Please help me! Too common vs too unusual?

[HopeS01]

I'm struggling with girls names...

I like Bella for short, but is Isabella (I like Isa, too,) too common? Do you prefer Arabella?
Is Bella too common altogether?!

I'm not Irish but what do you think of Orla? I wouldn't spell it 'Orlaith' because I worry that teachers, doctors' secretaries, relatives etc. will find that too difficult.

I also like Effie for a little girl, but what is the full name of this cute abbreviation? Persephone doesn't go very well with my surname!

And lastly, maybe the hormones making me loopy... How about Alba?

Eager to receive your replies....

I really like Isabella but not sure about Bella because of the people assuming I might have chosen it because I'm a twilight fan (I'm not & I still know the characters names-this bothers me) but I do like Izzy or Belle as an nn

Orla is lovely, I've never heard it before.
Effie is great too, not sure what its short for but watching with interest to find out.
Because of Jessica Alba I always think of it as a surname but that's just me!

Bella is more popular but I prefer it to Arabella. I just don't like that it's so close to arable farming.

I like Orla but spell it Orla not Orlaith. I know some Irish people feel a bit nauseated when they see Konner, shivawn or Neev but Orla is lovely as it is. It is an accepted spelling in Irish and is actually no less correct than Orlaith especially given that there is another Irish spelling, even more antiquated, which is in fashion and in use now. I know a couple of Orlas my age and Orlaith and the other Irish spelling seem like a recent version to me.

Effie. Not keen.Persephone is dreadful. What about Phaedra or Ismene

Alba is lovely. Spanish for Dawn. there's an Irish name Alva which you might like too, similar but a bit softer maybe.

I love Effie and considered it for my DD but my dad told me the full name is Euphemia which put me off a bit! Also like Orla, unusual, not heard it before. prefer Isabella to Arabella.

I like Bella , Arabella is lovely , as is Isabella .
I don't like Orla ( Orca , killer whale ?)
I don't like Alba
How about Annabel ? With Belle for nickname ?
Effie is good , could be short for Evelyn .

Orla is my favourite from your list. Bella is too Twilight for me, and I am.not.keen on the longer names you have wih it it.

I like Effie, but it does feel like it should be short for something. What about Aoife (Ee-fa), similar sound but the spelling at least makes it feel like a complete name.

Alba is a new.one on me, sounds quite masculine but thata just my opinion.

Thank you for your wonderful responses! I agree with everyone about Arabella, Isabella is much nicer, and SmallBee, you're completely right! I'm sure there will be millions of Bellas now, I hadn't considered that!

I'm delighted with your thoughts on Orla and Alba! I've been too embarrassed too suggest these to any of my friends or family but I feel much more confident now!

Alba, Effie and Orla are all lovely. There are probably a few names you could shorten to Effie. Josephine for example (which we would have used if ds had been a dd and he'd have been Sephie). You could also reasonably shorten Ophelia, Delphine, Phoebe and Seraphina to Effie.

I also like Aphra which we would have shortened to Affie.

Effie can be short for Elizabeth if that helps.

I like alba and orla.

All the bella variants are pretty common now (common as in widespread, not as in chavvy!).

I've seen Effie used as a shortened name for Elizabeth. It could also work with Stephanie xx

Come on, OP, do the homework Effie from: Ophelia and a long list of others. I like it.

Bella makes me think "Tweenies". Showing my age!

Sorry, still drunk I think...don't know why I just put kisses at the end!

I do like Isabella (prefer Isobel) but Bella is a bit too Twilight for me.

Orla is lovely but spelled like that made me think of "oral", something to consider for when she's at school unless I'm just dirty minded

Alba just makes me think of cheap electrical goods.

My sister's middle name is Elizabeth so that would work really well for Effie, thanks Vatta and Barbarashop.

Showofhands, thank you for your suggestions. It's so useful to hear the opinions of people who have considered the names themselves!

Thanks all! xx (not drunk!)

I know of two Isabella's (daughter of friends) one must be 7 now the other is two days old.

I prefer Isabel personally but Isabella is lovely too.

As others have said, Elizabeth is the usual way of getting to Effie but you could get it with Persephone - Sephy - Effie not too big a leap!

I like Alba but think you need a surname with no similar sounds in it.

I was torn between Isabel and Isabella, went for Isabel in the end and we use Izzy as a nn. I still love it (biased!)
My friend has an Annabell, she gets Bella, but doesn't seem too twilight to me, although if Bella was her full name and not a nn it might,

I think that Effie is traditionally short for Euphemia, which I really like! Classy, unusual long version and simple, easy to live with nn. Perfect combo imo.

Alba and Orla are lovely names too. I am not that keen on Bella (Twilight has ruined it for me) but do like Isa, Izzy and Isabella.

How about Isaline/Ysaline, Isolde?

I know a Gabriella nn Bella if that takes you?