Bella. Just Bella.

[bubbatime]

How is it on it's own?? I always thought it was a cute nn for a longer version eg Isabella, Annabelle etc.

Dh and I seriously struggling on a name. We agree on NOTHING!! Except the names used up by friends .

He really likes Bella. It's vastly better than anything else he likes. Can we use it on it's own if we're not Italian ?

What do you think?

I like Bella - think it sounds cooler than Isabella or Annabelle which are a bit twee for my tastes.

People might think you're a fan of Twilight.

I like Bella. Don't know if it'll bother you but she's the girl from twilight

Of course you can Bella is belissma, I think that most people will be associating Bella with Twilight. Plus you'll be able to say "Ciao Bella" a million times a day

Neither of us have seen Twilight... Is that what everyone will think? Is she bad?

Just googled... vampires isn't really us !!! Hmm....

Course you can, its a lovely name. One of my dcs has a French name and we aren't French.

Oh gosh don't let twilight put you off. It'll be dead by the time she's at school.

Bella is a lovely name.

Lovely name.

The Twilight thing is nonsense,don't worry about it.

I never even thought about Twilight

I just thought - ooooo what a lovely name

Lovely name. But people might assume it's short for Isabelle etc.

Thank you. That's very helpful.

Isn't it funny that choosing a baby's name isn't how you imagine it to be as a child..... dh is far too opinionated!! And our opinions don't match . As it is, name 'chats' are not fun.

Still he is the most fabulous dad and I just can't wait to see him with a new baby bundle in his arms....

I love it.

Bella wouldn't be used as a name in Italy anyway. The short form of Isabella is the (dreadfully frumpy sounding IMO) Isa.

Unfortunately it's the Twilight connection people would make so I would steer well clear personally.

Your DH doesn't get to be opinionated. Is he going through pregnancy? No. Is he going through childbirth? No. He is allowed a view but no shouting. I'm in similar conflict with my own DH over boys' names and these are my arguments.

Personally, I really like Bella and I think it stands as a name in its own right. We're thinking along similar lines: Ishbel or Isobel. The short form Isa for Isabel/lle is quite old fashioned I think. The more common shortening nowadays is Issy/Isi. In Scots Gaelic, Belagh/Beileag are quite common given names.

No getting away from the Twilight thing but I wouldn't let a few fangs bother you. It's hardly a classic. Pretty unlikely anyone will remember it by the time she's in high school.

I slightly prefer it as a shortened version of a longer name. But Isabella or Annabelle would probably get shortened to Issy or Annie anyway. The twilight connection will go away I think.

I think it's lovely.

It could also be a shorted version of Arabelle, which I like - it seems less twee than Annabelle.

I know a 5 year old Bella, its a nice name and stands alone. I don't think of twilight, not everyone has watched it or read it.

I think it's lovely! And I wouldn't be at all concerned about the twilight thing to be honest.

Really lovely name. I've read all the twilight books and those are not the first thing I think of when I hear bella, it's just a nice name.

I think there are so many nice -bel, -belle and -bella names that I would choose one of those for the birth certificate and use Bella day to day.

I love it. I don't think you need a 'long' version if you know you only ever want to use the short one. And Bella is a beautiful name. Go for it!

Bella is beautiful as a name go for it..

I have seen Twilight but no I didn't think ohh like Twilight