Cassandra, Eulalie, Pandora..Suggestions?

[Roxy25]

Hello!
Pregnant with no2. No1 is Araminta.
Need an equally frilly, unusual, English name for no2!
Also needs a good nickname as DH's family shorten everything!
Any suggestions?

Here's my list:
Pandora - almost name of DD1, no nickname put us off
Theodora
Eulalie (not sure on "Lalie" nickname, bit like popular Layla, Lola names)
Jessamine - too similar to my sister Jasmine's name
Pomeline - French and not French
Claudine -ditto
Melisanda -ditto

Want to avoid "A" names and "M" names (as nickname Minty for no1) as well as Rose names (I'm Roxanne).

Middle name will be ALICE.

Thanks very much!! :)

Delphine
Seraphine
Cecilia
Millicent
Arianne

Not to throw a spanner in the works, because I LOVE Pandora,Cassandra and Penelope, but if the meaning of names puts you off, Cassandra met a pretty sticky end in Greek mythology.

Penelope had to wait around for a while, but ultimately her cheating bastard of a husband came home and she was happy again.

Melisanda is gorgeous. I also like Pandora, and what about Claudina instead of Claudine? I think you should have another name that ends in a, rather than e.

Ah lovely, Araminta is gorgeous and I really like Pandora but I think in your position I'd call number 2 Cressida!

DoubleDegreeStudent, I agree that the Penelope story is slightly better than the other two! If we are talking (Ancient) Greek names I also quite like Calliope, which I suppose could also be shortened. However, one of the other reasons I like Penelope is that I know quite a few older ladies called Penelope / Penny who are all a) nice and b) successful so it has positive connations for me. (I must admit I have never heard of a cat called Penny until now!)

I totally love Calliope but I'm not sure I could go through with it - the only Calliope I've ever seen is a character in Grey's Anatomy known as 'Callie', but she gets a sound mocking for her full name when it's found out

Also I don't think it passes the Yorkshire test...

Araminta's lovely, I'm considering that if I have another. Must admit I'm not terribly keen on any of the other names, apart from Eulalie, although never heard it before and not even sure how to pronounce it, but it looks nice, and Claudine, although I prefer Claudia tbh.

Cecily

Felicity
Venetia
Jemima
Genevieve
Christabel
Violet
Lavinia
Clarissa
Evangeline
Georgiana
Laetitia (sp?)
Octavia
Phyllida
Seraphine

I'd probably go for something that doesn't end in an A sound but that does narrow down your options rather.

Oh and Clementine too.

I'm a Cassandra and I love it. It's great being a Cassie.

I have a Claudia and also liked Cassandra so clearly name meanings don't deter me and dh!

What about

Isadora,
Ottilie,
Aurelia,
Persephone

Theodora or Eulalie, Cassandra from your list: Eula, lalie, Dora, Theo, Cassia.

Cassiopeia
Melisande
Persephone
Dulcibella

Don't like Jessamine (too like Jasmine) Claudine, Pandora (crude box jokes) Pomeline.

Araminta and Jessamy (different enough fron Jasmine I think). Minty and Jess sounds cool.
Or I like Kerenza as has been suggested. Not wild on any of your other suggestions, though you obviously have good taste as Araminta is fab.

Pandora - box
Theodora - ok
Eulalie - the name of an underwear shop in a Jeeves novel.
Jessamine - ok, but not great
Pomeline - sounds like a potato dish
Claudine - Ok
Melisande - ok
Cassandra - tragic name

I would concede that I don't really share your taste at all, so you might want to ignore my comments.

Oooh, love Cassandra and Claudine!

Also:
Ophelia
Persephone

Loveday
Rosabel

Re the last post, I think Loveday is gorgeous too! In fact wanted it for my DD but DH didn't ...

Of your (v. interesting) list, I'd go for Theodora, and shorten it to Thea, which is pretty. On the other hand, must point out that the Empress Theodora had a fairly dodgy past ... I'd prefer Eulalia to Eulalie.

Lettice?

Very cool I think. Not sure if it's in the mold or not.

Cassandra is good, and Cass is a great nn

I love Theodora Posy. It's gorgeous.

A Theodora could be Theo/Thea, Dora, Dory, Teddy?

I also love Claudine from your list.

How about Cressida? Xanthe? Isadora? Seraphine/a?

Thanks very much for all of your very good suggestions!

Persephone was v high on the list with no1, but the similarily to 'Stephanie' put me off and the complex spelling - plus 'deathly' meaning..

Genevieve was the no2 choice with no1 but the 'Frenchness' eventually led to it being crossed off..

Like Laetitia a lot and Lettice, though Lettice would have to develop a thick skin to pull that one off! I do like the different ending though.

Also quite like 'Oriana' but concerned about the spelling eg Aurelia/ Auriana etc.

I think Cassandra Alice & Theodora Posy are still joint no1 ...:)

I'm using Araminta for dd2...probably. Though looking through the old Araminta threads to see if opinions have always been the same about the name, I'm surprised to see the OP thinks her own daughter's name is "gross".

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/baby_names/969621-What-do-you-think-of-Araminta/AllOnOnePage#19814324

I was about to ask you what sort of reaction you get to the name, but don't think I'll bother...

Love Theodora, how about Teddy as a nn Roxy?

Come on Roxy25, explain yourself is this a wind up?

How about Nell/ie/a as a nickname for Penelope?

Petronella nn Nella

Delphinium nn Delphie

Anjelica nn Jelly

Dorothea nn Thea, Dolly, Dotty etc etc