Unusual Girls name shortlist.. Honest comments please. Not long to go.

[bagladywilts]

We are expecting a dd in the next few weeks but we just need to get the name sorted... stress of name is enough to bring on labour in itself. We like unusual names but they can be a bit marmity and we don't want to burden the poor little thing. Ideally something timeless, not obviously shortened, elegant. Which do you like or hate of..?

Romily
Verity
Serena
Selina
Xanthe
Nancy
Lydia
Beatrice
Cynthia
Fleur
Rowena

Thank you so much.. That is really helping. Xanthe has always been my favourite as it sounds so pretty but are we brave enough to actually use it due to confused reaction from some people? Pretentious? Difficulty spelling? Serena probably front runner as safer option. All further opinions welcome.

Xanthe is lovely! I also like Verity on your list.

I like the following names:

Verity
Serena
Selina
Lydia
Beatrice

The others I don't like. Verity is my favourite.

Rowena (also like Rowan or Ruan) is my fave from your list.
Also like Fleur and Lydia

Serena

I really like Xanthe, it was on my shortlist. Also have always liked Lydia.

Celeste
Tierney
Meredith
Stella
Jenna

The three names I like from your list are Verity, Fleur and Rowena because I know three lovely people with those names.

I've never met a nice Lydia. Maybe I've been unlucky. Also whenever I meet one I have to fight the urge to start asking about her , but I'm very immature.

Really don't like Xanthe, it reminds me of Xander which is populaer at the moment and I don't like either, it does seem a bit pretentious.
I very much like Fleur, Verity and Nancy, they are different but quite pretty and honest sounding. Also Beatrice and Lydia are nice.
Have you thought about Cecelia? I like that more than Cynthia
What an eclectic taste you have! I like your list a lot!!

I rarely look at name threads as invariably I hate all the names, but this is a good list! Whatever you choose I think you'll be onto something, but my view, for what it's worth, is:

Romily - I have no idea why, but this makes me picture a female version of Christopher Biggins
Verity - Nice, but quite prim
Serena - Fine, but not that unusual
Selina - Ditto
Xanthe - I really like this, was on my shortlist but vetoed by DH
Nancy - A bit of a mean thing to say, but I always think of this as a fat girl's name. I went to school with a Nansi though (chubby of course), which is the Welsh spelling.
Lydia - Fine
Beatrice - Nothing special
Cynthia - A bit prim
Fleur - Like
Rowena - Dislike

I really like Xanthe (and Zita too), love Beatrice.
Have you considered Celia? That's nice.

Romily - Lovely. I'd spell it Romilly though
Verity - Quite nice
Serena - Lovely
Selina - Lovely
Xanthe - I like how it sounds but not how it looks
Nancy - Ok
Lydia - Ok
Beatrice - Lovely (but Bea is obvious shortening if that bothers you)
Cynthia - Dislike
Fleur - Lovely, but better as a mn IMO
Rowena - Lovely (but Ro is obvious shortening if that bothers you)

Romily - like
Verity - love
Serena - ok
Selina - ok
Xanthe - not keen
Nancy - no
Lydia - ok
Beatrice - like but it is quite popular at the moment
Cynthia - not keen, sounds a bit prim
Fleur - not keen, too girly
Rowena - like but prefer Ramona

Check out the ONS baby names from 2011 re current popularity and darkgreener.com to have a look at whether names are rising or falling i.e meet your 'timeless' criteria, e.g I suspect Romilly is rising and won't prove timeless in that respect.

Best wishes with your choices!

Thank you all. That is super helpful. I think serena is our safe choice but xanthe I have always loved but not sure if i can convince dh or if we are brave enough. Is it too pretentious? Too annoying to spell? Too weird for a lot of people? We don't want to burden the poor girl with forever having to explain her name to people. What do you think?

Funny a few of you mentioned celia and cecelia,.. That was the name of our dd1 who died tragically a year ago aged 3. I think that has made the name thing even harder as we compare every name to celia who we loved so much and of course seems like the "perfect" name. I'm glad so many of you like our shortlist though and we have managed to choose names in the same area.

Love Verity, Lydia and Rowena. The others are all nice too.

Good luck!

Sorry if this sounds rude, but to me, Xanthe is a bit pretentious, not because it's so weird and out there, but because it looks like it's trying to be weird and out there, if that makes sense. Maybe it's just the X, which I know is unfair, but it does just seem to be a bit much. It is pretty, though.
Cynthia, Lydia and Beatrice are really lovely (Romilly just makes me think of Rommel) and Nancy is a pretty good child-to-adult name. Serena's fine, but you have some other good choices there...

I was slow posting there and missed your reply - I am so sorry about your Celia. It is a beautiful name.

i am so sorry about your Celia.

from your short list l like Xanthe and Lydia. be brave and call her Xanthe. i think it is lovely and not pretentious.

So sorry about your dd.

You have a great shortlist and some names you love. Why not wait until she is born to decide? It may help you to stop comparing all the names to Celia as you get to know your baby a little and she shows you how much of her own little person she is.

Sorry about your DD.
I like all the names you have chosen so not much help! :)
I met a little girl called Serin today.i thought that was lovely.

I'm so sorry to hear about your Celia. Such a pretty name and I'm sure she was the light of your life.
From your list, my absolute favourite is Xanthe - I've only ever known one and she was lovely, beautiful and dignified even at fifteen when most of us are a bit iffy! Serena is very pretty too but, for me, just not quite as special as Xanthe. The other name I really love, and which vied with Xanthe for top of my list of names for girls, is Celeste.

Love Romily, like Fleur, dislike the others especially Verity which I detest.

I like nancy out of your list but if you love Xanthe then you should go for it.

Sorry to hear about your Celia x

Very sorry to hear about your Celia :(.
I would actually discount Cynthia then, as being just that bit too similar but of course it's up to you.

You're not so keen on Iolanthe then?