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Baby names

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

please comment on the following:

39 replies

strugglingwiththepreteenbit · 23/08/2012 22:20

we've now ploughed through a baby name book and come up with a shortlist of things we just like. Please tell me your thoughts on:
Christabel
Clementine
Eleanor
Felicity
Gayle
Jacqueline
Rosalind

To go with the middle name Mary after a very special great aunt, and the most disturbingly dull surname that isn't Smith.

OP posts:
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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 26/08/2012 16:37

Christabel - love this
Clementine - hate this
Eleanor - like but prefer Elinor
Felicity - like
Gayle - horrible
Jacqueline - horrible
Rosalind - ok

I like Christabel v much. :)

You might also like:

Cassandra/nn Cassie

TeaBrick · 26/08/2012 11:53

Rosalind is lovely

JamieandTheOlympicTorch · 26/08/2012 11:37

I like Christabel - but I prefer Christina

Felicity and Rosalind are nice too

Eleanor is pretty but it is very popular and always gets shortened to Ellie (the Elephant)

Some other suggestions along similar lines:

Faith
Joy

Margaret - Maggie/Peggy/Margot
Sylvia/Sylvie

imustbepatient · 26/08/2012 11:27

My favourites are Felicity and Rosalind followed by Eleanor. Good luck choosing!

Fireandashes · 26/08/2012 10:05

Rosalind leaps out a mile from that list. Beautiful, classic but not-overused name.

Christabel also pretty and Eleanor is okay. Felicity not bad but a bit meh.

Don't really like the others, sorry.

HoratiaWinwood · 24/08/2012 17:31

Christabel - love. Top of my hypothetical (ttc) girl list. Would use Kitty day to day.

Clementine - love. Was at college with a very lovely Clem.

Eleanor - dull and lumpen. Classic but boring. Not a patch on your other choices. There are a million Ellies about.

Felicity - pretty but not unusual.

Gayle - hideous. Roffle at Gayle Mary full of Grace.

Jacqueline - feminine but not stunning.

Rosalind - underrated. One of the best Ros- names. I also like Rosamund.

In order, Christabel, Clementine, Rosalind, Felicity, Jacqueline, Eleanor, Gayle.

KittyBigglesworth · 24/08/2012 17:17

I like Clementine and Christabel as artistic names and Gayle and Felicity as names of women that are independently successful. Don't get any homey aspects, must be different circles, London is different, I suppose. Eva Green has Gaelle as a middle name, love her! Gayle wotsername chairman of Random House Publishing. Sorry on phone, can't google! Oh my darling, Clementine, Heavenly Rosalind! Rosamund and Gaia also charming alternatives. Eleanor and Jacqui, no, no, not right for Smith or surname like it, too many of them, Jacqueline reminds me of Charlie's Angels though Du Pre. Lack of paragraphs, arrgh.

GaryTankCommander · 24/08/2012 15:19

To go with Mary I think Eleanor or Felicity.

Felicity Mary Smith
Eleanor Mary Smith

Whatever the surname is have a quick google, and also google the initials, just to check for nothing weird.

GaryTankCommander · 24/08/2012 15:11

Christabel, Gayle and Jacqueline are awful IMO. Especially for a baby. They're middle aged women's names.

fanjodisfunction · 24/08/2012 15:05

out of your list I love Clementine, Eleanor and Felicity

Not too fond of Gayle

And I like Rosalind but I really dont like the NN Roz.

BergamotCourtyard · 24/08/2012 15:01

Statistics show an interesting story of what mothers' names actually were in the UK and Wales population during the 1980s. During lunch, I asked the data nerd to name crunch married women during the 80s with some colleagues adding other names into the pile for good measure! Those who married on a date between 1960-1980 are as follows:

314,395 married Margarets
Mary 188, 186
Ann 141,932
Elizabeth 137,241

Onto OP's list:

Jacqueline - 95,129 married

85,000 drop to

Rosalind - 10,115 married
Eleanor - 8,738
Felicity - 3001
Gayle - 359
Christabel - 299
Clementine - 77

  • Names like Valerie were 105,404, Brenda 78,289, Helen 47,763, Sarah 22,465
minipie · 24/08/2012 13:08

For me it's Eleanor, Felicity or Rosalind hands down.

With 3+ syllable names a nn is kind of inevitable so it's worth thinking about what they would be.

Christabel - A bit too frilly for me. I like Christa (not Christy) as a short form but suspect it would end up as Christy anyway which is quite 80s. Would you consider Christen/Kristen?

Clementine - bit of a fad, and not keen on nn Clemmy as it reminds me of clammy

Eleanor - Lovely, classic. Nell is a more unusual and nice nn if you want to avoid Ellie.

Felicity - Lovely and has a beautiful meaning. Fliss or Flick as nn.

Gayle - I agree with a previous comment, says 80s mum to me (in fact 2 of my friends' mums in the 80s were called this).

Jacqueline - It's ok but will surely be Jackie for short which is again quite dated. How about Jocasta, Jocelyn, Jessamine?

Rosalind - Lovely, and Rose/Rosie are nice nns

MrsJohnDeere · 24/08/2012 12:43

Love Clementine
like Felicity

(also like Eleanor but too many around)

Not keen on the others

BergamotCourtyard · 24/08/2012 12:41

Can you give any further clues about the surname without giving it away? What is it similar to in sound and rhythm?

If you don't want to say any more then just go with what you feel in your heart. If there is someone who has changed your life in some way or whom you have had great admiration for, then that is the one. Or, you could just wait to see what you feel on the days after the birth!

HiHowAreYou · 24/08/2012 10:28

I like Rosalind, then Felicity.

I would like Eleanor if there weren't so many Ellies about.

strugglingwiththepreteenbit · 24/08/2012 10:05

thanks everyone, bergamot in particular that was really, thoughtful. The surname has 2 syllables.

OP posts:
BergamotCourtyard · 24/08/2012 08:29

I like Felicity with Rosalind and Gayle tied at second place.

My thoughts:

Felicity: Feminine yet accomplished. Kendall comes to mind and that is not a bad thing. I also like the male version of Felix.

Rosalind: Not an unusual name and yet underused. It seems gentle and stylish, not shouting nor bragging about anything. Good natured and cultured. Shakespeare would have approved.

Gayle: Happy and joyful and a red coloured name. I like the rounded nature of the G in this name and prefer it in appearance to Gail as a diminutive of Abigail. I don't find it 80s in any way, none more so than Abigail, as it has been used as a nn for many years as Kate has been for Katherine. The spelling with a y is nearer to how it was once written IIRC. As well as meaning joy, I think it's also related to gala meaning rejoicing and to the word singer, as in nightingale and Keats's ode to the bird's song. Robert Le Carre used a Gail or Gayle (can't remember which version) in his recent book as a barrister and Gail Trimble, the classist now at Oxford also comes to mind as does Gayle Hunnicutt, a very striking actress in her time and involved with the National Trust.

Clementine: I like this although I'm not sure whether it will be rather faddy as it's only been used more recently. Clementine Churchill and Kate Winslet's character have helped boost its popularity. It vividly brings to mind the colour orange which is fine but what if she doesn't want to be associated with that colour for all her life? Just a thought.

Jacqueline: The nn Jackie would deter me and all I see are captions to photos of people with mullets in a magazine, I'm afraid. The Kennedy connection isn't entirely desirable either. I think if you were French if would be easier to get away with, perhaps. Apart from this name, I very much like the names you have shortlisted.

Like Cressida too. Regarding Mary as a middle name, have you considered Marigay if you like the name Mary and Gayle? I know of one who is great, may be a bit too SW3 sloane but it might be a way of adding in another name.

Eleanor - timeless, elegant, acceptable anywhere, it has the romance of the Acquitaine connection. The only downside is that I don't like Ellie much. If your surname is very plain, I think this might be a bit dowdy as the Rigby element might come into play.

Christabel - I think of a suffragete, so there is strength in the connotation and feminity in the sound of the name. There's also a Balenciaga scent that has a similar name.

How many syllables does your surname have?

randomimposter · 24/08/2012 08:24

Love Rosalind (also Rosamund) and Eleanor (Nell).

Much prefer Clemency to Clementine. Quite like Jacqueline (but not Jacqui/Jackie as NN as seems a bit dated).

Irrational dislike of Felicity and Christabel. Gayle's just a bit meh.

Ham69 · 24/08/2012 02:24

MrsHelsBels beat me to the 'Hail Mary' (Gayle Mary) thought!
I like them all except Jacqueline and Gayle.

Lannie33 · 24/08/2012 02:11

I love Eleanor!! Jaqueline would be next. Not keen on any of the others, sorry.

MrsHelsBels74 · 24/08/2012 02:06

Surely not Gayle Mary? To me it immediately made me think of Hail Mary.

I like Rosalind best out of your list.

monsterchild · 24/08/2012 01:25

Isn't Cressida a Toyota? Hmm, I might avoid that one.

I like Rosalind (very Shakespeare) and Eleanor.

Christabel is good too but I can't say it without using a German accent, as it's my aunt's name (she's German). Jacqueline is ok too, but always makes me think of Charlie's Angels.

I don't like naming kids after attributes like Felicity or Charity.

I think of the song "oh my Darling Clementine" AND the oranges. I like both, nn could be Tina.

dimplebum · 24/08/2012 01:22

Eleanor Mary is beautiful

Tuo · 24/08/2012 01:19

Haven't read other responses, so as not to be influenced by them:

Christabel - really really like it.

Clementine - have a certain attachment to it, as it was one of my gran's middle names, but on the other hand she hated it, and it does make me want to sing 'Oh my darling..'.

Eleanor - dull. Every Tom Dick and Harry is called Eleanor these days.

Felicity - OK, but not great with Mary (too many 'y's)

Gayle - Don't like it. Don't know why. Just don't.

Jacqueline - OK. Scans nicely with Mary and a one-syllable surname. But doesn't thrill me.

Rosalind - really like this one too.

Can I suggest a name that I really like (although I have been told on here that it's ponce-tastic) and that goes well with Mary and a 'Smith'-like name?

Cressida.

Cressida Mary 'Smith'

No?

Just me then!

BlameThePixies · 24/08/2012 00:55

Rosalind is my favourite from your list, it's charming and unusual, with plenty of shortening options which is great for your dd as she grows up. Flows well with Mary too.

Eleanor is nice and goes well with Mary, but is v popular these days, there will be tons of Ellies at school.

Clementine and Felicity don't work so well with Mary, sound a bit mismatched.

Christabel, Jacqueline and Gayle all sound rather 80's to me, in a Dynasty kind of way!

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