While we're waiting...

I have a secret confession. You know all those baby name books in the bookstore? I've read them. All of them. For years, I've read them... even when I was way to young to have a baby, I read them. The fact that there were all these names with different meanings, just fascinated me. It also fascinated me that my own name was almost never in any of the books. It is now.... and was apparently quite popular around the time I was born. (in fact, I attended a large university with 3 others with the exact same name - first, middle and last!) I felt a bit betrayed by the news. It was fairly popular, yet no bicycle licence plate was ever made of it.

Now, I'm perusing them again. This time with more than just curiosity. Naming is a serious business. Too common or too unusual? Classical or staid? Unusual or wacky? Plus, I'm a teacher, so you know that almost every name makes me think of someone. I also have a last name that is the most common in the United States. So, do I got plain? Common? Really unusual?

I started a list to keep track of my choices.

Marjorie - family name. If it ended up a first name, the nickname would probably be "Jorie"
Lillian - family name... unfortunately, WAY too common nationally and locally
Annika - I just like it. Again, somewhat common
Emma - family name... internationally number one. US, Canada, all of Europe.
Evangeline - again a family name, but I'm sure it fits with the last name
Natalie - I like it, but way to locally common. I have four Natalies in classes.
Beatrice/Beatrix - I like it, but I'm not sure about how it sounds. It seems a tad old.
Nicola - my favorite English name. Every other girl in England was named this in the 70's
Hannelore - beautiful name, but Hannah is the name of every 3rd girl in the county.
Emmeline - see Emma
Gennica - I had a camper named this one summer during college. Everyone called her Gigi.
Moira - makes me think of smart girls.
Evelyn - It's coming back and it sounds classic.
Brylie - ok, I found it on babyname forum. It's kinda cute - I'm not sure cute is good. "Dr. Brylie" makes me think of that MadTV skit.
Éowyn - yes, it's from LOTR. But I still like it... does this mean I'm a weirdo? And if I chose this name, would the kid ever be able to use a keyboard?
Aoife - really popular in Ireland, I like the name but would anyone be able to pronounce it in the US? Would I doom my child to a life of constantly correcting and spelling her name?

Or should I go for a completely Chinese name? And will it sound even more stupid with my extremely common US last name?