Can you help?

[sunshinescarlett]

Hope you could offer some feedback on these names. You have offered some constuctive advice in the past and hope you can help again. So far, girls names we are now favouring are:

Penelope Lucy Kate
Florence Arabella Kate
Merle Arabella Kate

For boys:

Felix Edward Henry
Alexander Edward Henry
Marius Edward Henry

Thanks

[CremeEggMcFlurry]

What is your surname like? How long, what letter does it start with, syllables?

[sunshinescarlett]

My surname is 5 letters, with one syllable and starts with the letter V.

[missmelo]

I'd pick Florence and Alexander. good luck :)

[MelinaM]

Florence and Alexander for me too, both lovely names that aren't of the moment like Felix for example

[sunshinescarlett]

Thanks for your comments - it is really helpful -. Do you think the name is really, really popular? I have always loved the name since I saw my first James Bond film (James' mate Felix). It is not too popular where I live but my main worry is the cat food association, so many people have said to me comments related to cats!!! . I do love it but my other half is not sure. However, I do love the other names as well

[MelinaM]

I know of three Felix's all under the age of 5, so I definitely think it's on the up!

[CheerfulYank]

Penelope and Alexander for me :)

[Clary]

I like Florence (DS2's girl name!) and Edward/Henry from yr choices. Felix is my fave of yr first names for boys.

I know a lot of boys and girls named Alex - it is a name for both sexes which would put me off (I have a both-sex name and don't like that about it). I know one Felix so not many! Don't worry about the cat association.

[pilates]

Florence and Alexander, Felix is really not nice.

[qwerty123]

Felix and Florence - both with the middle names you have chosen. Great choice. I am slightly biased, as I have a Felix! Absolutely love his name - obviously.

[tummytickler]

I LOVE Merle - I used to work with a fabulous one, and have had a soft spot for this name ever since. I can never use it as I have a Pearl, and we cannot have a Merle and a Pearl - that would be crazy! I would soooooo love somebody to use this wonderful name!
Penelope also lovey - very elegant and timeless
Florence - boring, and I really do not like the nicknames
Felix - my horrible ex boyfriend from 14 years ago - can't get past that I am afraid!
Alexander, but boring, but classic.
Marius - not keen

I vote fro Merle and Alexander, or Penelope.

[sunshinescarlett]

Thankyou for all your oppinions - I am still as confused to which names I prefer. Never mind, picking baby names is never as easy as it sounds - is it???

[squeak2392]

Penelope Lucy Kate is my favourite but I think they all have problems:

Penelope Lucy Kate - Lucy is too short when put with your surname; a 3-syllable name would be better here.
Florence Arabella Kate - This grows on me the more I say it, but I don't like it for some reason. Maybe the 'r's.
Merle Arabella Kate - 'R's again.

Also, I think if you have a one-syllable surname it would probably be better to have Kate as the second name as opposed to the third.

I prefer Felix, of the boys, closely followed by Alexander. Nothing particularly wrong with Marius.

[sunshinescarlett]

Thanks Squeak... I can see what you mean about the 'R' sound throughout the full name when said aloud. Maybe swapping the two middle names around not only sounds better with our surname but also solves the problem with the 'R' sound

Florence Kate Arabella (Surname)
Mearl Kate Arabella (Surname)

[MayBankHoliday]

Love all the boy's names. I'd pick Alexander as favourite, then Felix.

Florence Arabella Kate or Penelope Arabella Kate for a girl (personally I'd lose the Kate from both of those, or use Katherine).

[squeak2392]

Mearl Kate - now you've got 2 1-syls at the beginning :P

Florence Kate Arabella is okay I suppose. Personally I think Kate Arabella Florence or Florence Katherine Arabella would be better, but it's totally up to you.
I don't really like Kate to be honest.

[sunshinescarlett]

Thanks for your opinions, it is really appreciated.

-May - The reason for putting Kate in there, is that it is actually my real first name. Not Katherine, just Kate. I am not 100% sure it will be in there yet. My DH thinks it would be nice, as my DS has got his name in his middle name.

Squeak - for obvious reasons, I cant use Kate as a potential first name. I am sorry you don't like my name

[BarbieLovesKen]

I adore Kate, but then Im biased, as we've known this one (am 35 weeks pregnant) will be a Kate since day one. People constantly suggest Katherine/ Catherine/ Kathleen etc.. to give her a "proper" name but no, I just love Kate.

Penelope Lucy Kate - I find Penelope a little try hard if Im honest, Its nice but its not great to me either. Lucy Kate is lovely.

Florence Arabella Kate - This is my favourite out of your list, I love it

Merle Arabella Kate - Really dont like Merle. Sorry.

For boys:

Felix Edward Henry - I dont like Felix at all. Its very much a cats name/ cats food to me. Sorry.

Alexander Edward Henry - Absolutely gorgeous - all 3 are gorgeous. I'd go with this.

Marius Edward Henry - Not keen on Marius, sorry.

So, yes, love Florence Arabella Kate and Alexander Edward Henry - both timeless, classic and arent going to date. Beautiful. Dont think you can go wrong with either.

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

Flo and Alex from me too.
I shouldn't worry too much about whether things 'go' with each other. My dd has a 2 sylablle, 3 syl, 2syl then one sylable surname. She asked me last night how to spell her second name. She is 10 nearly.

[whizzyrocket]

Not Marius or Merle, the others are beautiful.

[squeak2392]

How about Meryl (pn like Beryl) instead of Merle? Sounds very similar, but gives you an extra syllable to work with.

[sunshinescarlett]

Thanks everyone.

Barbie - I must say as a Kate myself, I really love my name. I went to school with a couple of Katherines/Catherines and never once did I wish I had the longer version. Both of them had their names shorterned to Kath/Cathy, which I don't mind but much prefer Kate. Go for it, i am sure she will love her name too

Even though I normally love longer, more formal names myself, I did also choose the shorter version of a name for my son Ben. I just wasn't as keen on the names Benjamin/Benedict (no offence to mummy's of Benjamins/Benedicts). So didn't see the point and luckly, my son says he would rather be just Ben anyway!

As for Penelope, Florence and Alexander, I love both the longer names and the possible NN's so would use them in full. Sorry to digress from the main thread

[sunshinescarlett]

Ahhh bad spelling 'Luckily'

[BarbieLovesKen]

ooh sunshine - thanks for that!! its great to hear from a "real" Kate