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Baby names

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

Original poster

Baby girl shortlist help needed please!

31 replies

Nosuchthingasastupidquestion · 30/01/2020 11:08

After many many (many) hours we have come up with a shortlist for our third child and first daughter. We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves until we realised we had no idea how to whittle it down from eight to one. Would like to have a front-runner before the birth in March. Would love to know your preferences/ reasons for preferences/ thoughts/ observations etc! Thank you so much. Shortlist (in no particular order) is:

  • Ines
  • Evangeline
  • Lyra
  • Adeline
  • Gabriella
  • Ophelia
  • Josephine
  • Audra
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AlpacaGoodnight · 01/02/2020 21:23

Evangeline Lyra

MyCatScaresDogs · 01/02/2020 16:08

Gabriella is my favourite, followed by Lyra. Beautiful names!

eomma · 01/02/2020 16:02

like ines and gabriella but not nn gaby. josephine will become jo, which, no offence to any jos, is absolutely disgusting.

Original poster
Nosuchthingasastupidquestion · 01/02/2020 15:48

You guys are awesome thank you for the feedback, this naming girls business is hard! @LarkDescending Jocelyn is very cute but maybe a bit too vintage for me/with son's names. We are looking for something not super modern but still quite fresh sounding, not too frilly (which is what makes me unsure of Gabriella and Ophelia, as they sometimes strike me as being quite strong and at other times a bit too floral if you know what I mean).

OP posts:
user1493494961 · 01/02/2020 15:23

I only like Gabriella and Josephine. Lyra is a bit of a fad and agree with pp, a lot of similar names around.

MikeAlphaMike · 01/02/2020 01:04

and Josephine.
But I would pick Ines.

MikeAlphaMike · 01/02/2020 01:03

I only like Ines

LarkDescending · 01/02/2020 00:21

I like Josephine and Gabriella from your list.

Trendy Lyra is my least favourite.

Sorry to add a suggestion when you’re trying to trim the list - Jocelyn?

Astronica · 31/01/2020 22:30

In order from my favourite:
Ines - stylish international, not fussy but not overdone
Josephine - solid traditional with great nns (I love Jo, Joey, Posy)
Audra - smart, unusual, upbeat and nicely streamlined
Gabriella - love Gaby, stylish, international
Ophelia - interesting, though a little frilly for my taste
Evangeline -nice enough, but again a bit frilly for me
Lyra - okay but very on trend in that will have peak and then drop suddenly, and very like many other popular names: Lila, Laila, Lola, Lily, Luna etc. I would go for the classic Laura though.
Adeline - only one I dislike, hard to put my finger on why - just doens't sound smart to me, over-used in US (and Adalynn and variations everywhere) so has American feel. I love Adelaide though which I would put at the top of the list.

CalleighDoodle · 31/01/2020 18:41

Ines. Love it. First choice.
Audra. Ok way way second choice.
All others are meh.

victoria0132 · 31/01/2020 18:39
  • Ines - like but tricky for young kids to pronounce
  • Evangeline - love as a full name but Evie is very meh by comparison
  • Lyra - love but depends on growing popularity and you'll always be asked if it's because of the Phillip Pullman novels
  • Adeline - not keen. Sounds quite harsh compared to your other choices
Gabriella - overdone and Gabi as a nickname sounds like gobby to me! Ophelia - don't like sorry Josephine - classic and underrated. Great nickname potential - Jose, Josie, Jo. Potentially my favourite on your list Audra - don't like sorry
bridgetreilly · 31/01/2020 17:37

In order, I ike:
Evangeline
Adeline
Josephine
Gabriella
Ophelia
Ines
Audra
Lyra

Original poster
Nosuchthingasastupidquestion · 31/01/2020 13:48

@Whatsyourflava my dad said the same thing re Adeline, reminded him of Adenoids! Not a great association but thankfully not one I have!

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userabcname · 30/01/2020 21:08

Ines - I like this name. It's unusual and elegant.
Evangeline- it's ok, not massively keen.
Lyra - like.
Adeline - pretty, possibly my favourite.
Gabriella - love! Joint favourite.
Ophelia - like.
Josephine - sorry but I think this is a very ugly name. I know a little Josephine and always think she's so cute but her name is truly dreadful.
Audra - no, dislike.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 30/01/2020 20:48

In order

Ines
Lyra
Evangeline

Grainedesesame · 30/01/2020 20:46

Josephine

Original poster
Nosuchthingasastupidquestion · 30/01/2020 19:58

Also @Clettercletterthatsbettertercletter I think you could be right re Lyra. I had never heard of it before and suddenly everyone is talking about it. It is beautiful though and could probably handle a bit of a surge without becoming overly popular.

OP posts:
Original poster
Nosuchthingasastupidquestion · 30/01/2020 19:53

Thanks everyone, this is so helpful, and giving us much to talk about!The name-by-name thoughts and rankings are especially insightful! Pretty mixed response so far, pleasantly surprised at the love for Josephine though - I thought that would be the one that would get booed off the stage! I love the sound of it, and its rarity, but not sure how I feel about it still sounding so much like its male version of the name (more so than Gabriella I think), or how one is supposed to feel about feminine version names tbh? I read on here the other day someone saying feminine versions of male names weren't as strong as female names that only had a female version (or something like that anyway, I'm paraphrasing)?

OP posts:
Clettercletterthatsbetter · 30/01/2020 15:53

How I’d rank them:

  1. Ines: I really like this one
  2. Josephine: lovely, underused. Like the nn potential - Josie, Joey, Jo, Sephy, Fifi...
  3. Lyra: lovely. It used to be on my girls list but I think it’ll see an upsurge in popularity this year after the BBC adaptation of Northern Lights.
  4. Evangeline: nice, but the popularity of the inevitable nn Evie would put me off
  5. Ophelia: nice, but not sure about teasing potential. I prefer Octavia if you like that?
  6. Adeline: ok, but the multiple pronunciations would put me off.
  7. Audra: not keen. It’s a bit American for me. I prefer Audrey.
  8. Gabriella: not as nice as the others
Narcheska · 30/01/2020 14:12

Josephine 🥰

17caterpillars1mouse · 30/01/2020 14:07

Ines - like but it's not my favourite on your list

  • Evangeline - like but Evie's are everywhere
  • Lyra - pretty but feel it's about to have its moment
  • Adeline - lovely
  • Gabriella - love it
  • Ophelia - nice just not for me
  • Josephine - my favourite on your list, classic but unexpected. I like Joey
  • Audra - not a fan
albus55 · 30/01/2020 14:03

Josephine all day. Would have been my DD's name if it didn't rhyme with our surname.

Sandsnake · 30/01/2020 13:37

My favourite is Lyra. I’m having a baby girl next week and we would love to use it, but can’t. Audra is nice, but have a feeling that it would be forever confused with ‘Audrey’. Good luck!

DramaAlpaca · 30/01/2020 13:37

My favourite is Josephine.

Peachbubble · 30/01/2020 13:34

I'd choose Lyra