Just below your top 10

[nymphalis antiopa]

What names or name combinations do you love, but haven't hit your top 10 (or drift in and out of it from time to time)? Do you just love other names more or find the names harder to use?

Mine:

GIRLS
Snowdrop Alice-Pearl
Sequoia Boheme
Eglantine
Gardenia
Albertine
Columbine
Thistle Eponine
Freesia
Fuchsia Ulalume
Elodie
Marigold
Clementine
Oona
Ariadne
Persephone
Cornelia

BOYS
Heron Ichabod
Stellan
Blaise
Dusk
Hickory
Rowan
Silver
Zephyr
Alder
Osiris
Peregrine
Regulus
Sweeney

[bob=kate]

Can't believe no-one else has replied yet, what a good idea!

Some near-misses over the last 10 years for me:
Girls
Ingrid (like I-names and the fact that this is not very feminine and also Scandinavian; but other I's are a bit sweeter)
Romy (love the sounds, don't like Rosemary, now becoming a bit popular)
Thecla (love, but can't get over the religious meaning)
Elkie (like E-names and again the slightly quirky and German [?] sound; but others just beat it)
Tula & Tess (simple and sweet, Tabitha has more to it and therefore comes first at the moment)
Rhiannon (an old favourite, less so now but I wonder if it will prove a real sticker in my top 20 or so)

Boys
Hector (like the sounds, but not the association with 'hectoring')
Thor (old, old favourite, just sometimes worry that it's too blunt/pretentious)
Theo (only reason it's not in top 5 are religious connotations, maybe glad it's getting popular so I can like it less?!)
Dragan (met this years ago and loved it, not sure I'm brave enough!)
Kolya (on-and-off, sometimes seems too girly, other times I like it)

[garnet]

Ladies:
Jane Aurora
Lucy Annabel
Audrey Pearl
Veda Rosamund

Guilty Pleasures:
Eibhlin
Mirin
Wren
Calla
Felicity

Gentlemen:
Lucas John
Graham Lysander
Everett Joseph
Owen Gabriel

[alzora]

I don't know that I actually have a top ten; it's more like a top three or top five that I would really have a hard time choosing from. But here are others that are further down on my list--great names that could grow on me and become more serious options over time. They are not my top choices simply because I love other names more than them:

GIRLS
Cilla Brielle
Parker London
Amy Augusta

BOYS
Barry Jay
Crosby Dan
Arthur Locke

[frustratedauthor]

Boys
William - This is a family name that spans generations. The only real sticking point is popularity.
Lincoln - This is a name my mother considered for me had I been a boy.
Christian - This is another family name. I love it, but again, the popularity bothers me. Also, it is the middle name of one of my cousin's children. Not necessarily an impassable barrier, but definitely a sticking point.
Wilder
Jesse
Edmund
Abraham
Augustus
Eli - It's too close to my favorite name, Elliot
Sirius

Girls
Arizona
Galadriel - This is probably too much for Ohio.
Zoe
Artemis
Beatrix
Eliza
Carolina
London
Phoebe
Juniper

[javad]

There's quite a few boys names that float around but have never quite cracked the top 10, but have been close on many occasions:
- Many Finn related names (Finnian/Finnegan/Phineas/Finlay)
- Elliott
- Emmett
- Dante
- Callum (been high on the back-up list since day one of baby name searching)
- Conrad
- Saul
- Julian
- Alaric
- Cassius
- Roshan
- Eamon
- Bodhi
- Aurelius
- Jasper

[east93]

Girls:
Holly
Gwendolen (though it's in use as a middle for a top ten name)
Adriana
Alexia
Allegra
Aurora
Dahlia
Candace nn Dacey
Hailey
Karen/Karine
Liliana
Lorelei
Meredith
Meghan
Melanie
Natalie
Natalia
Noelle
Odette
Rebekah
Selena
Serena
Sierra
Sienna
Seraphina
Taylor
Tatiana
Tahlia
Valentina
Zara

Boys I'll have to do tomorrow. :P

[opalmoon]

Girls:

Arcadia
Aziza
Holly
Indira
Linnea
Magnolia
Ophelia
Orlanda
Paloma
Penelope
Seraphina
Sienna
Vienna
Zinnia

[ssterikoff]

I don't know that I have a top ten, but I love Flossie. I think we'll have a cat named Flossie in the future.

[jess0044]

The names that are "just beyond" my top ten (really a top 6/7) names are the names that I don't love yet, but I could fall in love with at any moment:

Girls:
Julia/Juliana
Fiona
Ariana
Juliet
Aria
Amelia

Boy:
Daniel
Declan
Lucas
Eamon
Mason
Curran
Sebastian