Mary or Ann-Marie ?

[littlegreengloworm]

Opinions welcome

Or suggestions

I have been thinking of Ellen but very similar to nieces name

Mary. Much nicer. But not a fan of hyphenated names.

Mary.

Mary

Mary is gorgeous and so unusual at the moment, I only know one young Mary!

Half of my brain thinks 'Mary, how simple and elegant' but the other half that went to convent schools thinks 'Far too religious, Holy Mary, my middle name, the middle name of everyone I grew up with'.

Anne-Marie is a bit 1970's...

On balance I'm not much help to you OP.

Marianne.

Squoosh, this exactly how I feel. I love it but then don't want her feeling (if it is a girl) that I give her a boring name

Gave, sorry

Dh is very traditional and gives a big no no to all names I suggest, except Ellen. But close relative Ella ?

I've thought of Maeve, Evelyn, Eithne

Evelyn I really like! Especially if pronounced evva-lin.

Are you in Ireland? Mary in Ireland is different to Mary in England.

Mary is so elegant and underused. I don't think it's boring at all.

I really love marianne. So beautiful.

Mary is ok but I prefer Marianna which would no doubt be shortened to Mary anyway! Not a fan of hyphenated names at all.

I love Mariele / Marielle

I think Ann-Marie is one of the better hyphenated names, but of the 2 I prefer Mary. How about Marianne?

Obviously the thread has moved on since I started to reply, I see Marianne has been suggested several times!

Ellen is ok, I don't know any, but the only association I make is to a girl of 'weak character' in the Mallory Towers books, which puts me off it!

Helena is nice , and similar vein?

Mary.

And what about: Anna, Julia, Lydia, Tessa, Elena, Josie?

I like Anne-Marie, or Annemarie. For some reason, the Ann spelling doesn't appeal to me.

I also think Mary is nice. I prefer it by a long shot over Ellen. Both names were in the Irish top 100 recently, Ellen somewhere in the middle and Mary in the bottom third.

Anne-Marie/Annemarie was not, so more unusual.

Would you consider Anna Maria, or Anna-Maria?
Or Helen?

Mary is lovely, so simple and classic and actually unusual at the moment, although I suspect it's due for a revival soon. If you're not sure, you could always name her Mary and give her a longer fancier middle name, so if she hates it in the future she always has an alternative. Like say Mary Isabella, Mary Jessamyn, Mary Francesca, Mary Clementine, Mary Christina, Mary Susannah, Mary Olivia.

Evelyn is lovely the nicest if all your choices

I think Mary is very dull - it's underused for a reason!

You might think of it as dull because once about every 3rd girl was named Mary. You probably know a lot of older women called Mary. In 1925 it was the second most popular name for girls in England and Wales (and probably even more popular in Ireland!). But (to put it bluntly) as that generation dies off, it will become rarer and rarer. And looked at objectively, I still think it's lovely and classic.

Mary is lovely & classic. It seems to be undergoing a bit of a revival in Ireland now.

I find Ellen a very dull, unattractive name, but Mary is beautiful.

Of the other suggestions, I like Evelyn & Maeve & Marianne is one of my very favourite names.

I like Mary at lot.
I also like Marianne and Anna-Maria. Or even Mariana (remind traditional-minded DH that it's used by Tennyson; Marianne also = historic symbol of French revolution and French Republic. And counter-heroine of 'Sense and Sensibility'). All give you/your little girl plenty of scope to choose a short version that pleases you.

Thank you all. I am edging more towards Evelyn or Ellen. They would go really well with our surname and though dh is very keen on Mary, I'm not as sure. I'm concerned it may be seen as old fashioned by her.

I much prefer Mary over Ellen. Ellen seems very frumpy to me.

Maria could be an alternative and has the potential nn Mia (which I personally dislike but I like the name Maria)