Florence or Fleur

[DitzyDonkey]

I'm in Ireland so neither are popular here, however the popularity of Florence in England does put me off a bit as I want something not too popular (I'm weird like that).

I love Fleur dh prefers Florence, Flora has been shelved atm due to the margarine connection. Ds is Eli. I love the nn Flo and Florrie and would use them for either name (I know they are not usually nn for Fleur but I don't give a toss )

There shouldn't be any pronounciation problems with Fleur here with our accent.

So advice please, my dh is ready to pull his hair out over my obsession with baby names, I don't think I will ever pick a girls name!

[Only1scoop]

Both names are beautiful.

How refreshing

[Gennz]

Love Florence, it's on our list. I love Fenella too.

Not a fan of Fleur, I like stronger sounding girls' names and it sounds a bit wispy to be and it also reminds me of a sanitary product

[ThingsThatShine]

Prefer Florence to fleur. Love flora too, Marge does not put me off.

[OwlCapone]

Florence. I really don't like of the sound of Fleur for reasons already given by others.

[Alita7]

Fleur!

[looki]

I can't say the name Fleur without hearing Cilla Black saying it for some reason.

Florence has grown on me because its always mentioned but my initial response to the name ie two years ago was negative and the nn Flo is truly awful. Florrie is ok but reminds me of Flurry which isn't great. Flora reminds me of the margarine, but I would never associate it with 'spreads easily'.

I like Felicity. Its feminine yet strong.

[KoalaDownUnder]

I really, really do not like the sound of Fleur. Not pretty at all, IMO.

Flora is gorgeous. Definitely the best out of your bunch.

[minipie]

I prefer Fleur or Flora. Florence I find a little frumpy (and I know so many of them).

Freya?

[Bowlersarm]

Flora is great. By far the best.

I don't like Fleur personally. Agree with it sounding like a noise.

[Montsti]

Definitely Florence. I agree with other posters that Fleur just sounds a bit blurgh/meh...feel the same way about Freya...

[devoncreamtea]

oops Florrie I meant, not Florroe...

[devoncreamtea]

Florence is great! I know a Fleur but it sounds like an odd noise to me....have slight midlands twang so probably don't do it justice!

Florence is cool and classy and love the nn's: Flo; Florroe; Floss/ie.

[Nocomet]

I'm guessing Ffion, which is far prettier than Flora or Blurgh Fleur is too Welsh. It works fine here in the Wild West border lands of England, but I've no idea about Ireland.

Florence will always be Florence from the Magic Roundabout to me.

[DramaAlpaca]

Glad you liked the research, Ditzy

DH says that he has come across a few Irish males called Flór which might be a shortened form of Florence as badtime says.

I do like Flora, it's very pretty. If it's your favourite name you should just go for it. You might regret it if you don't.

[Allalonenow]

Fleur is beautiful and classy.

Florence is a bit too "old lady" but not in a good way, and I really dislike Flo as a nn and the various Flo links.

Flora is OK, but not as pretty as Fleur.

What about Felicity or Fenella? (Though they are still not as lovely as Fleur.)

[MasqueradeWaltzer]

I love them both. Would have gone for Florence a couple of years ago, but now prefer Fleur, because less prevalent.

[NoBusinessLikeSnowBusiness]

Florence - overused and IMO not a very nice name. Also, do you really want to pick the same name as the British Conservative prime minister did?

Fleur is nice I think. Flora is my cat's name as chosen by ds and it's grown on me a lot. Certainly better than Florence. I agree that Irish pronunciation of Fleur will improve it.

[OutragedFromLeeds]

Florence is lovely.

Fleur is awful unless you're French or in France. Otherwise it's just try-hard awful.

Flora is nice. I like Felicity as well.

[badtime]

Ditzy, I think Florence used to be a man's name in Ireland.

(I only know this because there was a male character in a TV show (made in the 1980s but set pre-independence) called Florence.)

I think it was used as an anglicisation of something, but I'm not sure what for.

www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Florence/m

[storytopper]

Flora has always been popular with certain groups in Scotland - quite a posh name.

It is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Floraidh, which is linked to the Irish Fionnuala.

[dancinggerald]

I have a Flora. I've never heard of or met another one (although it seems to be becoming more popular on mumsnet), but the only person who's mentioned margarine is my Mum. Flora's brother and sister just think it's unfair that they don't get personalised butter with their toast too :-)

I've never heard the "spreads easily" thing, so hopefully it will be so long ago by the time she starts school that nobody will have heard it! Too late anyway, that is her name! She is often Flo. I umm-ed and aah-ed about the margarine, but it's by far my favourite name ever anid I'm glad we used it, it suits my lovely little Flora.

[Viatrix]

I prefer Florence, I don't like how Fleur sounds.

[AdeptusMechanicus]

I quite like the name: Florence.

[DitzyDonkey]

DramaAlpaca thanks for the research re accents

I think I'm starting to reconsider Flora, which would actually be my favourite name. I worry that it would really stick out as weird in Ireland as it would not be used much at all here where as in England there is also the butter thing however there is more of a history of use.......am I over thinking?

Any Irish mumsnetters out there....how do you think Flora would go down in Ireland. Also do you know many children called Florence in Ireland?

[HenI5]

One or the other must go better with your surname? both are nice choices.