Amalia, Cara, Emmeline, Gaia, Juliet, Thea...

[Duhart]

DH and I were set on Emilia nn Emmy, but are now put off by the similarity and popularity of Amelia. So back to the drawing board. Of these which do you prefer?

Anya
Amalia nn Mali
Cara
Catriona nn Cat
Gaia
Emmeline
Juliet
Sasha
Thea

[babycham42]

Gaia.A beautiful strong name.

[Rhubarbgarden]

I love Amalia. I used to work with a woman called this and I always thought what a beautiful name. Thea is gorgeous too.

[lololizzy]

I worked at a place named Gaea...my niece is Athea which my sister in law adapted from Athena...both good strong 'goddess' names. She usually ends up as Thea for short.
Gaea or Gaia is Mother Earth and actually means large breasted ie fertile and abundant!

[Sofiaintherye]

Gaia without doubt, it's lovely.

[Fixture]

Cara, Emmeline and Juliet are my favourites from your list :)

[cerealqueen]

Gaia or Thea both lovely!

[fedupofnamechanging]

I like Cara, Catriona, Sasha and Juliet.

[TimeWasting]

Emmeline or Juliet.

[jamandposterpaint]

I don't like Amalia at all.

Anya and Catriona, I don't like either, but they're not as bad as Amalia.

My 4 yr old had an obsession with the film 'Help I'm a fish' and unfortunately Sasha will always be a seahorse to me (you'd have to watch the film )

Emmeline is a strong name, but for some reason, not one that I like.

Gaia, is that pn Gay-a or Guy-a?

Cara means beloved, I think? Beautiful name

My favourites from your list are Juliet (much prefer this spelling to the more frilly 'ette' spelling) and Thea. Both are strong, yet very feminine names.

[lololizzy]

We pronounced it Guy-a

[pointydog]

Catriona (pr catrina) is quite nice.

Anya and Cara are ok.

I like Julia a lot.

[gallicgirl]

Emmeline or Juliet. Thea is ok too but not keen on the others. How do they fit with your surname? trying aying them out loud.

[ImpYCelyn]

Gaia or Thea - they were both on my list, lovely names.

Emmeline is nice too.

Sasha is a boy's name for me.

Not keen on the others.

[MelinaM]

Anya - Like this
Amalia nn Mali - isn't this the name of Barack Obama's daughter? Sounds too much like Amelia and Marley for me.
Cara - Lovely.
Catriona nn Cat - Like.
Gaia - Beautiful!
Emmeline - No, again very like Emily,Emme
Juliet - Lovely, but prefer the spelling Juliette.
Sasha - Lovely
Thea - Like.

I'd choose Gaia, it's beautiful and not very common. Juliette is lovely too.

[oohlaalaa]

First of, I love the name Emilia. DH would not agree to it though. I would not let the popularity of Amelia worry you.

From your list, I like best:

Cara
Catriona nn Cat
Emmeline

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Anya - lovely name
Amalia nn Mali - much prefer Amelia, think she will have to spend her life spellng it out and people getting her name wrong.
Cara - ok
Catriona nn Cat - love
Gaia - love but may get some unkind comments
Emmeline - only use if you REALLY love. Everyone will mishear and think she is called Emily
Juliet - love, was on our shortlist for DD
Sasha - ok
Thea - ok but very now.

[pilates]

Def Emmeline, one of my favourite girls name.

[AngieWatts]

I love Anya (classy), Emmeline (very sweet, brings Pankhurst to mind, good potential nicknames) and Juliet (such a pretty name).

Thea could grow on me. Thee-ah or Tay-ah, though?

Amalia sounds made up (I know it's not, but it sounds it iyswim).

Not keen on the others.

[scarlettsmummy2]

I really like Emmeline. None of the rest particularly grab me, not fussed on Sasha, I think it could be a little bit populist, but not in a good way.

[LynetteScavo]

Anya Juliet or Sasha.

I really love Thea, but could call DD Thea as my then 2yo could only say Fear.

[pootlebug]

Anya - love it
Amalia nn Mali - sounds too much like you're trying to avoid Amelia. I still think some will end up calling her Amelia by mistake
Cara - okay, don't love it
Catriona nn Cat - as long as it is pronounced Catrina!
Gaia - Not a fan
Emmeline - I'm not sure whether you intend to pronounce Emmeleen or Emmeline (to ryhme with rhine) but whichever way, some people will choose the other way!
Juliet - Okay, don't love it
Sasha - Don't love it
Thea - love it

[Duhart]

Thanks so much everyone for all the opinions... My favourites are Gaia and Thea while DH's are Anya and Amalia.

Amalia nn Mali - DH thinks pretty, unusual and international. There is a Dutch princess Amalia and my friend is from Eastern Europe. Like Emmeline/Emily, I do wonder if the confusion with Amelia again might start to grate. Also as DD is Lydia, are the -ia suffixes are a bit too matchy?

JiltedJohnsJulie - not sure why giving the name Gaia wouldn't be kind, is it because some people might pronounce Gay-a? I love the goddess/nature association

Thea also - I LOVE this but does it work with Lydia as the vowel sounds are the same?

MelinaM - Barack Obama's daughter is named Malia which is pronounced like Maria.

Juliet - beautiful but can you think of any nicknames. Not keen on Jules, or Julie (shudder)

Would be grateful for any other suggestions!
Especially any that don't end in -a / ia. Love Alice too but can't use.

This is our first go and girls names are far easier than boys!
Gutted we can't use Titus (that would be unkind)

[tyler80]

I like Thea, but can never make up my mind whether I prefer it in it's own right or Althea