Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Flip

Original poster

Opinions on our frontrunners, please...

24 replies

BadIdeaBear · 27/02/2015 21:30

So, we're not planning on finding out our baby's sex, and we've recently got our shortlist down to the following in a middle-of-the-night conversation:

girl: Eleanor (Nell) Olivia
(we went with Olivia as the second name, as we both independently chose it as our favourite but it's so popular...)

boy: Finlay (Finn) Benjamin

What do you think?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

DilysDerwent · 27/02/2015 21:34

I like all of the names and think Finlay Benjamin go really nicely together. I do find Eleanor Olivia a bit of a mouthful but how often would you actually say it together? So I don't know if that matters.

IMurderedStampyLongnose · 27/02/2015 21:47

Ooh lovely.Congratulations

shakemysilliesout · 27/02/2015 21:48

All lovely but Eleanor Olivia is very vowelly. But how often will u say the full name? Hardly ever

MrsHathaway · 27/02/2015 21:52

Popularity as a first name is sort of irrelevant to popularity as a middle name.

However, Eleanor and Finlay are both very popular in my experience. Finn even more so, Nell less so.

I think they're fine but if your intention is to avoid being Name Initial at school (eg Jenny F) then you might be disappointed.

I like Nell lots. Much more than Finn which is not my kind of thing at all.

Bowlersarm · 27/02/2015 21:53

Very nice, OP.

rockinrobintweet · 27/02/2015 22:30

Nell is such a lovely nickname and I just love Finn too. Interesting you won't use Olivia as its popular but okay with Finley; I know more Finley's than Olivia's.

you'll always have someone saying any names popular though so these names are gorgeous and I think you've done well :)

Sophronia · 27/02/2015 22:59

I love Eleanor nn Nell, much nicer than Ellie. Not keen on Finlay but Finn and Benjamin are nice.

PolyesterBride · 27/02/2015 23:02

Eleanor is also very popular too isn't it? And she might get called Ellie by her friends which is also very popular. Also agree that Eleanor Olivia doesn't scan very well.

manicinsomniac · 27/02/2015 23:17

I like Eleanor (not Nell or Ellie) but, if you and your husband both came up with Olivia as a favourite, I'd use Olivia. Even the most popular names don't really have dozens per year or anything. I wouldn't factor popularity in at all. I have a 7 year old Jessica - a name that seems to have been in the top 10 for years - and I don't meet very many others at all. I think there are currently 3 in our school of around 400 3-13 year olds. There are also, incidentally, only 4 Olivias. And 6 Eleanors.

Love Finlay

OutragedFromLeeds · 28/02/2015 01:52

I like them all.

I love Nell, but I prefer Olivia to Eleanor and personally know LOADS of Eleanor/Ellie/Elly/Ella, but don't know many Olivia's and none under 5. If you love Olivia I would use that.

Finlay is lovely, but it's very popular so I'd maybe reconsider if that is important to you. Benjamin is lovely as well.

Fantastic names, all of them!

FastWindow · 28/02/2015 02:31

Love Eleanor, but as a bit of a nonconformist, I like Elanor or Elinor. Or, if you are a bit more literary, Elliania.

Finn is amazing. You don't need to christen a boy Finlay. Just go with Finn.

Belazu84 · 28/02/2015 09:13

Lovely. If it were me I'd just go with Nell and Finn though and leave the longer versions.

fionadal · 28/02/2015 11:15

Nell is a lovely name and a much less popular shortening for Eleanor. Finn is a great name but there are loads around these days.

There are a few Bens around but not lots- and it's a fairly classic name anyway so there will always be some in every generation.

Original poster

BadIdeaBear · 28/02/2015 13:09

Thanks for all this feedback and lovely to know they're generally perceived as nice names!

Yeah, the popularity thing is a conundrum. I looked at the 2013 most popular list for England as a starting point, where Olivia is 2nd! Finlay (Finn) was much lower than Finley (and I prefer the 'a' spelling too) and Eleanor respectably low too. Maybe it's changed a lot since, or maybe it's so regional. I liked the nn Nell as it's more unusual than the Ellie, Elle options - like that that got general approval! Agree re scanning of Eleanor Olivia but I think we decided that you'd so rarely say the whole thing it probably doesn't matter. It's like only on official occasions when someone's filling in a form or you're getting married, isn't it?!

And as for just going for shorter versions - I get the point but both me and DH have one syllable names that can't be shortened sensibly. AND my name was THE most popular name for girls in 1975 (albeit with the classier spelling imho!)... OK, might have outed my name there... But that's part of the thing. I'm not sure I mind massively about needing an initial, but I don't want my child to be one of loads in the same class.

Finn really splits the crowd at the moment, doesn't it?! I like its Irish heritage, though... And I like the quiet strength of both Eleanor and Olivia (possibly more the former).

Ooh, still thinking. But perhaps mainly re the order than anything more major thanks to this positive feedback!

OP posts:

OutragedFromLeeds · 28/02/2015 13:30

If the popularity thing is really important to you when you look at the most popular list you need to look at all the different versions of the same name. For example, there may be more Olivia's than Eleanor's, but if there are also Elly, Ellie, Elly-May, Ellie-Mae, Elli-Mai, Ella, Elinor, Elana, Elaina etc. then overall there's more chance of her being one of many being called Eleanor than Olivia. Eleanor will get shortened to Elly unless you're very firm about it being Nell.

The same with Finlay. It's the same name as Finley despite the different spelling. They may both be outside the top 10, but you need to add them together to see how popular it really is. Then add in Finn, Fynn, Flynn, Finbar, Finnius etc.

Original poster

BadIdeaBear · 28/02/2015 13:56

Good point.

OP posts:

SimplySara · 01/03/2015 13:08

Love love love the name Nell. Don't think it will be too much of a problem as long as you establish her name is Nell and don't use the full name very often.

Skiptonlass · 01/03/2015 15:36

Eleanor is lovely and Nell is a very nice name. Not sure it parses well with olivia though...too many similar sounds. totally depends on your surname too.

My cousin named her little girl so that all three names (first middle and last) sounded similar and it just sounds weird, despite each name being very nice in and of itself. I won't out myself or her by writing the real name but it's akin to something like "Gracie Tracey Delacey."

Skiptonlass · 01/03/2015 15:38

Oh and Finn Benjamin, or Benjamin Finn, is lovely :)

I wanted Finn if the bean is a boy, but it sounds like a rude word in my husbands mother tongue, so that's out !

pilates · 01/03/2015 16:41

Eleanor Olivia doesn't seem to flow.

Finlay Benjamin is nice, although I prefer Finley.

Original poster

BadIdeaBear · 01/03/2015 23:02

Thanks for further thoughts!

So, we're feeling like we've nailed Finlay Benjamin (I def prefer the 'a' spelling, so sticking with that). Good!

And now we're thinking that outraged's points on popularity do mean that perhaps we should be going for Olivia given it was our joint top choice, without any consultation! But conundrums then remain! They are:

I've gone and fallen in love with Nell now too...! But wouldn't want to do that name by itself...
So should we just swap the names round (Olivia Eleanor), or do we have a rethink based on the vowelly scanning issue?! The surname is a 3 syllable one starting with a /k/ sound, but spelled with a C.

OP posts:

reuset · 01/03/2015 23:15

Finlay Benjamin is great, and I prefer the 'a' spelling too.

Stick with Eleanor Olivia.

MissWimpyDimple · 01/03/2015 23:18

Eleanor (Ellie/Ella/Elle) in its many forms is THE most popular name at school (along with Eve/Evie/Ava etc). Oddly, I don't know any little Olivia's!. Nell is nice, but it will be Nelly. Nelly the elephant?...

Incidentally, Finn is also one of the most popular at school, but it's still nice!

Original poster

BadIdeaBear · 02/03/2015 08:26

Yes, even my DH did do the Nellie the elephant thing! Not ideal!

OP posts:

Flip