Need traditional/classic girls' names, but am very picky!

[Lorelai]

Hi

I'm only 9 weeks, but I like to plan ahead DH and I have a boy's name we like, but are struggling with girl's names (well, I am anyway!). I like names that are very traditional but classic (timeless rather than old-fashioned) - boring some might say but that have good (and unusual) nicknames, oh, and nothing too girly!

To give you an idea, here are some names that I either like but can't use, or don't like, or am considering but am not sure of:

Elizabeth (DD's name - love it - something like this ideally)
Kathryn (my mum, and same first initial as me, not sure I want to use it)
Rebecca (like it, but one of my cousins used it, plus I don't like the nicknames)
Charlotte (too girly)
Anne (love it, but doesn't sound good with our surname)
Margaret (am considering it because I love the nicknames, but a bit old-fashioned possibly)

Any other ideas? I don't want to decide just yet, but want to get a shortlist in my head that I can mull over whenever I am bored at work I have some free time. If it helps, the boy's name we like is William Thomas (to be known as Billy - I have to plan nicknames too!)

[cece]

Jane

[menomena]

Louisa - can call her Lola, Lulu, Lou
Harriet - Hattie
Caroline - Carrie
Frances
Hannah
Victoria - I don't like Vicky but maybe you could find a better nickname
Rose
Eve/Evelyn/Eva
Claire
Eleanor - Elsa, Nora, Ellie
Lucy

[Lorelai]

Some great ideas, thanks!

Jane is nice, and might use it as a middle name, but same problem with Anne - our surname is one syllable and ends with ne so doesn't sound good.

Louisa - possibly, hadn't considered that
Harriet - maybe, but something is putting me off it, not sure what
Caroline - Carrie - Carrie is waaaaay too close to my name
Frances - bad connotations with someone at church
Hannah - like it, but doesn't work with surname
Victoria - my best friend's name, so might use as a middle name, but too 'girly' for a first name
Rose - like it, but worried it would turn into Rosie, which I am not so keen on
Eve/Evelyn/Eva - maybe
Claire - my cousin's name, otherwise it would be a maybe
Eleanor - another one I hadn't thought of - may add it to a shortlist!
Lucy - maybe...

I am really picky I know - and it doesn't help that I want to avoid family names.

[brimfull]

Mary-I love this name

Louise

Katherine

Rose - i know you said you didn't like rosie but my dd is a Rose and in all her 18yrs has never been called rosie

Helena

Joy

Maude

Beatrice

Chloe

[JackieNo]

Emma? Not sure about nicknames though.

[ilovesprouts]

sophie ,

[pranma]

Joanna
Miriam
Louisa
Caroline
Dorothy

[MarthaFarquhar]

Ruth
Emily
Rachael

[brimfull]

Alexandra
Antonia
Phillippa
Susan/ Susannah

[JackieNo]

Sarah/Sara?

[Lorelai]

Mary is DD's middle name

Interesting that you say your Rose has never been Rosie - might keep that one on a backburner.

Helen/Helena I do like, but there are surname issues.

Emma is nice - what do people think about having siblings with the same first initial - does it cause problems?

Sophie - is this quite a popular name at the moment? Want to try and avoid names that are used a lot (although Elizabeth is popular, DD is always known as Beth which is less common)

What do people think of Margaret, nickname Daisy? I keep getting drawn to it, and DH likes it, but something is putting me off it.

[JackieNo]

I didn't know Daisy was a nickname for Margaret, but I do love the name. Love 'Maggie' as a nickname, too.

[kando]

Olivia? Grace?

[brimfull]

MY mum is Margaret nickname Rea , don't know where that came from.

I like Daisy and Margaret , may be a bit confusing at school.

[Lorelai]

Wow - loads more replies

I had thought about Miriam, but not sure if it is too old-fashioned/uncommon - any thoughts? I do like the idea of using biblical names to carry on a theme with DD - Ruth would also work with this.

Emily I can't use for very complicated reasons, but I do like it. Sarah is similar - DH's ex best friend's name; I love it though.

Susan is nice, I do know someone with that name; does anyone else worry about using the name of aquaintances in case they think you have named the baby after them/copied their name?

[JackieNo]

I like both Ruth and Miriam. Ruth makes me think of 'Swallows and Amazons' .

[Lorelai]

Daisy is quite an old-fashioned nickname for Margaret (common at the end of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th) - I think it comes from the fact that another name for a daisy is a marguerite (in terms of the flowers I mean!)

[JackieNo]

Ah yes, the Margaret/Daisy link makes sense now you say that!

[Shoshe]

Laura
Stella
Nicole
Josephine
Romilly
Jemima

[Lorelai]

So people don't think Margaret is too old-fashioned? I quite like the idea of using it as it is a family name (my Dad comes from a small village in Pembrokeshire, and it seems every relative he has there for about 3 generations is Margaret!) Full name would be Margaret Jane, nn Daisy.

[JackieNo]

My grandmother was a Margaret (also from Pembrokeshire!), which might be why I like it.

[Lorelai]

Ooooh, Laura - I like that!

Josephine is nice - if I have twins I could use that and Margaret and be three-quarters of the way to the full set of Little Women

Jemima may make the short-list too...

[Lorelai]

Not from Neyland was she Jackie?

[JackieNo]

(well, technically she was Freda Margaret, but it was part of her name, and my cousin has named one of her children Margaret, abbreviated to 'Maggie').

[JackieNo]

No, not from Neyland .