Romilly / Romola - Opinions needed!

[cakegoblin]

Our criteria:
Not too popular / Not ridiculously obscure
Has to contend with a 'Mc' three-syllable surname
Crucially - ideally would shorten to Molly - DH has been inexplicably smitten with this name since day one and won't let it go, i'm not in love with it but it's fine, it's just that I want to give our child a long name which can shorten to other things as she prefers, rather than give her a shortened name from the beginning.

Romola is my favourite:

• Shortens to Romy which I love or Molly for DH
• Means Woman of Rome which is strong and characterful (plus we got married in Italy so it seems to fit)
• Romola Garai is the perfect 'celebrity' example of the name if there is such a thing, beautiful and talented and not tabloidy

On the other hand, Romilly:

• Is really pretty
• Could shorten to Milly as well as Romy - DH might be persuaded!
• Definitely getting more popular now
• We already know one so I'd be stealing the name really

So I'm weighing the benefits of giving the baby a name that's instantly recognisable to everyone but might become very popular soon vs a name that will stand out from the crowd. Which do you think and do you think Romola shortens to Molly easily enough?

I love Romola. We almost called dd2 Romola, but were swayed by negative responses :(.

So we called her another unpopular name :o.

Romilly is lovely

Romola sounds like some sort of weird foodstuff

I prefer Romola to Romilly, and yes it shortens nicely to Romy and Molly. I think Romilly might go better with your surname though, and I prefer Milly to Molly too.

Molly is traditionally a nickname for Mary, but I guess Mary McSomething doesn't flow as well.

Don't like either TBH. Of the two, Romola is the better.

I think I like Romilly better, but maybe just because I'm more familiar with it! How do you pronounce Romola?

I like Ramona too, which is maybe a similar sound, but not so good for the nicknames you want...

I kind of like Romola. Makes me think of Romola Garai who is v elegant and talented.

Romilly seems popular these days not sure why, it always reminds me of General Rommel, the Nazi. Although I believe he was involved in a plot to kill Hitler if that helps!

Never heard of Romola

I like Romilly a lot.

Not familiar with Romola. Would have to say that Romola Garai seems to have a double whammy of mystery unpronounceable names, which may be why I've never heard of her, or maybe I have but didn't know it was all spelt Romola Garai. Does it rhyme with Cremola?

Prefer Romola, and it reminds me of the Eliot book. Think Romilly usage as girls' given name relatively modern, and I'm not a fan of Milly particularly.

Really like Romilly, the only thing that put me off it was the potential for shortening to Milly which I'm not keen on. Romola's lovely too.

I don't think I'd shorten Romilly to Milly actually, that doesn't seem an obvious nickname to me. Assuming I'm pronouncing it right - I thought it was pronounced like Emily, which doesn't usually get shortened to Milly IME.

Not sure it really needs a nickname/short form actually, but if you did want one Romy would be the more obvious choice.

Thanks so much everyone, some really good points made and I'm pleased Romola's not been universally slated as I feared! I still love it. Perhaps it's a bit less alien sounding now thanks to Ms Garai's recent tv and film success! Romola's pronounced ROM-olla (and Garai's pronounced Gary, fyi Surgeon's Mate!)

While we're on this thread any ideas for a middle name? Preferably once syllable and absolutely can NOT begin with M (had originally thought May as it's a family name but can you imagine Molly May McXXX? argh)

ROm-olla Gary, I'll be looking out for her. Better than Cremola Gairy, I think.

We have a Romilly. She's currently known as Roo or Roly (she did a LOT of rolling at one point!) but we anticipated she'd be Milly or Romy maybe when she's older.

Middle name is Edith. We didn't really consider anything else but we thought two syllable names worked best (short surname).

Is Romola pronounced like ROM-oh-la or does the second O have a shorter sound?

We have two Romilly's in our family, one a few generations above me and one my generation, we'd have used it ourselves if there hadn't already been two! Lovely name. Ours have become 'Rom'.

another Romilly 'owner' here. Rom or Rommy or Roo for short...

Romilly's my favourite

I prefer Romilly. I know a Romilla and I like that too.

I have a friend named Romola -she really suits the name! She gets called Rom or Rommy.

I really like Romilly, though it would sound like a tongue-twister with my 3 sylable McSurname. If it doesn't sound odd or unpronouncable with your surname, I would go for it.

Agree with catinboots. Romola sounds like some horrible foodstuff to me. Really don't like the name.

Romilly is much nicer but I'd just call her Romilly as opposed to the nn of Milly. Milly is nice but very common.

I have a Romilly, too. Mostly shortened to 'Rom' though we had lots of more exotic nns planned. Funnily enough, we picked it for it's unusualness (and because it's pretty) (though my friend's sister has this name and the first time I'd heard of it) but I've met/heard of loads. But then, I suppose because it's unusual people are more likely to tell you when they discover another, iykwim.

People do often comment on Rommel, or Romulin (aren't they from Star Trek?) and she's been called 'Bromley', 'Romney' and 'Romany' among others.

And, of course, she hates it and wishes she was called 'Evie'.

CecilyP - did you know there is a Romilly McAlpine - sounds OK to me :)

Also, before the Second World War Romilly was used almost exclusively as a boys' name.