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Baby names

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

Original poster

Teacher struggling with names

135 replies

ARodeoQueen · 16/08/2025 07:34

I'm 25 weeks and we don't know if I am having a boy or girl. We love old man boys names like Walter, Wilfred, Oswald but we are struggling on girls names. I really love long girls names. My favourites are Genevieve and Evangeline. The problem is I have one lovely niece and her name is Evie. So I feel that they are too close to her name.
To complicate things further me and DH are teachers. I would really like a name that I haven't taught - which narrows it down significantly. Whenever I hear a name I just picture a face of a child I've taught. If that makes sense! I want a 'new' name. It was really hard naming my son 5 years ago and this one is harder. Middle name will be Joan if it's a girl. I do like Gwen so potentially Gwendolyn or Guinervere. I'd be greatful of any suggestions. Thank you!

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Corfumanchu · 16/08/2025 22:13

Chipsandricetonight · 16/08/2025 21:32

If I ever end up with DD3 she’d most likely be Ophelia.

Also love Clara and Sofia.

Edited

Ophelia aka 'a feel of yer' is just cruel!

Bubbles332 · 16/08/2025 22:10

I’m a teacher too. We live in London but my Dad is Welsh and we go there a lot. We went for a name which is common-ish in Wales but rare here. It has two spellings and we went for the more anglicised one. There’s also a cute diminutive of it which we call him.

I see you like Gwendolyn. There’s lots of other nice Welsh girl names. My faves are Aneira- means lots of snow, could be shortened to Annie, Ffion- Foxglove, Seren- Star. (Sorry, the last two aren’t long.) If you like Gwen could you do Gwyneth? Or Gwendoloena for an Arthurian vibe as you like Guinevere.

Corfumanchu · 16/08/2025 22:09

Atissue123 · 16/08/2025 08:54

Henrietta (can be Etta for short)
Hermione (can be Mia or Mione)
Mariella
angelica / Angelina
Eleni
jennifer
josephine
Alison/Alicia
Nina
katerina
Penelope (can be Penny or Nell)
Dorothy
Emmeline
Annabelle
Francesca
Georgina
Tamsin

a few ideas there - I like Gwen and I like Evangeline but honestly I think too close to the cousin’s nam unless the nickname is genny (which is lovely).

I teach 170 kids a week and have at least one of nearly all those names.

Dolphininawheelchair · 16/08/2025 21:58

Persephone!

Menonut · 16/08/2025 21:55

we chose a name my husband had never taught. The next September a new class arrived with a boy that had my son’s name. Turned out to be one of the worst kids my husband had ever taught. You can’t win! 🤦‍♀️

Menonut · 16/08/2025 21:55

we chose a name my husband had never taught. The next September a new class arrived with a boy that had my son’s name. Turned out to be one of the worst kids my husband had ever taught. You can’t win! 🤦‍♀️

Mytimenow25 · 16/08/2025 21:44

Not necessarily the longest names but I love all of these -

Wynnie
Ettalie
Maisie
Peggy
Bonnie
Dorothia

BastilleBastille · 16/08/2025 21:39

Juliette? My mum is a teacher and said in 35 years she’s never taught one!

Olivine8 · 16/08/2025 21:37

I love the name Evangeline! Yes similar to Evie but it is not the same name. It wouldn’t bother me!

Ophelia (the most beautiful name in my opinion)
Florence
Penelope
Celestine
Abigail
Rosalie
Matilda
Cecily
Ottilie

Carucacennau7 · 16/08/2025 21:32

My grandmother’s name was Gwenneth (shortened to Gwen) so not so similar to Evie. It’s taken from the name Gwyneth which means happiness 😊 There’s also Gwenllian which is lovely (if you can your tongue around the Welsh ll ☺️)

Chipsandricetonight · 16/08/2025 21:32

If I ever end up with DD3 she’d most likely be Ophelia.

Also love Clara and Sofia.

Jewelbeetle · 16/08/2025 21:28

Have to throw in a vote for Guinevere because that is just beautiful

Leedsmum86 · 16/08/2025 21:27

I have 3 girls and their names are cerys leila Georgia. But I do love the name Elodie and Addison

Jok77 · 16/08/2025 21:25

As a teacher, I also found agreeing on names almost impossible.
Wilfred is a lovely boys name- I taught one and he was the loveliest, little boy
For a girl, how about...
Beatrix
Constance
Elizabeth
Felicity
Gwendolyn
Josephine
Madeleine
Rosemary
Verity

Manthide · 16/08/2025 21:22

Love Cassiopia and Margarita. Dd2 has a similar problem as she's a gynaecologist and didn't want to name her dd the name of a baby she'd delivered. She chose Persephone in the end and now she's met a couple!

WhatK8DidNext · 16/08/2025 21:14

I have a boy with one of the names you like … girls names I like are;

Cecily
Daphne
Delilah
Alma
Darcy
Evelyn

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 16/08/2025 21:14

Gwenllian is a nice alternative for Gwen.

WhereYouLeastExpect · 16/08/2025 21:11

Magdalena
Lunella
Silvana

DisenchantedDewberry · 16/08/2025 21:06

How about Evelyn, Vienna or Vivienne? If you like the Evie kind of sound that is!

BlibBlabBlob · 16/08/2025 16:20

Emanwenym · 16/08/2025 11:53

Gwendolyn or Guinervere.
It's Guinevere.
Gwendolyn is ok, but the Welsh Gwendolen from which it is derived is much nicer, with the stress on the Dol, not the Gwen. She could be Gwen or Dol(ll/lly). Which leads me to Dorothy - Dot is cool and Dottie is cute.
If you like Gwen, you could use Gwenaëlle, which is Breton.

Oswald is a bit too Moseley.

Your approach makes sense @ARodeoQueen, I vetoed a particular boy name that DH was very keen on purely because it had also been the name of the 'naughtiest' boy in my class at primary school. (I suspect he was undiagnosed ADHD; I was undiagnosed autistic but it made me super shy and quiet so we got opposite reactions from teachers.) If you're actually a teacher then you'll have many, many names that you won't want to touch!

Please don't go for Guinevere though, I think that's really a step too far. And DEFINITELY don't go for it if, as pointed out by @Emanwenym , you aren't going to spell it properly!

I'm pleased to have gone for a name that was quite easy for DD to learn to recognise and spell when she was very young; I always felt bad for the kids in her preschool and Reception class who couldn't even recognise their names, let alone write them. They tended to have names like some of those suggested above, e.g. Cassiopeia - that's a guaranteed lifetime of struggle, having to constantly put up with misspelling and correcting the spelling and correcting the pronunciation!

Congratulations on your pregnancy; wishing you a smooth ride and I hope that you can settle on the perfect name.

Alexandrine · 16/08/2025 15:53

ETA: It double posted for some reason, sorry

Alexandrine · 16/08/2025 15:52

I don’t think Genevieve is at all a problem with a niece called Evie - they are very different names and more seem to get shortened to Gen/Genny than Evie anyway. Evangeline might be more of a problem, I admit.

Can I also suggest Juliet (Jules, Letty, Jet) or Antonia (Anya, Annie, Nina)? as both seem classic but quite underused now.

Love Wilfred of your boys choices and Walter is quite nice too - only one I’m not keen on is Oswald as it’s still Mosely to me or The Penguin from Batman, sorry.

LittleCosette · 16/08/2025 15:29

ScullysMate · 16/08/2025 08:16

We chose names that I had never had in my class or in my nursery and didn’t know any child outside of those settings with those names either. It was really difficult as I have worked with children since I was 16 and I was 39 when I had my first. Even argued with my husband as he suggested names that I absolutely could not use (difficult families, notorious locally)

Both times came back from maternity leave to have a child in my class with the name of my baby! I couldn’t believe it 🤣

Edited

The exact same thing happened to me! I had to triple check the register!

ChocolateCinderToffee · 16/08/2025 15:19

Laetitia
Ondine
Rosina
Hortensia

Waterweight · 16/08/2025 14:44

Adelaide ?
Julienna/Julienne/Juliette ?
Stephanie ?

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