Girls List

I like Verity, Olivia and Grace. India is unusable nowadays. Lilah is a bit bland but OK. Briar I’m not sure about. In stories it’s often called Briar Rose, so it does have a fairytale image about it. Maybe it’s fine. Not much different to Holly.

Verity - hands down.

They are all beautiful - you can't go wrong :)

The only tricky one internationally might be Briar, it might be confused for Brian the same way Edie could be Eddie and Noa sound like Noah. But no big deal im sure!

Grace - classic name, popul
Verity - pretty
India - not keen
Olivia - classic, popular
Briar - no
Lilah - no

In order :
Grace
Olivia
Verity

Sorry but don't like in order.
Brian
India
Lilah

People are saying they like Briar. Am I thinking of the completely wrong thing? I'm imagining a briar bush, which is a thorny prickly thing you do not want to fall into! Or how I'd describe someone in a bad (prickly) mood "don't go near Sarah, she's like a briar bush today"

All lovely names, except Verity which I have never liked for some reason. My favourite is India, followed by Lilah, although I prefer the Lyla spelling.

Grace - pretty, with a nice meaning
Verity - not a huge fan
India - no
Olivia - lovely, but too popular
Briar - no
Lilah - never heard of it, but sounds quite pretty. I'd be worried it would be misspelt and mispronounced

Grace - nice enough but also a little harsh sounding to me starting with Gr- and just one syllable
Verity - ok but a bit frumpy to me
India - bit odd, wouldn't saddle child with it
Olivia - boring, overdone
Briar - lovely, interesting and original!
Lilah - nice but very overdone where I am

Love Grace, classic grows with them.
Verity - it's pretty but not my style.
India, love nn Indie, not sure about India
Olivia - really not keen on this but like Olive
Briar - not my style
Lilah - pretty

Lilah is my favourite. Olivia and Grace are ok but extremely boring. Others not keen on.

Rules of thumb.

• Don't choose a name in the top ten (unless you really love it and have always wanted to use it, or the child is named after someone dear to you).

• Choose an easier to-spell, popular name if you have an unusual or 'amusing' surname, or a more unusual firstname with a very common surname such as Smith.

• Shortish names go well with longer surnames and vice versa.

• See also my other post on another thread about being careful with how names flow and onerous initials.

Lots of people have names that don't follow the above and sound fine, but this is what my baby name book said and it does help IMO.

I quite like all the names on your list. Briar is unusual and some people idiots might struggle with it. Poor handwriting (not your child's necessarily, other people's) might result in it turning into Blair (made famous by the character in Gossip Girl). I knew a Verity when I was a child and at the time thought it was pretty, unusual but not 'strange'. As it happens, she was a lovely girl too. I'd probably pick that from your list.

I like Olivia best it's timeless. India sounds pretentious. Lilah, I agree about the see if L names.
Briar reminds me of Briar Rose from the fairytale.
Grace is ok just not my taste.
Verify is ok too.

Verity is my favourite, a lovely elegant name.

Grace and Olivia, also lovely, but far too popular.

India is my least favourite, and not keen on Briar or Lilah.

Briar is great. No to the rest,

Grace - nice name, strong and classic
Verity - not keen on the actual sound
India - really dislike, it is quite linked to colonialism for me as that’s when it first emerged as a name
Olivia - pretty. Very very popular in my area but that wouldn’t bother me, but it would bother some people!
Briar - I don’t like it. I think it has a harsh sound
Lilah - very pretty

Grace boring. Ten a penny.
Verity like. Nice meaning, too. Very pretty.
India not a fan of it as a name. prefer Indiana.
Olivia dull and too commonplace for my liking.
Briar LOVE. Absolutely stand out.
Lilah blah blah. Like Layla, Lola, Lily, meh.

Grace - OK, but it was so popular a few years ago, it's a bit nothingy to me now.
Verity - I like it. Unusual these days.
India - I agree with the others about the colonial vibes so wouldn't use it. I like Indie though.
Olivia - Classic and classy. I don't know any under the age of 30 despite it being the most popular girls name for several years now.
Briar - Love it! Unusual and strong with a slightly whimsical vibe.
Lilah - OK, but it does seem to merge in with a lot of the L names around.

Grace - no, always reminds me of grease.
Verity - no, ferrety.
India - no, colonial pomposity
Olivia - ok but sooo many of them
Briar - yes absolutely lovely
Lilah - ok but a bit nothingy.

Wasn’t the “excuse my tits” lady on Dexter called Lilah?

Grace - very dull
Verity - quite like, sounds strong but maybe a bit horsey?
India - weird colonial vibe
Olivia - pretty, love Liv as nn, popular if that bothers you
Briar - nope, sounds like Brian to me
Lilah - ok, but lots of similar names around at the moment - I prefer Lyra or Luna

Grace - pleasant but a bit boring
Verity - lovely!
India - I like it but would feel a bit weird calling my daughter it with no ties.
Olivia - beautiful but crazy popular
Briar - I don’t really like it
Lilah - meh

Grace - beautiful name I think! Popular but sound lovely
Verity - a bit harsh sounding to me
India - not my kind of name really but had a cool sound to it?
Olivia - very pretty name but of course popular
Briar - I’m surprised people seem to like this?! It sounds very ugly to me and makes me think of Brian
Lilah- love this but prefer the Lila spelling! Kate moss’s daughters name

Grace and Olivia are completely overdone.

Verity is a bit twee.

Briar is nice.

India is lovely and Indie is a cute NN.

Lilah I dislike.