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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Help - girls name shortlist

19 replies

joanney · 23/08/2010 13:37

My DH and I are really struggling to pick a name for our baby girl (due nov). We feel like we are losing our ability to know whether we like a name or not!

Here's our shortlist so far (problem is some of these are very popular and we would prefer something less popular but still quite traditional).

Matilda
Charlotte
Alannah
Elena
Violet
Sophie
Lily
Emily
Imogen
Annabelle

What are your honest views on these and are there any gems that we've missed!

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fairybubbles · 25/08/2010 10:01

I like Violet the best, also Emily but would much more popular than Violet I would expect.
Alannah and Sophie I am least keen on.

BubbaAndBump · 25/08/2010 07:16

Well you have a variation of my name, one of my DD's names and my other DD's name on your list, so any of those are good IMVHO :o

diddl · 25/08/2010 07:12

Like Elena & Imogen

LJS666 · 25/08/2010 00:15

What about Verity?

I keep seeing Felicity so wonder if these old names with obvious meanings are coming back, ie

Felicity
Verity
Faith

mememe30 · 24/08/2010 23:17

Oh I love Violet, not heard that for ages!!! All the others are lovely just very popular.

horatia · 24/08/2010 23:10

Just suggested Violet when it's already on your list Blush Must be a strong contender :o

horatia · 24/08/2010 23:09

I like Violet, Sophie, Lily, Emily, Imogen and Annabelle from your list.

How about

Juliet
Marianne
Anna
Harriet
Sarah
Ivy
Violet
Jane
Rowena
Louisa
Felicity
Georgina
Victoria
Alexandra
Laura
Xanthe
Beatrice
Talia
Penelope
Clara
Corinna
Wilhelmina
Emmeline
Zara
Christina
Octavia

Roz14 · 24/08/2010 23:02

Matilda-lovely classical name
Charlotte- too overused but nice enough
Alannah- I went to uni with an Alannah and she was lovely. I like this name
Elena- OK
Violet- Beautiful
Sophie- Overused but very beautiful
Lily- ok
Emily-ok but see Sophie and Charlotte
Imogen- very nice
Annabelle- prefer Anabelle - this is on our list.

I think my favourites would be Matilda or Annabelle

foreverastudent · 24/08/2010 15:52

They are mostly very popular/trendy and could date but here goes with specifics:

Matilda-makes me think you want her to be a prodigy like the roald dahl character
Charlotte- sex and the city and hate the nn charlie
Alannah-ok
Elena-pronounced El-ena or E-lai-na?
Violet-nice
Sophie-roald dahl again
Lily-old lady
Emily-fine
Imogen-good
Annabelle- prefer sp anabel

what about:

Natalia
Constance
Charmaine
Adrianna
Helena
Heliose
Viola
Lilith
Emilia
Isobel
Ishbel
Arianna

anythingwithagiraffeonit · 24/08/2010 15:12

Matilda is what we're naming our DD.. due in a couple of weeks :) I didn't realize it was so popular, doesn't matter though if you love it :)

Violet is really lovely too!

morgan55 · 24/08/2010 00:08

i love violet, and really like lily (although it's a bit too popular at the moment for me). when i was pregnant i really loved Ivy, which i think is really traditional and you don't hear it often

smother · 23/08/2010 23:49

Another vote for Elena here.

I've met lots of baby Matildas, Sophies, Lilys (sooo many Lily's) and so the names don't 'shine' out in any way

AT1137 · 23/08/2010 14:19

Violet is my favourite. I've heard all the others a million times before.

migola · 23/08/2010 14:14

Elena wins hands down for me, its a lovely name and was on my (not DH's!) shortlist

teenyanne · 23/08/2010 14:12

No help I'm sure, but they are all lovely. My favourites are violet and lily, but I like flower names..

Original poster
joanney · 23/08/2010 14:11

Eh leh nah I think! Apparently it's the spanish version of Eleanor. I've always loved the name Eleanor and it was my nana's name as well and I love the family link, but a cousin of mine (not related to my nana's side of the family) used Eleanor for their little girl last year and I feel like I can't use it.

Thanks for comments so far btw- very helpful. Matilda would probably end up being shortened to Tilly as DH is called Matt and it might get confusing!

OP posts:
Cortina · 23/08/2010 14:01

Elena - is this said 'Ee-lea-nah'? Or Ee-lane-nah or as in Eleanor?

flower1988 · 23/08/2010 13:58

Matilda - I like but v popular
Charlotte - Like spesh when shortened to Lottie
Alannah - Meh, not a massive fan
Elena - I quite like it, it's different
Violet - Not sure
Sophie - Common (not common! But there's lots of them!)
Lily - I considered this for our DD for ages, but I really don't like Lily Allen!
Emily - Like Sophie
Imogen - I like this
Annabelle - Like

Elena is my favourite!!

Cortina · 23/08/2010 13:42

Matilda - too many Tillys? Everywhere around us, prefer Mattie as nm otherwise ok, but think will be shortened

Charlotte - ok v popular about 10 years ago. Lots of Lotties, see above

Alannah - ok

Elena - ok, prefer Eleanor, lot of 'Ellies' and even 'Nellies' near us

Violet - like

Sophie - like, apparently so popular but I haven't found this

Lily - too many

Emily - done to death a few years back, now less of them and perfectly nice name but it feels jaded to me

Imogen - like, see comments on Sophie

Annabelle - just to many of these names atm, Annabel, Isabel/bella etc and I am tired of them. Again perfectly nice name.