Help convince me this name is nice please!

[thistlemuncher]

I just can't get excited about the name that "we" have chosen for our baby. Catherine (pronounced Catrine as DH is French native language).

It's the only name that DH suggested that was acceptable, but I'm not a great fan. Which is stupid as it fits my criteria of being Greek roots and multi-lingual. Except that all of my family will pronounce it wrong... I think my main dislike is that I know so many, it's the most common name in my year group so I went to school/uni with loads and find it, well, boring. DH always refers to bump by name now, so it's a bit late to change it. He's also adamant that we have to have the French spelling and pronunciation.

I'm trying to come up with nicknames that I can use, but I know so many people called Kate, Katie, Kat, Cat, Kitty that I can't imagine using any of them for a baby.

Please tell me a nice thing about this name and any other suggestions for nicknames?

(I'm also well aware people are going to say we've given the name because I'm British and constantly ask if it's because of the Royal family)

I wouldn't worry about Catherine being too popular - it really isn't! My DD is a Katherine / Kitty and she really is the only Kitty in her school. I'm told there is one other Katherine in the school (primary) but she is much older and in juniors (if she is still there). In fact I don't actually know any other children called Katherine at all - whereas we know loads of girls called Olivia, Isabella, Lilly, Ruby, Martha - all these names I know at least 3 examples of!

With my DD, we named her Katherine - it wasn't either my or my husband's first choice of name, but it was the only one we even remotely agreed on, so we kind of settled for it. We then played around with nicknames (Katherine just felt too grown up for a baby) and eventually settled on Kitty - but she had lots of names along the way. I now love it as a name, and even think I slightly prefer it to my DD1s name, who we had named before I even got pregnant.

As for the pronunciation issue, I wouldn't worry. I have friends whose children are half french. The English family pronounce the name the English way, and the French side the French. Talking to the mum, it doesn't cause any problems at all.

I think as a name, it is a 'grower' .

My husband is Italian and our main criteria for choosing names was that they would be pronounced roughly the same in both languages. I can't imagine us having a conversation where he pronounced their names one way and me in another.

I'd go for a French name that is also easy to pronounce in English if it was me. Especially as you don't seem to have much of a liking for it!

Anna and Chloe both fit all your criteria.

Catherine is a lovely name but do not call a child by a name you don't really like.

Chloë is what DS would have been and what I thought this one was going to be for the first half of my pg til DH decided he didn't like it (and someone pointed out that Klo in German means toilet)

Anna is DH's goddaughter so that's already taken!

Can you use Melanie (meaning black/dark) for a child who will likely (if she's like DS)be blond and have 50% chance of being blue eyed?

Melanie is my middle name,I've always liked it,of course you can us it if she's blue eyed!

I just wanted to say I went along with a name DP liked,and I thought was 'okay',I have regretted it every day since,I wish with all my heart I hadn't settled on a name I didn't love.

Us=her ,stupid iPad.

Us of course = 'use' not 'her'

It's late...