Oh help, I think we're being the fussiest people in the world about girls' names

[WhatDyouCallEr]

We're expecting a DD in October and seem to have so many requirements that there are no names left that we can agree on.

I'm English (with some Irish ancestry), DH is German, and we live in Germany. DD will have my (English) surname and I don't want to burden her with two difficult names, so we're looking for a first name that will at least be easily recognisable to German speakers, even if it isn't German.

And then there's the issue of the surname itself (starts with an H and rhymes with Keith) which, especially when it's pronounced with a German accent, makes several sounds (ie, th, s, t, f) problematic in a first name.

We already have a DS called Johannes so none of the -anna names are really an option.

So far Klara and Esther seem to be top of our joint list, but neither of us can quite settle on either... We've also considered Katharina, Natalia, Aila and Rebecca. And I like Maren (MAHren), Ellen/Elena/Nella, Laura and Alma too, but he's not so keen.

Does some inspired person out there have the answer?! (I realise this OP totally outs me, so RL people could you please just pretend you haven't seen it? Thank you!)

Maren and Alia are lovely!

Marta, Katrina, and elena are also nice

What about

Anouk
Astrid
Rita
Veda
Freya
Erin
Opal

Heidi?

Nina.

Like lots of others on this thread, I thought Elsa when reading your OP.

Annalise (if not already suggested)

Madeleine

Orla?

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Making a new shortlist...

Elisabeth works in both languages, does it work with your name though?

I love the name Astrid.

Alexandra

I love the name Mareike, but it's probably too German for your specs.

Martha pronounced the German way improves the name. I think Marta is prettier.

Katya?

Antonia
Agatha/Agata
Carla/Karla
Caroline/Karoline
Gisele/Gisela
Kirsten
Odelia
Victoria/Viktoria

Agree that Martha and nina are lovely names.
Elke and Elsa also great.

Well my new shortlist isn't so very different from the old one, but somehow it's comforting that we're on the right track and hadn't overlooked loads of names we love. So many of you have suggested names that I've liked but had to abandon for one reason or another.

Anyway, here's my current top ten. Any opinions or further suggestions still very gratefully received. I'd be especially interested to know what other people think about whether or not we should avoid an "ie" sound, given my surname (think Hampstead H... if I haven't made it obvious enough).

Klara
Esther
Katharina/Katya
Rebecca
Zoe (back in the running, and according to DH the German pronunciation is more like ZOH-eh)
Maren
Ellen/Elena/Nella/Nell (I'd love to use one of these because they have lots of family connections, but not sure which and DH doesn't seem convinced)
Alma
Martha (also back in the running for me, but I think it comes under DH's veto on old lady names)
Charlotte (I think Charlie is a great shortening but I just can't seem to love any of the longer options enough)

Thanks again, all.

Very biased but we have a Katerina who is nicknamed Katya. As we live in the UK, we spelt it without the 'h' (we're the opposite to you - german surname but live in the UK). We love the name and have received many compliments.

All quite nice not keen on Alma and I don't think Esther goes with your surname. My faves are Klara or katharina also what about Kara? Also just wanted to throw a name I love in to confuse matters: Juliette.

Clara or Claudia

Elsa?!

Klara is the name we seem to keep coming back to, so I'm glad lots of people seem to like it. It's fairly popular here, but probably not enough to put us off.

Claudia isn't on my list because although I think the English pronunciation is really pretty, in the German context it has quite a strong 1960s/70s feel which I'm not so keen on. And although Elsa works really well and I like lots of variants of Elisabeth, I've pretty much decided against them because of a family association...

What about Rosie or Maria, which is not that common in Germany and beautiful?

Or Lily (Lilli, Lilly), Louise, Irene (might feel a bit old fashioned), or Amelie?