Well, THAT wasn’t clear at all. IOW, a name is just a name. A label for a person. (Bubba, O’ Bubba. Wherefore you be at, Bubba?) But it should have some dignity. And at the end of one’s days, what people recall when prompted by the label assigned to you will be about your qualities and accomplishements and not just what the label was.
For boys I like James, Jake and Erin
For girls I like Ingrid, Phoebe, Dido, Beatrice and Jayne.
(I also like Drusilla, Cloris, and Lucille, but would probably not use them as a first name, or even a middle name. I just like them)
For boys, I prefer traditional names, I don’t have too much trouble with unique names, but I’d have a hard time justifying one as my own child’s name without saying, “…you know, that does sound kinda stupid. Let’s try something else.”
For girls, however, I’m better with unique names. No idea why.
For our kid, we’ve decided on Amika if it’s a girl. If it’s a boy, then… well, we’re waiting to find out whether it’s a boy or a girl first.
We both like Amika because it works as a blend of Japanese (Ami is a common girl’s name, as are names ending in -ka) and Western (Amie, amicable, etc.), plus it can be written in kanji easily.
For boys, we’re stumped. My wife’s first choice? Mario, because it sounds European. Now, never minding that Mario doesn’t really fit with either of our ethnicities, what’s the first thing that Japanese kids (hell, anyone under 40) when they hear the name Mario? Exactly. Didn’t even occur to her.
For a girl: Laura, Katy, Jennifer, or Janine
For a boy: David, James, Alex, or Michael
Kinda boring, I know, but they all fit well with my surname, which is exotic enough by itself.
I would want to name my hypothetical daughters Iris and/or Ambre . My hypothetical son Raphael.
If we ever had any more, the hypothetical boys would be Ignatius andOliver . Girls would probably be Imogene. Girls names are much harder.
I want my children to have names that are not on the top 100 list or be one of 5 Emily’s or Austin’s in class.
Our son is Carsten and his 6 year old sister is Teagan. Both are keeping with out heritage and my personal rule of no one syllable first name possiblity.
And the fun part is is one time at the first night of swim class, as the roll was being called, my SIL and her daughter with the uber girly name of Emilena Two Part Last Waspy Name was called and a bunch of mom’s just giggled at what a princessey and long name it was. Then my daughter’s name was called, and the same women went ohhhhhhh…I like that.
Nothin’ but net.
For boys I like either Destro or Optimus Prime. 
Seriously, I like the name Declan, but it’s been shot down already in the “What if we do have kids?” conversation. My girlfriend likes Seamus, but I will never allow that to happen. Truth is I think it’s better to give the child a bland first name, like Jim or Mike, and let them decide on their own personality, instead of thrusting something goofy and obtuse on them.
Oh, and it needs to flow with the last name. If your last name is Smith, you have a lot more free reign than if your last name is Wojciechowski.
Here are my guidelines for names:
1 - A good name ought to have some meaning or family connection for the child. I like names which honour significant family memories - to give the kid a sense of connection to his or her ancestors.
2 - A good name should be easy to spell and to remember. I don’t like odd spellings of common names - that just condemns the kid to a lifetime of mis-spellings and explaining to people that “my name is H-e-l-y-n, not Hellen”.
3 - A good name should not be cumbersome. A name that is too long will soon be shortened by everyone anyway. It is no use calling your kid “Aggrippinillia”, everyone will be calling her " 'Grippa" before the ink on the birth certificate is dry.
4 - A good name should not expose a child to ridicule from his or her peers as a kid.
5 - Lastly, a good name should be reasonably distinctive, but not if it violates the other guidelines above!
We named our son “Carl”, after my paternal grandfather. I always liked the sound of that name, and my grandfather was a man worthy of the honour (so was my maternal grandfather, but he had the unfortunate first name of “Shire”, which was I thought in violation of guideline #4 - didn’t want to expose the kid to a lifetime of hobbit jokes. 
). My wife and I had a deal before the first ultrasound - if it was a boy, the name would relate to my family; if a girl, to hers.
cazzle, I don’t know if it’s a “guy thing” but being reminded of other people seemed to play a strong role in my husband’s reactions to names. On the other hand, the same goes for me – names have connotations for me related to people I’ve known with the name.
In the end, in one of our name discussions he brought up one of his students whose name he liked. I liked it by its own right, but could also recall a very nice guy with that same name I used to know. So that angle worked for both of us. Name chosen.
Not a man here, but gonna contribute anyway. I named my daughter Meghan for all because of all the Margarets in the family, and I wanted to have her have her own name, so I picked the Gaelic version. I had no idea it had become the new Jennifer. Anyway if I ever wound up with another daughter she would be Alice, after my great grandmother, and the mythical boys I would consider Dean, Blake, or Lyall. All family names.
I like traditional names, especially Biblical names, and family names. Our son’s name is Nathaniel Charles. Other boys names I like are Adam, Jacob, Caleb, Samuel, David, Peter, Joseph, etc.
For girls, I like old/classic names - Sarah, Elizabeth, Isabelle, Ellen/Helen, Mary, Lucy, Ann/Anne/Anna, Emily, Christine, Amy, etc.
Names our friends have used that I would never, ever consider:
- Mattyson (“Madison” wasn’t bad enough for you?)
- Kenadee (pronounced “Kennedy,” which again, bad enough)
- Mikayla
- Slade
- Brittany
Something that does not have an immediate religious connotation.
Most common names come out of the bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, just as an example. I like names that do not carry that baggage around with them.
Names have to pass a number of tests for me:
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The Playground Ridicule Test - One of my best friends named his little girl Ella, dooming her to several years of teasing (“Ella Smella,” etc.). While no name is ridicule-proof, good names are reasonably ridicule-resistant.
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The Simplicity Test - A good name can be whittled down to a single-syllable, simple nickname (Tom for Thomas, Jon for Jonathan, etc.)
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The Snot Test - Anything that reeks of pretentious parents trying to get all cutesie-pie with the naming process completely sucks. I’d rather see a gaggle of girls named Jen than a lone deviant who insists “It’s Jennyfer with a ‘Y’”
I see that Clothahump and I will not be having children together. Probably for the best, really.
My dream for… well it seems like forever… is to have triplets. Three girls.
I want to name them - Molli, Chloe, and Emily.
I don’t want to have a boy… but if I did his first and middle name would be- Harlan (after my favorite writer, Harlan Ellison) Cash (after my favorite singer, Johnny Cash)
I have never given much consideration into what I would name my son, but they will most likely end up with derivatives of close friends and family. I have no problem naming my son something “different” because my last name is a first name and it seems to be a nice default for people who mess up my first name. I have always liked Rigel but my son might get mad when he finds out that it means foot.
As for girl’s names, my favorite three are Aurora, Sabrina and Zahra.
When my wife was pregnant with our son in 1984 there was a defensive coordinator with the Houston Oilers named Chuck Studley. I wanted to name our son that because it was such a cool manly name. I probably don’t have to tell you what my wife thought of the idea.
She ended up having a c-section and was still under the effects of the anethesia when the nurse came in to ask for the name for the birth certificate. I was tempted to use the opportunity to do it my way, but I new I would have to live with the scorn for many years and told the nurse Andrew Allen.
But it didn’t stop me from telling my wife that Chuck Studley was the name I gave for the birth certificate. She knew I was bluffing though.
Something that makes me feel superior to others for naming them that but still takes into account my insecurities. IOW, something slightly obsure, to make me seem thoughtful, and unique, but still traditional, so if anyone questions the name, I can whip out the “traditional card” to attest to its validity. Something like…Leofwine.
I’ve always loved the idea of naming based on meaning, especially in some way tied to our present situation. Similar to the native americans naming a child White Cloud. Nothing literal like Shitting Dog though 
So when each of our kids were born, my wife came up with a slew of names and I searched out the meanings. As it stands, I have three kids and their names trace my spiritual journey over the course of moving from a boy who married his sweetheart to a father of a family.
But you could have named his brother Dick Trickle!