about really plain names for girls?

[MrsBadger]

Now I swore I would never start a baby-name thread but I can't hold off any longer.

DH wants to give the impending BadgerCub a name that's been used in our families before. I'm fine with this - we have about 20 generations and 500 names to choose from.

The boy's names are generally fine by me (classics like Edward, John, James, Benjamin etc), but he always leans towards girls' names that I just find a bit... dull.

We have a short surname - think Stone or Rowe - and I can't help feeling that (eg) Mary, Susan and Jane don't sound especially nice with it.

Am I being overly picky or should I hold out for something longer and (oh the shame, never thought I'd say this) 'prettier', eg Eleanor or Susanna?

Come on, beat me with sticks now, I know I deserve it!

How about derivatives of plain names ...

Miriam / Maryam instead of Mary for instance ...

ejt

(who has a three syllable Welsh first name - impossible for everybody but non-Welsh speakers to say - and a real trial when growing up in Birmingham!! Now I live in South Wales it's easier .... )

pick Margaret! pick Margaret!

(you still havent said when youre due)

Ellen is a nice name. Very 'classic' and fairly 'plain' but unusual enough to retain a bit of interest.

Mind you, I quite like names like Mary and Susan, which are not really used that much nowadays. There is a Sarah in my dd2's class, and she's the only one in the school, though they were 10 a penny in my day....

Is Mary going to come back in then? It is DD's middle name? I did suspect it was due a come back. But DD is coming up 3 so I think we were ahead of the game. DD's name is 3 2 syllable names. DS's is 3 1 2.

Mine is 4 3 2 as was my maiden name. And both syllables in our surname are long.

Margaret is nice - my aunt is a Margaret, but everybody calls her Meg - which I think is lovely!

ejt

Also, there are lots of Eleanor's about these days. Ellen's more 'select'! (Except in Norway, apparently. A Norwegian told me that every Tom, Dick and Harry in Norway is called Ellen!)

Georgina is average and would go nicely

Meg is nice

But Margaret? Have you people forgotten the Thatcher years?

naily - not till the summer, there's no rush, but would quite like to smooth the plain vs flowery before DH and I end up stubbornly digging in on opposite sides (which we're prone to).

Am coming round to Susan as well, actually... maybe this'll be easier than I thought.

The shame... a misplaced apostrophe... I shall have to go and eat worms....

Obviously I meant to write:

... lots of 'Eleanor's...

hi,
i know someone whose has a little girl called Sylvia, or Sylvi for short.

Its the name of an old aunt in my family, I think its cute, yet traditional.

Well what about Patricia or Marjorie?

OOh here's one to make your toes curl 'Agnes', now that is old.

mrs b i really think MARY would stand out for its simplicity today...
i really dont like susan, just looked at my name but that is different...
sleep on it

Tenalady - Agnès is lovely with a French accent! I know, not much in UK ...

ejt

I liked Mary but our surname begins with M too so would have been a bit milly molly mandy

Also agree with pph, we have a boring two syllable surname so the whole would have been dull

We had Mary as middle name in the end tho dd is convinced it is Fairy and chose Louisa as her first

do you know, I was at school with an Agnes and thought it was beautiful...

I love Susan and Jane too, also Ellen, all old family names on my father's side.
dd was going to be Ellen Lucy, with the intention of really annoying both my MIL and my mother (each has good reason to hate one of these names), but we bottled it in the end.
Dd has Jane as a middle name, after her aunt.

Anyone for Brenda?

I think dh is on your wavelength MrsB as Philippa and Helen were his top names

We chose Beatrice in the end (not knowing about Maccas child ) as we liked Bea with the other two ratbags names.

Agnes May Stow

now, now Tenalady ....

ejt

tenalady ...no...no....

Just Agnes then?

Are you French ejt?