, masculine, strong, and subtle. I adore
James top to bottom, front to back.
Jamie is my favorite childhood pet name for
James, though I more likely to leave it simply
James. Great name.
Oliver is growing on me. I like it much better than the female
Olive or
Olivia, and I like the French form
Olivier as well. I have a friend at school named
Oliver who goes by
Ollie. I like how it sounds.
Peter is a good solid
Christian name. I like meeting little boys at church named
Peter, but I don't think it's for me.
William,
Charles,
Alexander are all at the same place for me. Regal and strong, definitely on the list for a future son. Of the three, I like
William best.
Leopold is cute on a little one and ages well, plus comes with the perk of
Leo as a nickname!