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Baby names

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

Help! Only 10 days to name baby and STUCK! Bethany maybe? Or???

79 replies

alrightbab · 05/05/2023 07:57

Hi everyone. Baby girl is coming next week and we’re not in the U.K. so only have a few days after the birth to register a name. Feeling the time pressure!

We’re really, really stuck for names. Husband and I can’t decide (or agree!)! His favourite is Emily, I don’t like it at all, I don’t know why (sorry Emily fans!). I like botanical names but loads of them don’t work with our surname. My favourite is Martha but husband doesn’t like it ☹️

The closest consensus we’ve got is Bethany but I don’t love it and I love the names we chose for our two boys (but maybe that’s because they’ve already ‘grown into’ them??)

Is it unrealistic to find a name I love? I don’t want to ‘settle’ for something and regret it later. This baby is our last (and only girl) so maybe I’m feeling/making a pressure that wasn’t previously there.

In no particular order this is our current list (though worth noting husband doesn’t like several of these and I’m feeling quite meh about many of them):

Estelle
Jemima
Mirabelle
Tabitha
Heidi
Rosemary
Emily
Lydia
Zoe
Bethany
Martha
Esther
Hazel

Middle name will be Madeleine. I’m not bothered about the first name flowing well with middle name, I find it more important that first and surnames go together. Our surname begins with T so first names ending in T or D don’t really work (imo).

Please help me with inspiration of other names we could consider. I’d really like something a bit more unusual but not off the wall (loads of us are trying to find that fine line, no?).

Thanks MNers!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Findyourneutralspace · 06/05/2023 17:38

Azalea
Willow
Heather
Fern
Violet
Iris

uncomfortablydumb53 · 06/05/2023 17:32

I love Martha and Hazel
Botanical names
Briar
Saffron
Sorrel
Rowan
Bryony

RatatouilleAndFeta · 06/05/2023 17:23

Love madeleine

How about:
Eloise
Iris
Violet
Leah
Camille
Isabella
Chloe
Lauren
Sylvie

Inkypot · 06/05/2023 17:18

Not a fan of Bethany, always sound a bit "meh" to me. Madeleine is a beautiful name and Hazel is sweet too. How about Madeleine Hazel Txxxx?

Backhometothenorth · 05/05/2023 22:35

Esther is beautiful

ThePoetsWife · 05/05/2023 22:30

Ruby
Olivia
Holly
Eva

NuffSaidSam · 05/05/2023 22:30

Vivienne
Genevieve
Amber
Margot
Isla
Penelope
Constance
Isobel

clarisasmammabear · 05/05/2023 22:24

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Mumofgirls2017 · 05/05/2023 22:22

Evelyn
nancy
stella
melody
elodie
eloise
emmeline
martha
edith
meredith
rosalie
dorothy
amelie
sadie
matilda

eatdrinkandbemerry · 05/05/2023 21:47

Don't like Bethany but what about
Bronwyn
Betsy
Daisy

FatGirlSwim · 05/05/2023 21:45

Esther and Hazel are my favourites from your list. But both Emily and Martha are MUCH nicer than Bethany imo.

Eleanor
Laurel
Briony
Mabel
Marnie
Violet
Amelie
Nancy

ShandaLear · 05/05/2023 21:45

How about Linnea? It has shades of Emily and is a botanical name, and it’s very pretty - unusual but not weird or out there.

NewNovember · 05/05/2023 21:38

Love Tabitha

RandomUsernameHere · 05/05/2023 21:23

I like Bethany, it seems to be popular here though (there are 2 in DD's class, year 4).

Spanielsarepainless · 05/05/2023 21:01

Bethany is a gorgeous name!

SidekickSylvia · 05/05/2023 20:54

Stephanie?

StellaOlivetti · 05/05/2023 20:53

Jemima or Lydia are my favourites from your list.

Pinkandgreentrousers · 05/05/2023 20:51

Bethan rather than Bethany
Alice
Grace

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 05/05/2023 20:44

Zoe Madeleine is gorgeous.

motherofawhirlwind · 05/05/2023 17:44

Tabitha Madeleine sounds beautiful to me

LoveTheDramaMick · 05/05/2023 17:32

Viola
Willow
Astrid
Aisling
Claudia
Bryony
Ariadne

Snoopystick · 05/05/2023 17:16

Elizabeth which you can shorten to Beth
Emma is nicer than Emily

MargotBamborough · 05/05/2023 17:13

Estelle is my favourite from your list.

Are you able to say which country you are in? If it's France then I would cross anything with a "th" except Esther off the list.

salamithumbs · 05/05/2023 16:56

I really like Hazel, Zoe, Martha, Lydia, Jemima and Bethany!
I think Heidi sounds twee, Esther too sad/sombre and Rosemary sounds too prim and middle-aged ( basing this entirely on Rosemarys I've known!). Tabitha is ok but it sounds somewhat like a cat's name imho.

Mirabelle is nice but I wonder if it's going to become very associated with Encanto.. I wanted Elsa for my daughter before Frozen ruined it 🙄
Estelle just reminds me of Joey's agent from Friends going 'JOEY. IT'S ESTELLE!" in her New York accent... but I do like Stella!

Definitely don't use Emily if you dislike it, there's bound to be a name you both like. Agree that Madeleine is lovely as a first name!

Other ideas: Anneliese, Elena, Juliana, Marisol, Jasmine, Rowena, Ailsa, Rosanna, Sorrell, Seraphina, Tessa, Thora, Vivienne, Talia, Rosa, Lara, Felicity, Cara, April, Coralie, Elise, Cassie/Cassia, Caroline

KirstenBlest · 05/05/2023 12:49

Estelle - Stella is nicer
Jemima - lovely
Mirabelle - too frilly
Tabitha - twitchett
Heidi - nice
Rosemary - too prim
Emily - ok, a bit popular
Lydia - nice
Zoe - nice
Bethany - not keen
Martha - like
Esther - like
Hazel - ok

Suggesions:
Estella, Stella, Miranda, Matilda, Rosalind, Astrid, Ingrid, Miriam, Zara, Flora, Xanthe, Elizabeth, Ruth, Heather, Willow, Tamsin.

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