Mumsnet Talk

A few more suggestions:

Juliet
Anna
Sarah
Iris
Florence

All lovely but my favourite is Harriet - wanted it for dd2 but dp wouldn't be persuaded!

Like them all apart from Imogen which doesn't seem to have the same feel.

Definitely Helena

I like them all, but am used to Meredith (Meh-RED-ith, not MEH-redith) as a Welsh name, so wouldn't use that.

Love your list!

Hard to give preferences but I think this is the order I like them best:

Meredith
Imogen
Martha
Harriet
Alice
Helena

As a Helena she probably would spend her life correcting people but on the other hand all the people she knows best will pn correctly and that's what matters. I wouldn't be overly worried about it if Helena is what you love.

Lovely list. I think I would go Martha but all really nice choices. I agree with you on the pronouncing of helena as Helen-a but I'm not sure how often you would have to correct it.

Lovely shortlist! We have a 2 yr old Helena, pronounced as you would and it's been much less of a problem than I was expecting ( the pronunciation that is, not her!)
She does get called Helly quite a lot, despite there being nicer nicknames out there - but it seems to suit her anyway..

I love the name Miriam but very put off to find it means "bitter"

Helena is also my favourite out of all those. If you're not 100% how about any of these?

Bessie, Bethan, Lispeth, Esther, Rosa, Elsa, Elise, Elodie, Louisa, Luisa, Annabella, Cora, Tulip, Pansy, Flora, Rowan, Delilah, Deliah, Carlotta, Nancy, Claudia, Henrietta, Harrietta, Etta, Penelope, Nell, Beatrice, Beatrix, Vera, Susannah, Maggie, Edith, Olive, Minnie, Sylvie, Seraphina, Sefarina, Julietta, Josephina, Ethel, Petula, Dixie, Phoenix, Elvira, Miranda, Hilda, Barbara, Pearl, Hillary, Tabitha, Opal, Emmelina, Isadora, Theadora, Kitty, Genevieve, Helena, Lillith

I LOVE Meredith nn Merry and seriously considering using it myself. I taught a Merry a few years ago. Gorgeous. I currently teach a 5yo Helena which is also a lovely name - never considered pronouncing it hel-ay-na and everyone says helen-a to her as far as i know. Also teach 5yos Harriet, Alice, Martha if that's of any interest! All gorgeous names though that are not unheard of in my area but not overly popular either.... just right.

Miriam is cute, dont know any young Miriams. Would be lovely with nn. Mimi!

Meredith - Don't like at all
Helena - Lovely
Harriet - Okay
Alice - Absolutely lovely
Martha - Okay
Imogen - Very nice
Miriam - Noooooooo

I like Meredith, Harriet and Martha.

Ivanapoo, Hattie is another shortened form.

Merry is a lovely nickname!

I would say the common pronunciation of Helena would be stress on the first syllable: HEL-en-a. Does that sound right to others? If that's where you intend to put the stress, there shouldn't be any problem with pronunication (unless people mishear it as "Eleanor" but that can happen with all sorts of names).

I like them all, would say Imogen least favourite as shortened to "immo" a lot which I don't like.

I went to school with a Meredith nn Merry. Which is nice.

Harriet will be Harry, which might put some people off.

My favourite aunt was Annie Miriam and I adore the name Miriam. I know one who is a Mirry usually. I also love Meredith and know a really lovely Imogen. It's a pretty name.

Helena is okay but I'm not massively moved by it. My cousin is Helen and is invariably known as 'Hels' which is just a bit bleurgh. She has spent years trying to avoid it but school friends, workmates etc all just abbreviate it accordingly.

Miriam!! Oh yes, it's a gorgeous name and I keep suggesting it to everyone. Much nicer than the others on your list.

Lovely list (apart from Harriet which I - probably irrationally - dislike)

Meredith and Helena are my favourites. I think Hel-en-a (not Helayna) is the more usual pronunciation so if that's the one you want, you should be fine.

I worked with a Helen-a and she was hugely pissed off when people called her Helayna in error.

Meredith is lovely. I knew a Meredith nn Merry and was just gorgeous. I also like Harriet, Alice and Helena. Not keen on Imogen. I also really like Martha.

Meredith is lovely! Alice also great.

You can do girls' names

Helena and Harriet are my favourites. And Alice is classic.

Helena can be pronounced in different ways - but sounds lovely however it's said.

I have a name that's pronounced differently in foreign languages.
I normally use the english version, but find that I quite like the "exotic" version is someone accidentally calls me that!

that rule could work for Helena too.

Meredith gets my vote but I do also like Helena a lot