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Baby names

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

Original poster

Freya, Flora or Isabel?

71 replies

kennetrose · 09/01/2023 23:47

I'm past my due date and still struggling! My husband and I agreed a shortlist of three but he's said the final decision is mine. Partly because I've done all the work in growing the baby but also because I'm far more opinionated than him on names. To me things like name meaning are just as important as the sound of the name but he just likes the sound. Husband would be happy with any of these names, although his favourite is Isabel (nickname Izzy).

I'm not looking for feedback on the names per se but the pros and cons and how I should weigh them up. I'm clearly overthinking this massively! Any thoughts welcome.

Flora

  • love the meaning and the history of the name. The fact it's connected to mythology and nature makes it the ideal name for me on paper. Also love the sound.
  • I don't mind that it's a brand of margarine but I would hate for people's reactions to be (either to our faces or behind our backs) "like the margarine?". That said, when my parents told my grandparents my name after I was born they said it was a barmaid's name. It's naive of me to want everyone to love my child's name, someone will have something negative to say no matter what I'm sure (even if they don't say it to my face).
  • I don't like Flo as a nickname and I'm not sure about Florrie, but I will inevitably give her a nickname because that's a habit I have.

Freya

  • again love the meaning and history of the name. Makes me think of a strong powerful woman.
  • it's so popular. I wish that didn't bother me but it does. However I don't have any reference for how popular it is. It's in the top 10 names but popular names these days are less popular than they used to be - eg. Olivia is the top girl name from 2021 and there were under 4000 babies with that name. Compared to the most popular name in 1996, Sophie, when there were 8000 babies with that name. I remember there being five Sarah's in my class at school one year but I don't think that would happen anymore.

Isabel

  • it's Spanish on origin (husband is half Spanish, surname is Spanish)
  • it goes with my favourite middle name, which Flora and Freya don't. I won't share the middle name because it's unusual and I don't want to dox myself. It's too unusual for a first name which is why I would only use it as a middle name. It's Manx Gaelic which reflects my heritage.
  • don't love the meaning of the name. It's biblical which means nothing to us.
+ however I looked into the history and etymology of the name and I do love that. It also makes me think of a strong woman.
  • not sure how I feel about Izzy as a nickname.
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HandsOffMyCarrierBags · 10/01/2023 23:29

Love Flora

Petal7 · 10/01/2023 23:25

Flora definitely. Gorgeous name.

Much, much prefer Isabella to Isabel, as love nn Bella/Belle, but can't stand Izzy (sounds v harsh to me)

Freya is a lovely name too, but v popular

LizzieBrooks · 10/01/2023 23:16

I have a 12 year old Flora and still absolutely adore the name - as does she. I think is feminine but strong with some great examples through history as mentioned above.
The only time there has even been a mention of the butter has been when she has gleefully spotted a tub in the supermarket herself! Only other time I’ve heard it mentioned is on MN.
I hate the nn Flo and she never gets called that either.

Luredbyapomegranate · 10/01/2023 23:03

Flora

They are all lovely names but the other two really have been done to death.

There are enough Floras around the margarine issue cannot be major

Insomnia23 · 10/01/2023 22:29

Isabel. It’s the most feminine and beautiful.

F is not a good start for girls names, too masculine letter.

Fr start is a froggy start. Freya is a no and it’s a vowel pool.

Flora is mehhh. Reminds me of pasta flora!

Mummytobe333 · 10/01/2023 22:00

Freya is my favourite!

IVF20233 · 10/01/2023 19:43

Freya.

Flora does remind me of the margarine and ‘gut flora’ (sorry!)

Isabel is overused and I really dislike Izzy as a nickname.

LlynTegid · 10/01/2023 19:37

It would be Freya of the three. Even though an Isabel who I have known since childhood is one of the best people I will ever meet.

Nikla · 10/01/2023 19:35

Isabel! Absolutely love it.

Would probably call my youngest Isabel if I had my chance again.

Keha · 10/01/2023 19:21

On your question... popularity...I have one of those names which was very popular at the time but it's never bothered me so decided not to let that influence my choice of DS name. I think in a way I'd rather have a popular name than a name I might get bullied for, but I actually don't think the margarine link is that obvious and it's not the worst thing in the world. I think a downside of Isabel you have not mentioned as that she will always have to spell it to people/will get spelt wrong. On popularity again, if you look the actual numbers are often not that high, especially for names outside top 5. Is your issue not wanting your child to be one of several in their school year or because you want your friends/family to think you've picked something "different"? I wouldn't put too much weight on the middle name as it's very infrequent we say our whole names out loud to people .

(Personally I'd go Freya or flora)

Also we had a shortlist and then went for something totally different when DS was born because none of them seemed right.

DuchessOfSausage · 10/01/2023 19:03

Flora definitely.
Freya sounds like Fray. It was nice when it was hardly used but seems to be a bit tired now.
Isabel is ok but there are so many Isabellas and Isabel(le)s.

ChildrenOfTheQuorn · 10/01/2023 13:00

I think we're all aware Flora isn't just a margarine. However if you call your child Flora, Alexa, Hermes, Pandora etc the popular brand / company will always be the first association which springs to mind for most people as it's the most visible or prevalent. Not historical or literary namesakes.

Rosio · 10/01/2023 12:53

Really not keen on Flora. Fliss? Sounds more like a NN though.
Freya is lovely, Isabel is okay. I'm sure she would be Izzy In time though even if you don't like it

FlounderingFruitcake · 10/01/2023 12:29

Isabel and Freya are both lovely! Isabel would be my top pick but only because you hear Freya a lot. Not Flora, as a full name is nice but the nicknames aren’t and it could be tough going as a teen.

Reugny · 10/01/2023 12:24

I like Flora only because there are so many girls called Freya and Isabel (various spellings) around.

Also the only Flora I ever knew was a lovely person. She would be about 50 now. And while it is the name of a margarine no-one made jokes about it.

RuthW · 10/01/2023 12:22

Flora is lovely.

MrNook · 10/01/2023 12:17

I've got a Freya, only met one other so far!

nameisnotimportant · 10/01/2023 12:15

Freya for sure !

Flora = fake butter
Isabel - we had an Isabel in school and everyone called her Isabel End (Is a bell end).

nilsmousehammer · 10/01/2023 11:44

All three lovely classic names.

A Flora in the extended family, no one's ever mentioned margarine, and her nickname just became Floradora for some reason.... she doesn't seem to mind!

FatGirlSwim · 10/01/2023 11:32

My dd is Flora. Occasionally someone mentions margarine but she’s never had an issue with the misogynistic joke. We’ve only ever had compliments on her name.

MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 10/01/2023 11:24

All three names are eminently useable though and if I liked Flora the existence of the margarine brand wouldn't put me off at all.

GrinAndVomit · 10/01/2023 11:23

I absolutely love Flora and have a very strong aversion to Freya. I hate the “fr” sound. I hate how it feels to say it.

MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 10/01/2023 11:19

Freya. A lovely name and although it's popular I'm personally yet to meet one!

I don't really like Flora. It's a shame that Fauna isn't a proper name as that has a much more appealing sound to me! Flora makes me picture a stout and severe Scottish woman in a brown tweed skirt and sensible shoes.

Isabel - it's nice and I like this spelling of it but wow, there are so so so many Isabel(les) and Isabellas around. It's basically this generation's Michelle. No offence to all those lovely Michelles out there.

Original poster
kennetrose · 10/01/2023 11:00

Thanks for feedback everyone! Especially the reassurance on Flora not only having margarine connotations! Searching the name on mumsnet is a bit demoralising because so many people mention it, or reference an awful joke which I hadn’t thought of and I don’t think many primary school children will be thinking of.

I was surprised the Isabel spelling is less popular than Isabelle, it’s the one I’m most familiar with although that’s just because of someone I went to school with! We would use Isabel because it’s the Spanish spelling. It’s 100-something in the ONS list but I guess its popularity is a bit clouded by the different spellings.

And thanks for the perspective on the popularity issue!

@TempsPerdu I actually re-read Cold Comfort Farm last week after not having read it since year 8 English as I wanted to see what Flora Poste was like. Enjoyed the book much more than I did back then, she’s great.

@HitMeWithAHotNoteAndWatchMeBounce I was hoping for feedback on the pros/cons I set out, not just the names themselves! Like is worrying about margarine as big an issue as I fear, or perspective on the question of popularity.

@Rickandmortified100 thank you for highlighting the positive connotations of Flora! I’m glad there are people who are aware it’s not just margarine 😂

OP posts:
TempsPerdu · 10/01/2023 10:22

They are all nice, but Flora is definitely my favourite. I’ve come across a few small Floras recently, but it has nowhere near the massive popularity of Freya and Isabel (especially Freya, which is everywhere at the moment).

Caveat is that it is rising steadily now (currently #220), probably because it has a similar style to other current names like Cora and Clara. Not sure whether it will ever reach the dizzy heights of Freya though, because some people definitely still associate it with the margarine (I did go to school with one in the ‘80s who was subjected to the odd ‘Flora Margarine’ pun, but I’d like to think we’ve moved on a bit since then!)

It’s classy, feminine but not too frilly, a bit quirky, and has nice nature/mythology links. Plus Flora Poste is one of my favourite literary characters, which is another bonus. It’s one of those names that still has quite a middle class feel at the moment (all of the ones I’ve met recently would probably be described as posh with a slightly artsy/hippyish vibe) but it will probably be democratised as more people use it.

As you can probably tell I’m a fan! If we had another DD (which isn’t happening), Flora would definitely be a front runner.