Who is Ophelia?

Sadly a lot of nice sounding names have unacceptable connotations, and Ophelia is one of them.

Someone quirky who becomes insane and drowns herself....

I think this only springs to mind because of the way you’ve phrased the post (I originally thought you were genuinely asking who ‘Ophelia’ was)

If I met one - I’m thinking posh in a London-y sort of way - sibling to Rafferty

Ophelia has long brown hair , big eyes and is very slim and willowy.
She wears clothes made from natural fibres and has her own mind if hippy style.
She is well educated and intelligent.
Practices yoga and spends her free time travelling to far flung remote places.
She has never visited the Spanish costas.
Lives with a hippy boyfriend and several stray cats.
Her house is an individual old, very large place with a big garden where she grows her own herbs and veg.

I think Ophelia is beautiful and I was thinking about the similarities with Olivia the other day. It’s definitely a name I would not have considered using a number of years ago but it seems to be catching people’s eyes now. As an alternative I also really like Cordelia.

Ophelia - the name of a woman in a second hand shop I visited recently who couldn't spell it. She got as far as 'Of-'.. (Spanish spelling) but after a few tries the cashier had to resort to asking for her phone number to double check her loyalty card. Felt so sad for her.

The daughter of people who want everyone to know how well educated and clever they are
Weirdly, it tends to be the opposite in the US.

Ursula is earthy (Lawrentian) rather than watery though.

Oh yes, that makes sense. Ursula would be Ophelia's slightly more grounded sister in my head

Someone who hopefully doesn’t or won’t ever have the surname “Balls”

Cute and cool. Arty, and free.

Later as a teen/ young person; well travelled and to count people with a diverse background as her best friends.

Allows herself to be called Phe Phe, and ends up in recruiting or working for a charity, after completing a physics or mathematics degree with Spanish/ French/ Greek.

Drives a VW and wears cool clothes from charity shops. Couch surfs and yet knows which trainers are cool and that mum jeans ain't never cool.

she gets really offended at being asked to photocopy a summer crime caper and make tea instead of editing something for a poetry prize.

Noooooooo - she'd take the lowly crime caper novelist out to lunch, invite her down to the parental country pile for the weekend and effortlessly get the trashy novel transformed into a well respected TV series. (Happy Valley / Line of Duty style).

Then retire gracefully from the publishing scene to pursue true Art.

Yeah Odette dies as well.

I also agree with George, although I dispute that Ophelia gets huffy about making tea. I actually think she'd get very enthusiastic about it and refer to it often in the thirty years that followed, amplifying the significance each time. Which she'd have to, given that it's the only day's work she's ever done, so that's her only point of currency with most people.

Can I interest you in Odette?

Seems to fit the bill and has nicer connotations (white swan being better suicidal lover).

Must admit I think tragic story first too...

george has it 100% except she has missed the bit about her once doing work experience in a book publishers because her godmother Venetia Huffington-Smythe is a director and she gets really offended at being asked to photocopy a summer crime caper and make tea instead of editing something for a poetry prize.

Rich, feckless, studying art history, vegan, slightly dim.

Or a young noblewoman of Denmark...

Oh gosh I'm the opposite to those who think Ophelia is delicate, elegant. I imagine a very rich, plummy voiced, very overweight middle aged woman sprawled on a Victorian chaise longue, demanding more bon bons from the timid mousey servant girl in the corner!

A girl who went to my kids primary school

I love it.

Happy little girl, long blonde hair blowing in the hair, rainbow scarf blowing behind her

Happy and popular but in an everyoneoves kinda way, not like mean girl style

Unique style, quirky, but she's a lawyer or a doctor

Ursula is earthy (Lawrentian) rather than watery though.

Ursula gives me the same kind of vibe.

Creative, beautiful, slightly boho UMC.

If everyone can just get over the thing about a fictional suicide, It's got the potential to be the next Olivia, but slightly more gossamer.

As alternatives I mean. If you think that Ophelia has too many tragic associations :-)

Aurelia
Elizabeth
Isabella
Imogen

Also this rather wet (in every sense) lady.

Someone who spent her schooldays listening to dumb jokes about "Ophelia Bottom" ?

I love the name itself but to be honest I would assume any parent who actually used it wanted to sound clever but hasn't actually read/seen Hamlet and didn't realise the character killed herself because she split up with her boyfriend (in essence).