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Original poster

Does anybody have a Georgiana?

27 replies

octaviarose · 26/03/2012 22:19

Does anyone have either a Georgiana or a Alexandria?

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 28/03/2012 19:52

Oh I love Isobella and don't care how popular it is (biased).

Love Elinor
Love Harriet/Hattie
Love Miranda (dd1 was v nearly this but it sounded odd with dp's surname)
Cecily is pretty too

Marianne is another good Austen name.

BeattieBow · 27/03/2012 20:49

Oh Clemency was my absolute favourite, but I'm not sure dh agrees.

I like Felicity and Jemima too. Not sure about Tabitha.

I'm trying to remember what else is on my list!

BellaCB · 27/03/2012 20:45

Hetty is pretty. I also really like Hattie (Harriet).

Original poster
octaviarose · 27/03/2012 20:41

BeattieBow you do have good taste! DH vetoed Clemency which I adore but still on the list are Tabitha, Felicity and Jemima. Also love Sylvie but will need to do a lot of convincing.

Good luck with the baby hope all goes well.

OP posts:
oikopolis · 27/03/2012 20:41

oh and i see vixsatis beat me to it :)

oikopolis · 27/03/2012 20:40

i've read a biography of the Duchess of Devonshire and it explained how the smart set in the 1700s had a very specific way of pronouncing Georgiana. it was sort of a test they used to see whether a person was "in" or not.

the "in" way of saying it was/is Jor-jane-a.
the "out" way was Jorji-arna.

i assume that toffs still pronounce it in the "in" way.

and that a great many people will be somewhat confused/bemused by you using one or the other.

BeattieBow · 27/03/2012 20:36

\i think we have the same taste as I have an Alexandra and an Isabella already. I have Henrietta and Beatrice on my list for my baby due in a few weeks.

My list is quite long and some of the names on the list are:

Miranda
Cecilia/Cecily
Frederica
Clemency
Catherine
Phoebe
Julia
Eleanor/Elinor (I think this might be the one that dh agrees to)

Original poster
octaviarose · 27/03/2012 19:51

thanks everyone, I already have an Isabella which I love although is very popular. Now trying to decide for the bump which we think is a girl. Husband likes Georgiana but we were unsure how to pronounce it. Other choices are Henrietta (Hetty) Sophia or Beatrice.
What do you think?
Any other suggestions greatly received!

OP posts:
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 27/03/2012 19:23

:)

BellaCB · 27/03/2012 19:22

And light-heartedness is so hard to get across online! No need to apologise, everyone likes different names!

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 27/03/2012 19:08

Sorry Bella - it really wasn't intended to be personal. I think Georgiana would be an ace sibling name for your Alex - though I'm astonished you have the energy to be thinking about dd2 when dd1 is so young! :)

Don't like the George-ay-na sound at all though. And Colin Firth mumbles anyway!

NadiaWadia · 27/03/2012 17:21

In my head when reading Jane Austen and such I always pronounced it 'George - ee - Arna. But since that Keira Knightly film I don't know if its really

George - ayna (seems a bit odd)
George - ee - arna (like I always thought), or possibly
George - ee - anna

I suppose the reason we don't really know is that it has not been used much for over a century. Georgina has been more usual.

GetOrfMoiiLand · 27/03/2012 17:10

It's a lovely name - much prefer Georg-ayna pron. as well.

In any case for some reason it is far nicer than Georgina or Georgia.

BellaCB · 27/03/2012 17:06

remus - Alex and I won't take that personally Wink

Good work on the trivia, vixsatis, that's impressive!

Greythorne · 27/03/2012 16:54

Colin Firth also pronounces it Geor-Jay-Na in Pride and Prej. Not George-Ee-Arna.

vixsatis · 27/03/2012 16:52

It's Georg-ee-ar-na. Georg-ay-na was pronunciation affected by the Whig clique to which Georgiana, 10th (?) Duchess of Devonshire belonged.

How's that for useless trivia?

Lovely name. Much much classier than Georgia

LucyManga · 27/03/2012 16:47

I know one Georgiana - a teenager, now. Lovely name and vastly better than Georgina.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 27/03/2012 15:57

Georgiana is lovely - much nicer than Alexandria imho.

Squoosh was JOKING btw. :)

HappyAsEyeAm · 27/03/2012 15:52

Georgiana - chavvy? How could anyything out of Jane Austen be chavvy? I love it. Not for us with our surname, but I'd love hearing it.

RandomMess · 27/03/2012 14:23

George I know is pronounce george - ee - arna

squoosh · 27/03/2012 13:33

Meant to add that clearly for the above reasons it is a very chavvy name.

squoosh · 27/03/2012 13:24

I've only ever heard of two Georgianas.

One lived at Pemberley and one was the Duchess of Devonshire.

BeattieBow · 27/03/2012 13:23

I like it, but like Bella I don't know whether it's pronounced George-ay-na or not. I have an Alexandra already.

Haziedoll · 27/03/2012 13:14

Both lovely names and not very common. Smile

NoFoodwithaFace · 27/03/2012 13:02

I have a friend named Georgiana. For some reason she has always been Genna!