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Baby names

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Original poster

Alexandra, Helena, Georgina - which would you choose??

32 replies

Indecisiveness · 24/01/2015 12:16

Not pregnant yet but planning for DC3 and already thinking of names!!! We have two DDs, Katherine and Sophia. We're pretty set on Alexander if it's a boy but stuck on girls names!

So,

Alexandra - I love the full name but not sure on nn Alex and don't like Lexi.

Helena - love the nn Nel and Leni/ Lenny. Do you think we could get away with nn Hetty as love this too? The funny thing with this name is that I don't like Helen and this is basically Helen with an 'a' although Helena does feel like a completely different name IYKWIM??

Georgina - DH less keen on this one but I love it so can't bring myself to remove it from the list and love nn Georgie.

I think each of these would fit with our other DDs' names but I have also thought of the following, possibly middle names if not first:

Esme
Iona
Fleur

All opinions greatly appreciated!

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runningandjumping · 28/01/2015 09:59

I have an Alexandra and had a lot of compliments about her name. We also considered Helena, but thought that Alexandra is more beautiful. Her nickname is Alexa or Allie. I'm not a huge fan of Georgina, and the three shorter names are nice, but I prefer your three longer options (also for middle names, as they are classical and strong).

SomewhereIBelong · 26/01/2015 11:05

my friend Alexandra is known as Zandi to everyone...

the only Helena I know gets called "Hells Bells" behind her back because she has an "strong personality"

LollyLondon · 26/01/2015 10:57

Helena is my favourite. A gorgeous name. Helen-uh or Hel-ay-na.
Not keen on Hel-ee-na though.

TidyDancer · 25/01/2015 14:27

Xandra has a horribly harsh tone to it. And like a pp said, sounds like Sandra. Alex or Ally are much nicer and prettier (if pretty is what you're going for!). Alexandra is a very beautiful name. I have known two people called it, but none in DS's school, so hopefully it's not becoming too popular (it is on the list for planned dc3!).

Also know a Helena, pronounciation is Helen-uh. Hell-ay-ner or Hell-ee-ner are not very nice imo.

fattycow · 25/01/2015 14:09

Helena

Rhubarbgarden · 25/01/2015 13:48

Love Helena - dd was nearly this. Fleur was on our shortlist too.

Hate Georgina and Alexandra. They feel like long, cumbersome and unattractive names to me.

squoosh · 24/01/2015 21:25

Xandra is worryingly close to Sandra. I like Alex for a girl, it's sharp and snappy.

DearGirl · 24/01/2015 21:23

I am a Georgina it is getting more "popular" although still not a main name.

My nicknames have been Ginny, Gina, Georgie,

Original poster
Indecisiveness · 24/01/2015 21:20

MyBootsAreMuddy, I like Xa and Xa-Xa.

Marigoldfreckle, I agree Xandra is prettier than Alex.

Thanks for all the great comments!

OP posts:
applecatchers36 · 24/01/2015 20:26

Alexandra is the best out of your 3 names, Esme & Fleur are nice middle names....

MyBootsAreMuddy · 24/01/2015 20:22

My niece is Alexandra with nn Xa, Xa-Xa or Xara (pronounced like Zara).

marigoldfreckle · 24/01/2015 20:14

I know an Alexandra who is a Xandra. Much prettier than Alex in my opinion.

wigglesrock · 24/01/2015 20:10

Oh Rosa is lovely, I know a 4 year old one - really beautiful name. Although I'm not a fan of Rose.

Original poster
Indecisiveness · 24/01/2015 20:09

Thanks everyone, looks like Helena is coming out on top so far, even with pronounciation 'issues'!

Esme is a possible middle name although I know 'a' and 'e' are not ideal, coming after each other. I wonder if Helena Alexandra is a bit of a mouthful, and again vowels together. ''Heard 'Rosa" today which I thought was really cute. Oh the choices!

OP posts:
wigglesrock · 24/01/2015 18:29

I really like Helena, although I pronounce it, unless told, in the way you hate - am an example of squooshs explanation Grin. Alexandra is probably my least favourite of your list - it's quite popular in my dds primary school and I don't like any of the shortenings. I'd probably go for Fleur.

AnythingNotEverything · 24/01/2015 18:17

Helena and Georgie are lovely. Current bump may yet be a Georgie. Georgina is a bit of a marmite name on here. I find Georgiana too frilly.

LipsMovingStillTalking · 24/01/2015 15:48

Alexandra is the prettiest of the names, but Helena is also beautiful. Not so much Georgina, although it's not a horrible name.

Alex as a nn for Alexandra is lovely, but Hetty is not a nn for Helena.

ChickenMe · 24/01/2015 15:40

What about Georgiana, if you don't go with Helena?

DilysDerwent · 24/01/2015 14:38

I like all three longer names, probably like Helena (pronounced Helen-uh) best.
I'm not sure about Fleur or Iona but I like Esme (vetoed by DH due to Esme Weatherwax, but I think she'd be a pretty good namesake!)

squoosh · 24/01/2015 14:17

Helena has at least three common pronunciations that I can think of Helen-a, He-lee-na and He-lay-na. It's quite a common name among 40 something Irish women and they're always He-lee-nas. I think it's a nice name............except when pronounced your favoured way of Helen-uh. I think it just sounds a bit dreary when said that way.

Alex/Alexandra is nice

I think Georgia is much nicer than Georgina which is a name I always think sounds quite priggish. Georgie is a lovely nickname though.

KoalaDownUnder · 24/01/2015 13:50

I love the name Helena. And the one I knew recently was classy, pretty and a lovely person. That's the association I have with the name.

Your other options are also nice, except Fleur, which I loathe (sorry).

loislines · 24/01/2015 13:41

Helena is the prettiest of the three and goes really well with your other daughters' names.

Original poster
Indecisiveness · 24/01/2015 13:36

Thanks NameChangeForNameChange, we have similar name taste! I would pronounce Helena like you do, Helen-uh. I wouldn't even think to pronounce it a different way from this spelling so that's a good point. Still a beautiful name though and nice that it's not common but not so unusual that people haven't heard of it.

OP posts:
brokenhearted55a · 24/01/2015 13:31

This reply has been deleted

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NameChangeForNameChange · 24/01/2015 13:19

I have a Helena, so obviously I love it, although we also had Georgina on our list, and I do like Alexandra too.

Our Helena is "Helly" to her older siblings, which has grown on me although wouldn't have been my shortening of choice. She's Helena to everyone else, though.

We don't know any other little Helenas. Do be prepared, however, for lots of people to mispronounce it, in our case sometimes despite being corrected repeatedly (I'd expected people to sometimes mispronunciation it if they only saw it written down; I hadn't been prepared for friends failing to properly learn her name). We pronounce her name "Helen-uh" but regularly get "Hel-ay-na" or "Hel-ee-na" (I really dislike this pronunciation), and have also had "Hel-EH-nna". This can get quite irritating, although our Helena is too little to be annoyed by it yet, and I'm sure will get vocal about correcting people herself as she grows,

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