Isadora or Jocasta?

Isadora for sure!

Isadora. Very elegant. Nn Dolly when she's small.

Isadora of the two.

Never Jocasta. Though I would say j'casta so no "joc" or "jo" sounds.

What about Antigone? It's so pretty (An-tig-on-ee) and seems to have escaped the common knowledge of the being the child of Jocasta and Oedipus. I know one in real life, early 20's.

no. sorry- don't like either of them.

Jocasta just seems very OTT. Not a pretty name and bad connotations.

Isadora might seem sweet - but as someone said, it will get shortened either to issy or Dora - neither of which are great

Love them both! I'm surprised so many of you find them to long and frilly. Is Jocasta and Isadora really that different to Isabella, Theodora or Arabella?
Personally I love long elegant names for girls - they also travel well into other (European) languages. I also like Valentina and Antonia.

It doesn't matter whether it's 50 years (Myra), 70 years (Adolf) or 2,500 years (Jocasta). If the only context in which anyone has ever heard the name is memorably nasty then that's what will stick. Adolf will not be OK for a British child in 2040, or indeed 2140. Nero or Caligula will never be charming names for baby boys.

Fred and Rose by contrast remain absolutely fine for babies, regardless of the Wests (though perhaps not for siblings) because most people can think of loads of other people with that name.

Yes but it was about 100 years ago! How does this impact on a name choice now. I like both. Why use both somehow? Jocasta is usually Cassie. Many names and surnames can lead to unflattering name calling. I also like Jaquetta.

Um. Honestly?

Both names make me think of hideous endings - Isadora Duncan being strangled by her scarf and Jocasta, mother of Oedipus!

Isadora

Isadora. For me Jocasta is up there with things like Adolf and Myra as a name you do not want to give your child. Isadora is pretty.

Nowt wrong with Isadora. The first thing you think of when you hear the name is "famous dancer", with "memorably strange death" a long way second.

Jocasta OTOH, has 3 and only three connotations:
"Stereotypical pretentious name given by dreadful Loud parents"
"Married her son in Greek tragedy and came to an appalling end"
"My wife's just auditioned for Sophocles. Jocasta? No, she was terrible."

Whilst I have a soft spot for the last joke, it's really not enough to make up for the first two, and I would think that anyone who chose it was probably ignorant of the background (see also, Cassandra, Heathcliff).

Isadora makes me think of the TV series Wizadora shows age

Isadora - i considered it for a girl but I know lots of Issy's I don't like
and despite her rather surprising death Isadora Duncan was fabulous, controversial and a worthy name sake of any girl!

I quite like Jocasta. But both are a bit long and frilly for my taste.

Isadora is lovely. I don't understand the logic that someone with a more unusual name is ripe for bullying. My DS has one of these 'marmite' names that Mumsnetters regularly slate as 'try hard/pretentious/ripe for bullying' tv etc. Surely if children bully someone for having a more unusual name they must learn this attitude from their parents?

Jocasta definitely. Just advise her against calling her son Oedipus, should she ever be tempted

IN OTHER NEWS...

Isadora will instantly become "Issy" or "Dora" and Jocasta will, of course, become "Jackie".

Would you have named your daughter Issy, Dora or Jackie?
If not, think again. From scratch.

At my school a girl called Isadora or Jocasta would VERY quickly have been picked on / bullied / isolated. Perhaps you have very expensive educational plans but even if you do, I'd still think twice...

Honestly I can't imagine either name would be easy or comfortable to live with through adolescence or even early twenties in the real word. So when does either of these become a great name to have?

Isadora Beth / Bethony
Isadora Eleanor
Isadora Libby
Isadora Alice
Isadora Anais

Isadora is awesome. Not a fan of Jocasta, sounds pretty mumsnet to me...

I love Isadora. It’s a such pretty name among all girl names.

Whichever you choose (Isadora would be my choice), since both end in -a it's not ideal to have a middle name starting with a vowel. There is an awkward sort of hiccup when you say the names together. Plenty of people will say this doesn't matter, but I would avoid it.

Jocasta is a fantastic name. Isadora lovely too, lucky girl.

Isadora

I totally agree, ToffeeCaramel.

In fact whenever DW books us onto some very middle-class family activity, I sit there waiting to hear the over-pukka names called out - and Jocasta and Tarquin are definitely on the list.....And Issy (Izzy) would be too....

The above is an article about pushy mums and there is mention of "Tarqin and Jocasta"