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Baby names

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

Original poster

Suggestion of whimsical names

111 replies

GoldenRosebee · 10/12/2025 15:32

Looking for acceptable and established, but unusual whimsical names. Unusual, as in outside top 100, not unique. Would prefer if origin is of mythology or literature or history, but they also should be magical. Looking at European names mostly.

Names that I consider whimsical, but looking for more suggestions, especially according to first paragraph criteria
Aurora
Thisbe
Nimue
Juliet
Eluned
Amoret
Olwen
Freya
Cecily
Twyla
etc...

OP posts:
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namestealer · 11/12/2025 06:05

Pixiedust49 · 10/12/2025 15:35

Elodie

I came here to say Elodie (there are 2 in the baby group I go to though so may not be what the OP is after)

I also know an Elowyn which i think is very pretty.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 11/12/2025 04:26

Sunny.
Aspen.
Pearl
Melody.
Tiana.
Fleur
Maple.
Tulip.
Prairie.
Melrose.
Orchid.
Astoria
Heather.

SE13Mummy · 11/12/2025 00:12

Echo
Misty
Nimue

All are the names of teenagers I know.

Yaffly · 11/12/2025 00:04

DriedHydrangea · 10/12/2025 23:12

Yes, this. Irish names aren’t at all ‘whimsical’ unless you’re a foreigner with a particularly weird, othering attitude towards another culture and language.

Show quote history

Well I'm Irish and I'll give you Gobnait. That'll sort any whimsical nonsense 😁

Beerlzebub · 10/12/2025 23:57

HoppityBun · 10/12/2025 23:33

Clovis
Doris
Guthrie
Algernon
Odo
Nanette

Clovis, Odo and Algernon are male names. OP seems to be looking for female names?

Beerlzebub · 10/12/2025 23:55

tarheelbaby · 10/12/2025 17:41

Gossamer
Thistledown
Peasbottom
Phyllida
Apollonia
Delphina (Delphie/Delphine)
Aurélie
Yseult
Tamsin
Tessa
Titania (queen of the faeries!)
Talia/Thalia
Calliope

Have we read the same book 😆

Jonathan Strange..

OP, Freya is as popular as Elodie. Don't do either of them.

Crispynoodle · 10/12/2025 23:52

Melody

WeightLossGoal2024 · 10/12/2025 23:40

Please remember you are naming a human not a pet!

ExitPursuedByABare · 10/12/2025 23:39

Calypso

HoppityBun · 10/12/2025 23:33

Clovis
Doris
Guthrie
Algernon
Odo
Nanette

theunbreakablecleopatrajones · 10/12/2025 23:20

Hohofortherobbers · 10/12/2025 22:14

Story

Whimsical is not the vibe this gives to me these days, more terrifying parents. Their son is called Forrest, with two fs

Tanzy
Nimue
Nanette
Morgana
Faye
Tay
Fabian
Tara (for a boy)
Jocelyn (ditto)
Carey (ditto)
Robin (for either)
Rowan (ditto)
Fen (ditto)
Allegra
Paloma
Fernanda
Tristram
Lucian
Cedric
Elva
Iseult
Clover
Sorrel
Basil
Griffen
Gawain
Manon
Ffion
Arwen
Lionel
Orion
Francis, for a boy, nickname Fra or Fran, for added whimsy
Beau
Dorian
Daphne
Dymphna
Delilah
Caspar
Lyra
Caspian
Jasper
Dido
Peregrine
Dashiel
Darius
Persephone

Anything Arthurian, practically anything Welsh or that could reasonably be said to belong to a flower fairy, I think

Calliopespa · 10/12/2025 23:19

tarheelbaby · 10/12/2025 17:41

Gossamer
Thistledown
Peasbottom
Phyllida
Apollonia
Delphina (Delphie/Delphine)
Aurélie
Yseult
Tamsin
Tessa
Titania (queen of the faeries!)
Talia/Thalia
Calliope

Peasbottom!😂

I think it might actually be Peasebottom, but that's still nearly as bad!

HoppityBun · 10/12/2025 23:15

Yaffly · 10/12/2025 23:00

Or Stella Maris

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I think that Stella Maris might in fact be rather lovely.

Maris Piper, Maris Bard and Maris Peer, though… I do wish someone would!

DriedHydrangea · 10/12/2025 23:12

KimHwn · 10/12/2025 23:07

I feel really weird about the labelling names of certain cultures/languages as whimsical. It's patronising and minimises the very real meanings and cultural context behind these names. So many Cornish and Welsh names on here, and there's a certain tone of "they sound whimsical in those funny little languages!"

Yes, this. Irish names aren’t at all ‘whimsical’ unless you’re a foreigner with a particularly weird, othering attitude towards another culture and language.

KimHwn · 10/12/2025 23:07

I feel really weird about the labelling names of certain cultures/languages as whimsical. It's patronising and minimises the very real meanings and cultural context behind these names. So many Cornish and Welsh names on here, and there's a certain tone of "they sound whimsical in those funny little languages!"

DriedHydrangea · 10/12/2025 23:03

Cotswoldmama · 10/12/2025 18:44

No it was the main character played by Elizabeth Taylor in the film

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Though in the novel (which is brilliant), she’s not a dazzlingly beautiful brunette but a buck-toothed, plain, skinny blonde child who’s described as looking like ‘a fairy wolf gone blonde’ and is always being nagged to keep her brace in.

MirandaBlu · 10/12/2025 23:03

Aradia
Ariadne
Brígh
Cassandra
Ceridwen
Circe
Clio
Dalia
Danica
Étaín
Erinna
Evadne
Gwendolen
Ianthe
Isabeau
Ligeia
Pomona
Merope
Rhiannon
Selene
Tiamet
Vesna

Yaffly · 10/12/2025 23:00

HoppityBun · 10/12/2025 22:19

Maris would be excellent if the middle name is Piper

Show quote history

Or Stella Maris

HoppityBun · 10/12/2025 22:58

JennyForeigner · 10/12/2025 22:52

Wendy. JM Barrie made it up to sound like fwend and you can't get more whimsical than that.

I am with Dorothy Parker on this sort of thing.

What did Dorothy Parker say? All I know is “what fresh hell is this?” But that’s about a telephone call. I’ve been Googling but nothing relevant comes up

JennyForeigner · 10/12/2025 22:54

HoppityBun · 10/12/2025 22:17

In truth, you can’t beat the Puritans for names:

Chastity,
Fight the Good Fight
Flee-Fornication
Hallelujah
Jesus Christ
Lament
Obedience
Repentance
Wrestling

My favourite is Philadelphia. Cool name for a cool girl, but not whimsical.

JennyForeigner · 10/12/2025 22:52

Wendy. JM Barrie made it up to sound like fwend and you can't get more whimsical than that.

I am with Dorothy Parker on this sort of thing.

Peternell · 10/12/2025 22:49

Blythe
Eira
Fairlie
Gaia
Halcyon
Winter
Phaedra
Story
Poesy
Celeste
Emerald
Lilac
Briar
Melisande
Rowena
Elfin
Pippin
Elvie
Arden
Anwen
Aerin
Pixie
Amaryllis
Vaila

Whydontyoucarryon · 10/12/2025 22:32

Stella
Damask
Damaris
Elbereth

johntorodesfatcheeks · 10/12/2025 22:31

Fleur
Callista
Scheherazade
Emerald
Brontë
Miranda
Araminta
Theodora
Nancy
Suki
Tabitha

Pianoaholic · 10/12/2025 22:25

Coralie
Lyra
Cecelia
Gaia

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