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Baby names

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

Original poster

I don’t like any girls names!!

44 replies

jadedgranger · 07/08/2026 02:01

i am massively struggling with girl names. With my first we had none! Luckily we had a boy. Second time time I want to be better prepared!! Only one I have liked is already taken by friends we know - Eloise. And the other one is India, which I know I couldn’t use because of the bad rep / colonial connotations. Everyone else seems to think girl names are easier??!! Please help! To make matters worse I feel like we rushed into my son’s name and I have some name regret, so I’m desperate not to feel the same again.

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Italiangreyhound · Yesterday 00:40

Harper

paddleboardingmum · 14/08/2026 21:22

Sienna

SnowFrogJelly · 12/08/2026 01:25

Elowen
Anya
Seren
Merryn

Loveatortie · 12/08/2026 00:20

Pamela

Tillylils · 12/08/2026 00:17

How about Indiana?

LilyLemonade · 11/08/2026 23:48

Does India have colonial connotations? I have never thought of it that way. I think it is a lovely name.

A totally random bunch of suggestions, if you are feeling very stuck:

Meriel
Valentina
Tamara
Ellen
Sabrina
Sigrid
Liv
Liane
Rosalie
Summer
Sarah
Carey
Lindsay
Naomi
Anoushka

Greywizardtotherescue · 10/08/2026 19:55

Heloise?
Sounds exactly the same!

inkgirl · 10/08/2026 19:52

Ive always found girls names harder.
At the moment though I like Harley, its a nice unisex name so when we do have another we'd just have a middle name to find

Fizzysticks · 10/08/2026 19:47

I love the name Heloise as an alternative to Eloise. I also really love the previous mention of Inès!

Others to consider…

Helena (pronounced Hel-Lena)
Theodora
Brontë
Clementine
Louisa
Freja
Frida
Liberty
sage
Marnie
Lois

user1492757084 · 10/08/2026 05:03

Name her after your mother and your best friend.

user1492757084 · 10/08/2026 05:03

Name her after your mother and your best friend.

ScruffMuffin · 10/08/2026 02:53

Amazing suggestions already, especially the beautiful list from @Cockerpoomom. I think Eloise or India is fine BTW. Your taste is similar to mine, so I wonder if you might like:
Indie
Inès/ Inez
Elissa
Estelle
Estella
Alicia
Elodie
Melody
Aiyana
Alexandra
Ianthe
Xanthe
Maia
Emilia
Eloisa
Héloïse
Louise
Louisa
Amber
Jasmine
Lillian
We also randomly ended up with Megan and Bethan on our lists, but didn't use them.

Siblings of girls i know with your two favourite names: Ayesha and Romilly.

Maybe pick a couple, and aww which one suits her when she's here?

Namiemcnameface · 08/08/2026 21:06

Think taking a few days after you've met baby might just be what you need tbh.

I didn't love any names pre baby arriving. Had a huge list of ones that were tolerable but nothing jumped out as the one, or even formed a shortlist. However once baby was here a name kept coming up over and over as a potential and by the end of the first day it just felt right. We have other children so wanted it to be decided before they got home to meet the baby, but there's really no immediate rush. I know people who were still deciding right up until the deadline to register!!

V intrigued by your son's name though, my guess is Erik. Though that might just be because it was on my list for DS! I also have a bit of name regret with one of my children but actually fast forward a few years and she loves her name and much prefers it to the other option. So was all good in the end!

AliceMcK · 07/08/2026 22:23

I know an India not English, neither parent English one Central European and the other from an ex British colony who dosnt like the English. I don’t think they thought anything other than they loved the name. I’ve never heard of it having a bad rep. My name is linked to racism due to a pop culture reference, I’ve never cared because I know my name was around a long time before then, what my name truly means and why I’m named it.

timoteigirl · 07/08/2026 22:17

Adelaide
Ilse

bellhawk · 07/08/2026 22:14

Ingrid, Astrid, Olive, Emma, Felicity, Nora, Thalia, Freya / Freja, Solene, Kristin, Livia, Odette, Una, Linnea, Evelina

frankiedays · 07/08/2026 21:57

totally regret feeling I was the same worrying I would feel that again with the baby I had a little while ago. What I will say is don’t let a friend baby name put you off using it. I had a couple of friends that had used Finley and George so we didn’t use them and now I don’t ever see their kids, hardly see them really tbh, and it wouldn’t have mattered at all if I’d used the name too. Not sure if it’s the same as you just a thought x

101Alsatians · 07/08/2026 20:48

India really,really is fine.

You'd have to be neck deep in a social circle of performative wokeness to have an issue with it.

DaysIllRememberAllMyLife · 07/08/2026 20:43

How can you not like any girls names? There's millions of them.

I don't see why you can't use India either.

How about Elise, Estelle, Elissa?

Calliopespa · 07/08/2026 20:41

I like Ianthe?
ETA It seems to me to channel aspects of both Eloise and India.

ImpossibleThursday · 07/08/2026 20:25

Lois
Alicia
Xanthe
Indigo
Imogen
Talitha
Tamsin
Alessia
Coralie
Esme
Esther
Lydia

Gateappreciation · 07/08/2026 20:23

Suggestions

Keira
Christina
Paige
Heidi
Zara
Sophia
Alexandra
Emelia
Maya
Emily
Rosalie

JMSA · 07/08/2026 20:17

I also LOVE Melody/Mélodie

Needmorelego · 07/08/2026 19:43

What boy names do you like?
Maybe you could use the female equivalent.

newyearnewbudget · 07/08/2026 19:39

jadedgranger · 07/08/2026 03:54

It’s a fairly unusual name (though getting a lot more popular) and we went with a Scandinavian spelling (because that’s where we first heard it and fell in love years ago. I just wish we’d taken a few days after we had the baby to decide if it truly suited him which I now feel it doesn’t). But I don’t like how unusual, the unconventional spelling also I don’t love because I have to tell people, and I also think it’s not very soft and doesn’t have any obvious nicknames.

Show quote history

We were not at all set on a name with our first. We ended up telling the midwife a different name each time she came until we settled. It was quite good trying the name out for the length of a visit as we knew when it felt right!

My suggestions for you would be:
Eloise, just do it!
Indira
Elowen
Imogen