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Many years ago I loved Charlotte. My stock combo was Charlotte Olivia Florence (as you can see, I'm fond of the letter O), and I was actually fairly certain that if I had a daughter it would be her name. Then... I somehow fell out of love with Charlotte and grew to hate it. Maybe I just heard it around me too many times. In past posts I compared Charlotte to a "flabby feather" in sound, and reading that description makes me laugh. I've warmed up to Charlotte again, but it has become too common for me to use as a first name. (Most likely I'd use it as a middle for Felicity.)

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Removing Florence from the combo and just having Charlotte Olivia, feels pretty bland because I'm certain there actually are plenty of little girls with that full name right now.

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Speaking of which, I also really enjoy the sound of Olivia. (I do not, however, like Oliver, but I think I'm in the minority on BtN.) But I have met way too many little girls with that name to ever consider using it now. I'd actually guessed it was the #1 name in the U.S a year before it became #1, because it actually was the #1 name in my state. Livvy is a cute nickname (I do not like Ollie).

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I also actually like Ava, and thought it was cool long before it was popular. Ava Gardner is the standout bearer, of course (and her real full name, Ava Lavinia, is stunning); but I remember reading that Ryan Philippe & Reese Witherspoon had named their daughter Ava - perhaps playing a part in boosting its popularity - and thinking, "Wow, a celebrity baby name I actually like!" Ava seems to be #6 in my state, but I actually haven't met any little Avas - I'm wondering if most of them are downstate, since I know from previous statistics Ava has taken the South by storm. Thus Ava doesn't sound as "tired" to me as Charlotte or Olivia. That said, I more likely use Eve (or even Yvonne) than Ava in real life.

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Noah is a great name by itself. It doesn't have any harsh sounds, but neither is it a "weak" name, if that makes sense - that long-O is a strong vowel. But likely because of The Notebook (which I actually really don't like), a bunch of my fellow Millennials have decided that this was the greatest boy's name in the world, so now I hear it way too much for me to ever use it. :-(

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Elijah isn't bad at all. It doesn't feel overused where I'm at, and I've only met one little "Eli" recently. That said, I do prefer Elias.

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William and James are also both objectively good names, but as a rule (aside from Elizabeth and her myriad nicknames) I try to stay away from longstanding classics not just from "tiredness" but due to possible troubles that can arise from sharing names that have been popular across generations (especially if the surname is also common).

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Lucas' popularity surprises me, because I haven't met one single little Lucas! While I do like the name, I actually prefer the simpler Luke.

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By all accounts I should like Alexander, but it's just so... overdone... not even for little kids now, I'm talking about people my age! It may be a higher rank now on the charts, but there's also a greater variety of names - a larger percentage of boys being born in the 80s and 90s were names Alexander than today! I just know way too many people named Alex (mostly guys)...

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If I were to make combos out of these names (besides Charlotte Olivia), I'd go with:

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Ava Sophia
&
Lucas Elijah

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www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
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www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/132018