Please help! DD is 1 week old and no name.

[vik123b]

Have a shortlist for girls names. The two names we cant decide on are Hermione and Betsy. Just interested to hear peoples views.

I love Hermione but DH prefers Betsey. Few things do put me off Hermione though - will it be a nightmare for her to learn to spell? people can't pronounce it (Hermy-won) and obviously Harry Potter (will she be teased and compared to Hermione Granger? Our surname also begins with a hard G). Love Betsey but worry is too cutsey and she may hate it when she gets older and don't want it shortened to Bet (she wouldnt be Elizabeth as my daughters middle name is Elizabeth so don't want to use again). We have quite kooky style so think either suit us as a family. Need to make a choice!

We like both names so whatever we choose for first name the other can be the middle name. We like Bluebell also for middle name (my other 2 children have two middle names) so would be either:

Hermione Betsey Bluebell

Or

Betsey Bluebell Hermione

Also, if we chose Hermione do you think we could use Hetty as a nickname? DH lost his Nan yesterday whose name was Stella, not keen on Stella and doesn't fit with our names but Hetty has same meaning (Star) or could you think of some way to incorporate it into the name?

Please help me decide! DH says if I haven't decided by today he will call her Betsey.

Betsy and Bluebell go toghether, but Hermione seems an odd fit with those IMO.

It wouldn't be my taste (too cutesy), but I think Betsy Bluebell Stella, or even Betsy Bluebell Star sound OK.

And Betsy is Betsy, not Betsey.

Bluebell

Estelle is lovely as a nod to dh nan?
Estelle Betsey Bluebell?
Betsey Bluebell Estelle?

what about;
Estrella
Astrid
Esther
Maya
Nova
Sesheta
Starla
Vespera

I don't much like either but Hermione is better than Betsy.

Estelle is nice but we have a family friend called Estelle so can't use it really.

There are various spellings of Betsey. We like the spelling as in Betsey Johnson fashion designer, its just a bit different. But it can be spelled Betsie (Betsie Larkin - singer/songwriter), also seen it spelled Betsi (Cadwaladr who was a nurse who worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War).

I do like cutesy names, am just that way.

baby girl star names

I think the Harry Potter connection would mean most people are familiar with the pronunciation of the name Hermione.
I think Betsy is lovely as a NN but too cutesy to be her given name, it would have to be short for Elizabeth for me and Betsy Bluebell sounds like a My Little Pony
Of the star names above I really like Hester, which could be NN Hetty if you like that.

I'm keen on the name Hester, Greek in origin meaning star.

Ha xpis

Ha x

Out of those two I prefer Betsy. I do think it's cutesy but I prefer it to hermione.

x post darned keyboard.

Hermione is lovely btw and surely not a mystery to spell since Harry Potter.

Hermione by a country mile. Yes you've got the Harry potter phenomenon but that also means that people will know how to pronounce it. Although I've always wondered why they didn't anyway. It's pretty obvious. Anyhow, Hermione definitely better and you could get away with Hetty.

What's wrong with Stella? I know a little Stella and it's v cute.

Oh just seen you're not keen on it. Shame, it's lovely.

Betsey Blubell Hermione would be my pick.....lovely....swoon!

How about Hester?
I think that means star too...

Well we called our DD Lois but we put it on the list well before the latest superman film.

And who cares if it has character name associations? Hermione Grainger is a great character, strong, feisty, clever.

Can I just suggest you take your time and don't be rushed into a decision? A week is nothing. I know several people who took the full six weeks to officially name their baby - it's far better to hang fire and get it right, you are still full of hormones and if you are uncertain and wavering you need to wait till you are thinking more clearly to name her.

I really don't like Hermione. At all.

Betsey is a bit too cutesy for my tastes but it's preferable to Hermione.

I would spell betsy without the second e

Betsy bluebell estelle would be my favourite

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have loved Hermione for a few years and was on my girls list when DS was born. It was the only name we had on the list when we went into hospital to have baby girl and we were both agreed it was the name but we made the mistake of taking the baby names book in with us and opening it . DH then decided she looked like a Betsey and I really liked that too but worry how it will wear in a few years whereas Hermione to me is classic and beautiful although I know is not everyone's taste and the Harry Potter thing nags at me although I agree that Hermione is a pretty cool, kind and feisty character and there arent going to be any more films/books so although it will remain pop culture there wont be as much publicity surrounding it in the future. I think if I had the choice I would rather be called Hermione than Betsey but DH says I'm not picking a name for me.

Really like Starla so may be an option for middle name instead of Betsey if choose H as first name - Hermione Bluebell Starla? Also liked Clementine before thought of Bluebell as a middle name - Hermione Clementine Starla/Stella. Bluebell does suit our family though.

Its so difficult. Feeling the pressure though as I am being bombarded with text/facebook messages asking if we have a name yet and starting to feel awful. My DS has named her Sausage Roll (he is 3) so she will probably be known as that anyways in our house now! We even got a card addressed to Sausage Roll!

I think tiny babies often take a while to grow into a "grown up" name, but she'll be a grown up for much longer than she'll be a baby. If Hermione is the name you've loved for a long time use that and call her "sausage" until she has the gravitas to carry it off!

Elizabeth with Betsey as nn.