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Original poster

Fenella anyone?

78 replies

looblee · 12/11/2010 15:26

Fenella take anyones fancy? Desperately trying to think of alternatives to Daisy, DH loves it I think its nice but could be a bit Cutesy.

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Emelene · 02/04/2011 15:48

I hate Fenella, I'd just go with Ella tbh. I think it's because I went to school with a really stuck-up girl named Fenella...

NanaNina · 02/04/2011 17:45

I think Fenella sounds like a shrub - "our fenella's done very well since we re-potted it"........sorry!

higgle · 02/04/2011 19:09

It is a lovely name, I had a doll called Fenella when I was little and remember Fenella Fielding the actress who had a luscious voice and said "the drink that's as warm as mink" in a Cadbury's drinking chocolate ad.

PercyPigPie · 02/04/2011 21:36

I like it, but few others did when we considered it for DC

Panzee · 02/04/2011 21:40

Lovely Manx name. :)

dexifehatz · 02/04/2011 22:06

Oh my gosh! I was going to have Fenella but chose Felicity instead.I love Fenella,but was a little disappointed with the meaning 'White shouldered'!

Panzee · 02/04/2011 22:22

Why? Names were just descriptions really. Finn means fair.

peppapighastakenovermylife · 02/04/2011 22:25

For some reason it made me think of someone making it up as a cutesy name for female genitalia.

Sorry you did ask Grin Blush

FunnysInTheGarden · 02/04/2011 22:27

I like Fenella, and the one I know has a daughter called daisy Smile

chopchopbusybusy · 02/04/2011 22:27

DD1 has a friend called Fenella or Nelly. Don't like either.

Ruthie32 · 03/04/2011 10:08

re Fenella Fudge, one of my friends recently heard her name for the first time and thought she was called Vanilla, and couldn't believe that someone would really have been called Vanilla Fudge Grin

MillsAndDoom · 03/04/2011 13:31

Will always be associated with Fenella Maxwell in Jilly Coopers "Riders" to me - so horsy but beautiful

fen62 · 07/09/2011 05:47

Very interesting reading about others think of my name.....in am open and truthful way. I used to hate the name when I was younger, but do't mind it now. Most people know me as and call me Fen though. My parents nickname for me when I was little was Nelly-bag-wash??? Even they don't know why! When I was younger I was teased and called Vanilla Pod, or Ken......yes you got it my maiden name was Dodd!!! I just laugh it off now when people mention it and say...."well gosh I have never heard that one before!!!" Reason I was called Fenella....my parents met holiday on the Isle of Man when intheir teens and after holidaying there for a few years had their honeymoon there in 1950 (it's a Manx name) and I'm not posh, I was named after a boat they used to see there!!!! I have an old framed picture to prove it!

winkle2 · 07/09/2011 10:02

I know a Fenella, nn Nell

Fenella88 · 21/07/2016 23:51

It's really funny to read all the comments on my name. I have to say that although most people have never heard it before, they usually like it, although now I'm wondering if they are just being polite to my face! There are advantages to an usual name though... You always get remembered. I always grew up with the nn Nella or Nel, which is what the majority of people call me however I have been called Fen, Nelly, fenelly, fennel cake, Vanilla, fenelope pit stop... The list goes on. The best part about being called Fenella is constantly having to spell it, even though i think it is very phonetic but apparently not! My aim is to marry a man with a great surname beginning with F, although I don't think anything will beat Fenella Fudge... So jealous! Haha 😉

haleandhearty · 22/07/2016 22:01

Love this name! (appreciate this is an old thread but just had to say it!)

SteviebunsBottrittrundle · 22/07/2016 22:15

Probably been mentioned already but Fenella Maxwell from Jilly cooper's Riders etc is what I thought of first.

Also, and I'm so sorry about this, but it sounds to me a little bit like a polite word for vagina. As in, "I've got to go to see the doctor. Yes, I've got a bit of a problem in the fenella area".

badtime · 22/07/2016 23:03

No offence, 88 , but I much prefer Fionnuala or Finola.

I like Fenella in a sort of 1920s way, though. I could imagine Fenella and her sisters Mabel and Cicely rebelling and cutting their hair.

Raines100 · 23/07/2016 07:31

I quite like it. Makes me think of very well-spoken radio 2 news reader Fenella Hadingham, and there was a Fenella from a series of books called the Café Club that I read as a kid.

Cocochoco · 23/07/2016 07:45

I really like it.

BikeRunSki · 23/07/2016 07:53

Fenella will always be a witch to me. #grewup in the 70s-80s.

wizzywig · 23/07/2016 07:57

Isnt there a fenella furchester from cbeebies furchester hotel?

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 23/07/2016 08:01

I like it and much prefer it to Ella, which I think will become a very dated name in due course.

I prefer Daisy, though. If you think that's a bit too popular but like flower/plant names, how about Marguerite, Tansy, Iris, Viola, Hazel, Sorrel, Rosemary or May? Lily and Rose are of course massively popular but for a reason - I think they are both lovely names and the flowers are gorgeous, so good associations.

septembersunshine · 23/07/2016 08:29

Felicity? Fenella is just an odd mash up of prettier names imo. Sorry. It just sounds weird to me.

IoraRua · 23/07/2016 09:41

I'm sure at this stage OPs baby was named...
I really don't like Fenella. I bracket it with Araminta, Cordelia etc - too fussy sounding upper class English for me. Apologies to Fenellas reading.