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Baby names

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

Original poster

Rose, Florence or Raphaela as a sister for Elodie?

87 replies

SparkleMotion82 · 06/11/2017 23:04

I’m almost 35 weeks now with our second daughter and have cut down our list to the following as a little sister for Elodie (who was born at 38 weeks)!

Rose Willow
Florence Willow
Raphaela Willow

Willow is an honour name for my Dad (William). I should also mention I’ve had a lot of issues with name regret over Elodie’s name (the pronunciation) 😕.

Other front runners from our list that we’ve removed to try and settle on one name were:

Allegra
Persephone
Claudia

Would be great to know which you prefer, which you think works best with Elodie, and what connotations the different names have for you?

Thank you so, so much - I’m a bit confused and would love to settle on a name soon if at all possible, any advice very gratefully received.

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Enidblyton1 · 04/12/2017 17:15

Go with Florence if you want to be typically French
Raphaela is a lovely name and I really like the Raffi/Raffa shortening. More unusual than Florence these days (in the U.K.)
I would stay away from Rose for pronunciation reasons in France.

Movablefeast · 04/12/2017 16:50

We have a Raphaela aged 17, she gets compliments on her name whereever she goes. We lived in Germany for a few years (she was not born there) and they pronounced it Raf-i-ee-la but that always sounded lovely! It's used in many languages: Italian, Spanish and regularly in German which surprised us. She has different nns usually Raffy and Raffa which is the German nn. People do pronounce it differently in English, either Raf-i-ella or Raf-ee-ella but quite honestly I am not too fussed and neither is she as all pronouncations sound great. She actually was not the only Raphaela in her schools or a sister of a school mate would have the same name in Germany and our current location (not UK) So it's probably just the UK where it is very unfamiliar. Even Ireland uses it or is at least familiar with it. Catholic countries use the names of the archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel a lot more historically though. As angels are pure spirit and not male or female Raphael/a are the same name.

Original poster
SparkleMotion82 · 03/12/2017 19:25

Thanks so much all...we are still figuring it out...I’ll let you know if we come to a decision! So tough!

OP posts:
LeonoraFlorence · 03/12/2017 07:37

I prefer Florence :)

pilates · 25/11/2017 13:08

Rose

beckythomas · 24/11/2017 20:14

Congratulations in advance. I am really excited to come to this thread as I am also expecting a baby in few weeks.

Florence Willow looks lovely :)

pamelastone · 24/11/2017 20:10

Raphaela sounds great!

NotCornflakes · 24/11/2017 20:05

Claudia Rose Willow is lovely. And Elodie and Claudia go very well together because of the L sounds.

PhuntSox · 24/11/2017 20:02

Scarlett Willow Rose
Florence Willow Rose
Minerva Willow Rose
Elizabeth Willow Rose
Euphemia Willow Rose
Allegra Willow Rose

AnyaMoondial · 24/11/2017 19:36

How about Rosa willow?

Glumglowworm · 24/11/2017 19:32

I really like Claudia and it goes well with Elodie

WyfOfBathe · 24/11/2017 17:20

I like Florence & Rose. If your planning on living in France for the foreseeable future, I'm not keen on the French pronunciation of Rose so I would go for Florence.

I've never seen Raphaela before, only Raphael. I love Raphael (it was on our shortlist for if DD had been a boy) but I don't like Raphaela. It's too clearly a feminised version of Raphael for me.

Emelene · 24/11/2017 17:15

Gorgeous 3 choices. Personally I would go for Florence with Elodie. :)

daisypond · 24/11/2017 17:10

I like all the names. I think Rose Willow is a bit too horticultural for my taste, but I like Rose as a first name. I like Raphaela the most. Florence is OK, I don't dislike it. I like Claudia as well.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 24/11/2017 16:39

Claudia Rose Willow.

MammieBear · 24/11/2017 16:32

Florence goes best

Original poster
SparkleMotion82 · 24/11/2017 16:07

Thanks so much all - I think we only want to use Willow as a middle name so looks like Rose Willow is proving popular...
Rafael is a boys name I’ve always loved so not sure if that means we should therefore use the feminine version...and Claudia is a newer one (to us) that we’re liking (I like it phonetically and think it balances well with Elodie.
I love Rose though...not that popular as a first name (right)? and seems classic and to work for all ages...

OP posts:
ChocolateCrunch · 24/11/2017 15:58

From your list, I like Rose Willow

PissedOffNeighbour · 24/11/2017 15:58

I like Willow Rose 🌹

deptfordgirl · 24/11/2017 15:58

Sorry just saw your update. I vote Rose.

Original poster
SparkleMotion82 · 24/11/2017 15:57

I was kind of ruling out Florence as slightly frumpy perhaps? It seems very popular on here though! Thank you for your comment xx

OP posts:
Original poster
SparkleMotion82 · 24/11/2017 15:55

Thank you - my husband loves Florence too...I think it’s that a lot of English people say El-uh-dee and I’m trying to say Elle-oh-dee if that makes sense? Really appreciate your opinion 😀😀

OP posts:
Itsonkyme · 24/11/2017 15:55

Florence!

deptfordgirl · 24/11/2017 15:50

I love Florence with Elodie. Elodie is beautiful, am surprised people struggle with the pronunciation.

Original poster
SparkleMotion82 · 24/11/2017 15:47

Thank you so so much to everyone who took the time to comment-each and every response was super helpful. We still can’t make the final decision and she could be born any day now!

Votes on the following as a sister for Elodie would be very much appreciated! (I really want to use the name Rose somehow and Willow is an honour name for William, just in case you were wondering why on the multiple middle names). Also not sure on which spelling for Raffaela! We have a one syllable last name, just in case that’s useful to know :)
Thank you so so much!!

Elodie and...

Raffaela Rose Willow [Last name]
Rose Willow [Last name]
Claudia Rose Willow [Last name]

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