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Baby names

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

Original poster

Girls name-what do they make you think of?

95 replies

Firsttimemother30 · 31/01/2019 18:13

Hello, myself and my husband found out we are having a girl today. We are very excited and have narrowed it down to three names. We will probably wait until we see her but looking for others opinions but reluctant to share with family. The names are:
Hettie
Effie
Pearl
What kind of name would you class each name as? What do they remind you of? We are aware of the Hettie is a hoover and Effie could be made to sound like a swear word type comments, but these aren’t strong enough factors to put us off. Surname begins with L and is fairly commonplace.

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Ellieboolou27 · 31/01/2019 18:53

Effie is a Greek name I think, it’s the nicest out of the 3.
Pearl is awful And Hettie is what my hoover is called Grin

LucyFox · 31/01/2019 18:45

My concern with Pearl is that your surname starts with L
Just trying a few L surnames (Pearl Leeming, Pearl Larson, Pearl Lord) & it just doesn’t work for me!
Hettie as a nickname works well but I would go for Henrietta as a full name
Effie is a bit too trendy for m, but again nice as a nickname for something

Marcipex · 31/01/2019 18:37

Effie sounds a bit like Eff off.

Hettie is okay but very old fashioned. I prefer Harriet or Henriett, nn Harry or Hattie.

Pearl sounds very dated and from the Deep South. There are much nicer jewel names. Ruby, Topaz, Amethyst, Emerald, Garnet, Amber.

Marcipex · 31/01/2019 18:37

Effie sounds a bit like Eff off.

Hettie is okay but very old fashioned. I prefer Harriet or Henriett, nn Harry or Hattie.

Pearl sounds very dated and from the Deep South. There are much nicer jewel names. Ruby, Topaz, Amethyst, Emerald, Garnet, Amber.

stickygotstuck · 31/01/2019 18:35

Hettie and Effie are fine, but they both sound like nicknames to me.

Pearl I absolutely love. I like nature names and I know a lovely 10 year old called Pearl, which helps.

TacoLover · 31/01/2019 18:29

Sorry but personally they sound like names I would give to a pet.

DianaBlythe · 31/01/2019 18:28

Effie is lovely. I’d love it myself but our last name is a noun and I’m worried it sounds a bit like effing xxx. Would be fine if it was Jones or something. I might imagine it was short for Euphemia or Eleftheria but think using it on its own is fine these days.

Corneliusmurphy · 31/01/2019 18:26

Hettie makes me think of Hettie Feather as dd loves that book, Effie makes me think of the character from skins (although her name was actually Elizabeth) and Pearl the woman off of last of the summer wine.

Really don’t like Pearl, I don’t think of it as a name more a ‘thing’ the other two are nice I’d probably assume they were short for something else, though only in an that’s interesting kind of a way, I’d only call them what you did (if that makes sense)

Congratulations btw!

Stinkytoe · 31/01/2019 18:25

Hettie and Effie make me think of animals, mostly dogs.

Pearl makes me think of a horrible old woman my grandparents used to know who always seems drunk and constantly had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

Cinderella812 · 31/01/2019 18:24

Honest response?
"Effie" to me makes me think of "Heffer". God help her if she's a big girl... the taunting could be horrid! Plenty of people love it though. Everybody's 'word association' will be different.

missmouse101 · 31/01/2019 18:24

Effie sounds absolutely awful, like you're saying effing. Hettie and Pearl are tolerable but sound quite boring and grannyish. But if you like them, that's all that matters.

Rainatnight · 31/01/2019 18:24

I love Pearl. I think it's elegant. I know a cool twenty something called Pearl and she carries it off well.

Effie and Hettie are too nickname-y for me - they make me think of girls' nicknames in very minor boarding schools.

HalfBloodPrincess · 31/01/2019 18:22

Hetty wainthropp
Pearl Harbour
Effie Trinket

Original poster
Firsttimemother30 · 31/01/2019 18:21

Thank you for all your responses so far :) nice to see they are positive!

OP posts:
Original poster
Firsttimemother30 · 31/01/2019 18:21

Can I ask why she gets stick Rackham?

OP posts:
abcriskringle · 31/01/2019 18:19

Congratulations!!!!
I really like Effie. I think it's unusual but not 'weird' iyswim.
Hettie- I would assume is a nn for a longer name (Henrietta?) but is ok. Probably my least favourite of the 3 but still like it.
Pearl - actually growing on me the more I think about it. Quite old fashioned but so are many names that are growing in popularity these days.

Cuppateeee · 31/01/2019 18:18

Love all of these particularly Hettie, makes me think of sweet, older people

rackhampearl · 31/01/2019 18:17

My newborn niece is named Effie and I really like it but her Mum gets a lot of stick for it. It could be short for Stephanie or Elizabeth but I really just like it as Effie. Pearl and Hettie are obviously linked to the old generation but making a big comeback, again I know a baby Pearl. All nice names in my opinion.

sleepismysuperpower1 · 31/01/2019 18:16

Hettie is my favorite out of your list,

i'm not the biggest fan of pearl, mainly because it doesn't really sound like a name to me (a bit like apple)

I like Effie too, although it does remind me of the woman (Effie Trinket) in the Hunger Games films.

congratulations and all the best x

kenandbarbie · 31/01/2019 18:16

Hettie and Effie are nice but nicknamey, I'd go for something less cutesy sounding for birth cert. pearl sounds a bit grannyish for me.