Edith or Florence

[nwthree]

Still agonizing over names for our 3rd DC, due in a few weeks. We seem to have narrowed it down to Edith and Florence. Any thoughts on those? I think Florence is pretty but I'm not keen on the shortened versions. We both like Edith but I'm worried about the reactions from our parents who aren't familiar with the concept of 'granny chic' when it comes to baby names and will no doubt associate it with aging aunts they used to have!

I think of an Edith as young, beautiful, very clever and edgy. She is an architect, or possibly a curator.

Florence has wavy brown hair. She bakes cakes, or is an artisan cheesemaker, and has a stall at a farmers' market. She probably owns a pair of frivolous wellies.

Ha! Love those images MollyBdenum. Not sure how I feel about frivolous wellies! Thanks all for your responses. Lots to think about.

Like Edith. My DD has a nursery friend called Edith so I don't think of it as a granny name any more. I think there are probably a fair few little Ediths.

Florence is nice but the nicknames - flo and florrie - are not so nice. Love Edie as a nickname for Edith. Also isn't Florence much more popular?

Love Florence but discounted it myself for this dd due to extreme popularity!

Like Edith BUT love love love Edie so I personally would just put Edie on the birth cert! Would that be a consideration?

Florence all the way.

I like Florence too. Pretty, not sure how popular it is these days. But not Flo. Definitely not Flo.

Florence!

Edith. It is cool.
Florence is a city in Italy.

Edith.

Really not keen on Florrie / Flo or Florence in general actually!

Edith, though made me think of Cavell not Piaf!

Much nicer shortenings for this name too..... Would not like Flo....

Edith Piaf
Edith Cavell
Edith Sitwell
Edith Wharton
Edith Head
Edith Bowman
Edith Swan-neck, married to William the Conqueror

All cool! Ediths are always cool!

I can't pick! They are both lovely!
Edith not as popular BUTi suspect it will be as Edie is a nice nn. Florence has the obvious Flo nn which I'm not keen on.
Argh. Tricky. At a push....Florence because I think it'll date better and Flossie is sweet on a kid :)

Actually Edith Swan-Neck was the mistress of Harold, the last English king of, ahem, England.

His wife was called Edith too, as was Edward the Confessor's. William I's wife was Matilda, another cool name.

As you were :)

Florence.

Thanks for the correction clary - we're agreed they were all cool, right?

Well my DD is Florence (Florrie) but, Edith was high on our list as well, we went for Florence in the end because it is a family name for us. For all it's popularity we have not met any other children called Florence here in Sydney. I have heard of a few though.
I always worry about people not pronouncing the th part of a name properly which is what put us off Edith in the end.

Well, opinion is certainly divided! Really appreciate everyone's comments. Not sure we're any closer to a decision though!

Edie is nice but I don't like Edith. Think it's very dusty and unattractive, Granny un-chic if you will.

Florence isn't my bag either.

I don't like either of them to be honest but if I had to choose, I'd say Florance. Edith sounds very harsh and too granny like for me.

Edith. Unusual and with great short/nickname. Not granny-ish at all!! I think of Florence as the old-fashioned name, even with it's resurgence.

Prefer Florence

Florence. It's sweet and cute for a child yet sophisticated and classy for a women.

I love Edith. It's DDs middle name and although I love her first name I often find myself wishing we had chosen it as a first name! Florence is nice, but very popular at the moment and I don't like Flo which it is often shortened to.

Love Edith. We have an Edith who gets called Edie and have had lots of positive reactions and a few silent ones. MIL was less restrained with her opinion however and said, 'You can't name a child that!, which to be frank made us more determined. You're right, it had reminded her of an older lady / relative she used to know. The David Cameron connection puts me off Florence, but it's also a pretty name.

I love edith have done for years! If youblike edie what about cadlling her Meredith? Slightly more unusual