Phoebe or Meredith?

[Lora69]

Hi ladies, please can you help me choose between my final two...

Phoebe Shailes
Meredith Shailes

The mn's I am thinking* of are

Meredith Raine or Meredith Willow
Phoebe Willow or Phoebe Elizabeth

What are your thoughts? Brother will either be
Henry James or Zachary Robert (if that matters?!)

thanks x x

which name would you yourself rather be called, which do you prefer said aloud???

[SirBoobAlot]

Meredith Willow is my favourite. Don't think Phoebe Willow works, but Phoebe Elizabeth is also nice. Raine is slight odd, if I'm totally honest. I really love Meredith though, its such a lovely names. Goes well with your surname too.

Think it goes best with Zachary, by the way!

[lola0109]

I think Phoebe Elizabeth sounds better out loud but I love Meredith, just not said out loud with those middle names. Although prefer Meredith Shailes.

That's probably absolutely no help at all! :)

[NiandraLaDes]

Meredith Willow, definately - it's gorgeous! Have always loved the name Meredith, and it sounds lovely with your surname

[Lora69]

ahh thankyou :)
Raine is slightly odd, but so are we LOL!

I have loved Meredith for a number of months now, but what puts me off is the 'th' sound to it at the end.. if you know what i mean?

I think Phoebe is easier to say and therefore more useable in daily speech??

Phoebe's nn would be Bee, and Meredith would be Merry/Meri

[SharonGless]

Phoebe Elizabeth for me

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

Meredith. One syllable middle name needed, but I don't like Raine. What about Jane? (not my fave either but at least it rhymes and doesn't make me think of November)

And Zach.

'Have you met my kids, Merry and Zach?'

Sorted.

[EightiesChick]

Phoebe Elizabeth. Bee is a great nn.

And do go for Henry James, too!

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

My name ends in th and no-one ever seems to find it hard to say. Except French people, but they just change it to a sexy zz sound.

[asmurfstolemyheart]

I would choose Meredith. Lovely name and Henry is fab too.

[Lora69]

hahaha, ooh you are all so persuasive!!! :O

[proudfoot]

Phoebe Elizabeth and Henry James

I like Meredith but not with the middle names in your post (too hippy)

[Lora69]

ok, i see Meredith as a hippy-ish name, and take that as a compliment as mummy is a bit of a hippy ;)

[autodidact]

Phoebe Elizabeth is the best.

[suspiria]

Phoebe Elizabeth and Henry James compliment each other
Zachary Robert and Meredith Willow fit together as well.I'd prefer Meredith Wren.I don't like Raine,it gives Meredith a matronly feel.

[zenoushka]

Phoebe Elizabeth and Henry James are both lovely.

[Lora69]

yep, i think i tend to agree- the Elizabeth makes Phoebe a little more grown up and 'serious'. Elizabeth is a classic name as is James (my OH's name) so Phoebe Elizabeth and Henry James work well..

With Zachary, I cant decide whether Phoebe or Meredith suit it better, as I think maybe Zach and Phoebe as they sound a little 'wacky' together :)

Henry and Meredith is more traditional sounding
Zachary and Meredith are quite long together..

hmm Phoebe Meredith Shailes or Phoebe Elizabeth Shailes.. I think I prefer the latter, even though it is a little more safe. I used to think Elizabeth was just so boring..!! I guess it is a little, every one of my generation has the mn Elizabeth, Louise, or Jane (I'm a Jane)

Elizabeth was the name of my mums best friend from childhood, and cared for my nana when she went to a nursing home xx

[MammyG]

My baby (due in 5 weeks) will be Phoebe Elizabeth or Phoebe Katherine so you know where my vote lies!!
Fab taste by the way!

[Atlasive]

Phoebe Willow :)

[mathanxiety]

Phoebe flows a lot more smoothly with the surname Shailes than Meredith does. I think 'Meredith Shailes' is a bit of a mouthful -- it's the TH-SH combination.

I love the sound of Phoebe Willow Shailes.

[LetThereBeRock]

Meredith is lovely.

[Lora69]

Thanks girls, I think I believe that Phoebe is more 'our family' than Meredith, though i do love it is isnt as light and friendly as Phoebe, its more serious somehow plus there is the TH -SH tongue overlap!

I cant decide to go with the traditional, universally used/like Elizabeth as mn, or be more kooky with Willow..

Trying to think what would she prefer herself lol! xxx

[Lora69]

shamelessly bumping for any further feedback :)

[BubbaAndBump]

Phoebe Elizabeth (and brother Zachary) - both really lovely and traditional without being boring. A friend has Phoebe, with 'Bee' as a nickname and she is just gorgeous.

They go really well together too.

(but if you're going to be 'kooky' with Willow, I'd probably opt for something 'kooky' too with Zachary's middle name)

[Hankypanky]

Phoebe Willow is absolutely lovely

They complement each other in terms of quirky yet pretty. And Shailes is the perfect surname to top it off.

I'm not a fan at all of Meredith, (to me) it's not a charming name. I think it's the "dith" which is a bit harsh. It also seems a bit intense.

I agree that the "dith" then the "Sh" of the Shailes is a bit of a tongue-twister. Having had one of these tongue-twister names myself with my maiden name, I often though my parents couldn't have said it out loud much before using it; it required an unnatural and distinct pause before first and last name to sound ok . It'll be the same with Meredith Shailes.

No such problems with Phoebe Shailes. Absolutely lovely

BTW I love Henry James to go with .

[Lora69]

Interesting you should have a siimilar sound problem hanky, you do have to pause somewhat in order to separate the names, they sort of roll into one another a bit dont they? I would worry a little that the 'th' would become 'MeredIFF' for those with lisps/young children/certain accents, and that just loses its class..!

I think Willow is more beautiful with Shailes than Elizabeth is- but the plus of Elizabeth is that it is a good solid name in case she 'isnt' a Phoebe and has a different feel to Phoebs so she can revert to that if she really wanted to.. Its a tricky one!

I'm imagining telling my Phoebe Shailes, 'PS I love you' now aww do you get it lol.

Initials wise aswell, Meredith would be MS!! :( But no one in our families has come by the name, so it would be truly 'ours', whereas there is a 2nd cousin or something like that on his side who is Phoebe. Phoebe is becoming more popular now, tho not as popular as my teen fave name Jessica!!