Can't do girls' names... here's my maybe pile

[BeardyHammerclaw]

I've got two boys names I love and if this baby is a boy, I will just go with whichever of those he looks like

However, I'm not so good with girls' names and I'm not sure any of the ones we've come up with are just right. Please let me know what you think of this list and if you can think of any others we might like. We are hoping for a classic English name but not something overused. I don't want a really frilly name.

Meredith
Helena
Harriet
Alice
Martha
Imogen

Helena is my fave really but I am unsure about whether she will spend her life correcting the pronunciation.

I like them all, would say Imogen least favourite as shortened to "immo" a lot which I don't like.

I went to school with a Meredith nn Merry. Which is nice.

Harriet will be Harry, which might put some people off.

Merry is a lovely nickname!

I would say the common pronunciation of Helena would be stress on the first syllable: HEL-en-a. Does that sound right to others? If that's where you intend to put the stress, there shouldn't be any problem with pronunication (unless people mishear it as "Eleanor" but that can happen with all sorts of names).

Ivanapoo, Hattie is another shortened form.

I like Meredith, Harriet and Martha.

Meredith - Don't like at all
Helena - Lovely
Harriet - Okay
Alice - Absolutely lovely
Martha - Okay
Imogen - Very nice
Miriam - Noooooooo

I LOVE Meredith nn Merry and seriously considering using it myself. I taught a Merry a few years ago. Gorgeous. I currently teach a 5yo Helena which is also a lovely name - never considered pronouncing it hel-ay-na and everyone says helen-a to her as far as i know. Also teach 5yos Harriet, Alice, Martha if that's of any interest! All gorgeous names though that are not unheard of in my area but not overly popular either.... just right.

Miriam is cute, dont know any young Miriams. Would be lovely with nn. Mimi!

Helena is also my favourite out of all those. If you're not 100% how about any of these?

Bessie, Bethan, Lispeth, Esther, Rosa, Elsa, Elise, Elodie, Louisa, Luisa, Annabella, Cora, Tulip, Pansy, Flora, Rowan, Delilah, Deliah, Carlotta, Nancy, Claudia, Henrietta, Harrietta, Etta, Penelope, Nell, Beatrice, Beatrix, Vera, Susannah, Maggie, Edith, Olive, Minnie, Sylvie, Seraphina, Sefarina, Julietta, Josephina, Ethel, Petula, Dixie, Phoenix, Elvira, Miranda, Hilda, Barbara, Pearl, Hillary, Tabitha, Opal, Emmelina, Isadora, Theadora, Kitty, Genevieve, Helena, Lillith

I love the name Miriam but very put off to find it means "bitter"

Lovely shortlist! We have a 2 yr old Helena, pronounced as you would and it's been much less of a problem than I was expecting ( the pronunciation that is, not her!)
She does get called Helly quite a lot, despite there being nicer nicknames out there - but it seems to suit her anyway..

Lovely list. I think I would go Martha but all really nice choices. I agree with you on the pronouncing of helena as Helen-a but I'm not sure how often you would have to correct it.

Love your list!

Hard to give preferences but I think this is the order I like them best:

Meredith
Imogen
Martha
Harriet
Alice
Helena

As a Helena she probably would spend her life correcting people but on the other hand all the people she knows best will pn correctly and that's what matters. I wouldn't be overly worried about it if Helena is what you love.

I like them all, but am used to Meredith (Meh-RED-ith, not MEH-redith) as a Welsh name, so wouldn't use that.

Definitely Helena

Like them all apart from Imogen which doesn't seem to have the same feel.

All lovely but my favourite is Harriet - wanted it for dd2 but dp wouldn't be persuaded!

A few more suggestions:

Juliet
Anna
Sarah
Iris
Florence