Esther or Harriet?

[TessOfTheFurbyvilles]

Baby girl due in the next three weeks. Down to Esther and Harriet for final two names.

Siblings will be Jack, Alexander, Sarah and Mary.

So the question is simply...

Esther or Harriet?

NB: Middle names will be Maude Frances, both family names. I'm not really struck on Maude, but it was the name of DH's grandmother, who passed away very recently, so I can't really say no. (Frances Maude actually sounds better, but even though we're now living in the US, I won't use it that way because of the Tory MP, Francis Maude)!

Esther is better with Maude Frances and is a lovely name.
Harriet is a super name too though.

Esther is gorgeous. Not a fan of Harriet, it's too horsey for me.

Estther Frances Maude would sound nicer than Esther Maude Frances.

Harriet by a country mile.

Esther by a country mile.

If I ever get pregnant again and if I have a daughter our chosen name is Harriet, Harry for short. So I think you know what my favourite name out of the two would be

I really like Esther, had it short listed for my dd. Harriet is nice, quite pretty, but Esther seems to stand out more for me.

Agree it has to be Maude Frances and not Francis Maude!

I think Esther Maude Frances sounds fine. Although Maud is apparently a contraction of Matilda with the same meaning if you fancied that instead. Understand you might want to use the true name if it's honouring someone, but you would still have the link.

I have a Harriet Darcy, I love it, though am now pregnant with my second daughter and wish I hadn`t used Darcy already!

Esther all the way, just sounds more special

Harriet definitely. Esther sounds a bit lispy to me.

Harriet Maude Frances is a name to be proud of.

I couldn't choose between these, I love them both. Maybe think about shortenings - are there any that you love, or hate? Would it be a disaster if she became Hattie or Harry (I like both of these personally, but just thought I'd mention it in case you don't!).

Thanks for the comments.

Sootgremlin - I like the idea of Matilda instead of Maude, I might suggest it to DH, but he'll get final say.

Nickname wise, we wouldn't like Harry, but then Harry wouldn't work here in the US as they pronounce it a bit like Hairy. They actually pronounce Harriet a bit like Herriot, as a result, which isn't so bad. I love Hatty/Hattie and Hetty/Hettie as nns for Harriet.

Esther would be Hetty/Hettie, but I don't mind Essie or Este, and nor does DH. The only nn for Esther that wouldn't work is Tess, as that's my real name!

Lots of food for thought so far.

I love Esther. It was on our short list for dd and very nearly chosen as her name but she just didn't look like an Esther when she was born (still sometimes wish we'd used it though, instead of the name we chose!)

We must have similar taste, I LOVE Esther and Harriet and Matilda! I probably slightly prefer Harriet but love the nn Tess for Esther.

Your other kids' names are great! I like both Esther and Harriet but I think I slightly prefer Esther.

I've got a 2-year-old Esther and am really pleased with our choice. Agonised for ages but it really suits her and we get a lot of compliments. We sometimes call her Ettie, but she soon corrects us and tells us that her name's Esther, not Ettie! Only downside is that people often can't spell it (they miss out the 'h') - particularly those in the medical profession for some reason.

Frances

I much prefer Esther to Harriet but Frances sounds like it would fit in better with her siblings' names.

Harriet. Love Hester but not so fond of Esther.

Esther.

Really love both names, both were on my shortlist. Don't worry about which way round the middle names go. As you know already having DCs, you so rarely use them it doesn't matter. Just go with the names ?ith meaning and the way round you feel comfortable with. All the names will sound great together, whatever combination. Do your DCs have a preference? They may feel special if they think they've helped name her.

I like Harriet better.

Ham69 - to be honest, we hadn't asked them, so DH and I asked the oldest three last night.

DS1 (14) shrugged his shoulders and said, "dunno - they're both alright I guess." I think that's as good as we're going to get from him.

DS2 (8) prefers Harriet, as it reminds him of his friend Harry, from back in England.

DD1 (4) said "no" and told us to name the baby Elizabeth (or Elizabuff as she pronounces it). We were considering Elizabeth at one point, but took it off the table, as it's super popular over here. When DH said, "if not Elizabeth, then which of the other two," she preferred Harriet.

So that's a "dunno" and two votes for Harriet. Although given that DD1 said Elizabeth, and then Harriet when DH asked her again, I guess it's closer to one vote for Harriet, and one sort of vote for Harriet!

Harriet it our front-runner at the moment, but only just.

And now DD1 has mentioned Elizabeth, it has got us thinking about that again.

I think we might just wait until we meet her to make a final decision!

Def Harriet, not keen on Esther.

Well I guess that's better than arguing over the names which would probably happen in my house . I really love Harriet and would had used it if my uncle hadn't named his dog that name. Well you would, wouldn't you! Bizarre. And Esther is my very inspirational late aunt's name. An incredible lady. Elizabeth is great because I doubt it will ever date and there are some fab nn's so you can't go wrong. She would never tire of her name! Good luck.

I like both but love Esther.

I like Harriet best.