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Original poster

Annabelle, Francesca or Eleanora?

45 replies

ZigAZigAhh · 24/07/2017 13:00

I'm 36 weeks along with DC2 and while DH and I been struggling with boys names the whole way through, we had pretty much settled on Annabelle for a girl.

Now we are having a wobble and reconsidering some others in our shortlist - I would be very interested in honest opinions!

Annabelle - we both like it (no mean feat) and has nice nicknames (Anna, Annie, Bel, Elle etc).

Francesca - I love it, DH not so sure. Don't really like Fran as a nickname but there are plenty of others (Chess, Chesca, Frankie etc) and she may end up with a nickname completely unrelated to her name anyway. My DBro would have been Francesca if he had been a girl and I think my DMum's love of the name has rubbed off a bit on me.

Eleanora - I have always quite liked Eleanor but not enough for it to be a serious contender. Came across Eleanora recently and absolutely love it. DH seems keen too. Seems to be quite uncommon compared to the other too.

Any thoughts very welcome!

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allegretto · 24/07/2017 21:41

Is Eleanora an alternative spelling? I prefer Eleonora.

lazycrazyhazy · 24/07/2017 21:44

Fashion is fickle, when my Annabel was little there were loads of Eleanors / Ellie's but hardly any Annabels.

TurquoiseOwl · 24/07/2017 21:45

Francesca

MargeryFenworthy · 24/07/2017 21:45

Annabelle definitely. Smile

userofthiswebsite · 24/07/2017 21:46

All nice actually IMO.

thegoodnameshadgone · 24/07/2017 21:47

Eleanora is beautiful

Freakishlycommon · 24/07/2017 21:48

Leanora also nice. Although I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling.

friedegs · 24/07/2017 22:01

Eleanora is beautiful. So is Leonora.

Freakishlycommon · 24/07/2017 22:13

Oh yes leonora that looks better.

TheCaptainsCat · 24/07/2017 22:16

Definitely Eleanora!

RainaBaina · 24/07/2017 22:17

Love Annabel, don't like Annabelle - just looks frilly to me, or like two names pushed together.

RainaBaina · 24/07/2017 22:19

The 3 Francescas I know (all adults) get called Fran.

SuperBeagle · 24/07/2017 22:38

Annabelle but the spelling Annabel is so much nicer.

Not keen on Francesca or Eleanora.

17caterpillars1mouse · 25/07/2017 14:50

I like all 3 names

I do prefer Annabel to Annabelle as I just prefer the streamlined look of it. It's a lovely name and I would call an Annabel Annie

Francesca - lovely name. I also dislike Fran but really like the quirkiness of Chess also like Chesca. Would worry she would become known as Frankie though which I dislike

Eleanora- beautiful. I've always prefered Eleanora to Eleanor. It looks prettier and is more unusual. I really like Norah but think most would shorten to Ellie or Ella which unfortunately there are rather alot of lately.

I think Annabel would be my top choice

grufallosfriend · 25/07/2017 23:15

The problem with Annabel is that it gets misspelled a lot Anabell, Annabell, Annabelle, Anabelle... and I'm talking from experience Smile

Original poster
ZigAZigAhh · 30/07/2017 09:02

Thank you all so much for your comments - really useful to hear opinions! We are still a bit stuck, DH and I both seem to prefer different names on different days so it may be a case of waiting until she (if she is in fact a she and not a he) arrives.

Re Eleanora, it would be pronounced EL-uh-NOR-uh. Eleonora (from what I have read!) is a different name with a different pronunciation (el-LAY-oh-nora). But yes, definitely some potential for confusion. Apparently Billie Holliday's real name was Eleanora (random Sunday morning trivia) Smile

OP posts:
ConstanceCraving · 30/07/2017 10:08

Prefer spelling of Annabel. Eleanor is much better than Eleanora although I do like Leonora. Francesca is ok but really dislike Fran. Arabella is beautiful as previously suggested.

WannaBeDelgadaToFitInToMyPrada · 30/07/2017 14:33

What about Leona
Spelling and pronunciation less open to interpretation different spells

lisara79 · 30/07/2017 14:37

I love Annabelle but there are so many of them around at the moment... i have 4 friends wirh little ones called Annabelle. Francesca is lovely too.

rider1975 · 30/07/2017 14:59

I like Francesca but they are all good choices. When the baby is born, you'll know which one she is

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