Lily, Eva, Aoife or Isla

[verite]

Any views?

Isla is my favourite, but love Eva too x

Well pretty much a complete split between all the names then (maybe with Eva slightly in the lead). To the person who asked - yes there are Irish connections so Aoife would work in that sense.

What about Emer (or Eimear)? Similar to your other names, Irish connection but it a bit less popular?

Only go for Aoife if you're prepared for your DD to spend the rest of her life spelling her name, and people reading it thinking it's pronounced "Oi-Fee"...

new I have an Irish name that isn't popular any more and certainly not in the UK.
Usually when I tell someone my name and the right pronunciation they don't forget.

Aoife is one of the easier Irish names.

Is it really a bad thing for you to have to spell your name for someone?

I like Eva.
Don't like any of the others.

LucyBabs no not necessarily, just something worth thinking about. Often I have to spell my first name as there's a couple of ways to spell it but when people read it they know how to say it. Always having to explain would annoy me a bit but to your point it is probably more memorable. Depends what the OP is looking for

All very common if that bothers you (although Aoife maybe less so - I teach in Catholic school where there are a lot of Aoifes). I don't like Lily at all, too twee and cutesy for me. The rest are lovely.

Lily is lovely. Yes it's popular but it's more timeless than something like Isla which I think will date very quickly. I know a couple of old ladies called Lily, it's lovely. It's good for any age IMO. Love Eva too and I know a mixture of them, some in their 30's and some under 5. Aoife is very boring and very dated, at least it is to me having grown up in Ireland with a million of them all over the place. Can never understand why it's seen as somewhat exotic in the UK. Go for Lily or Eva.

I love Aoife it is a beautiful name.

What about Ivy, similar and combining a few of the names you mention, but lovely and a lot less common.

I'm biased as I have a feisty little Aoife. Living in England the name's fairly accessible but then she hasn't had to start learning phonics yet... The best pronunciation I've heard so far is a-waff Dh and I both have bog standard phonetic names (we think) but still have to spell them out regularly.

I think they're all lovely names. I wouldn't worry about choosing a 'popular' name if you prefer one, I had a top 10 name as did my sister but we've very rarely met people the same age who share our names.

I work at a nursery. We've got two called Lily, an Eva (plus 4 Evies and an Evelyn), an Aoife, and two Islas. Personally, I like Aoife the best, but be prepared for your child to have a surname or last initial tacked onto the end of their name.

I have 2 of the above! One we constantly find others called the same,the other literally only 1 and shes 8months old and its ment to be one of the highest ranking names.

How about lilah? Bit of a mic of 2 of the names.

Boring boring boring.
Except Aoife which is just dreadful.

One of my DDs has one of your 4 suggested names and we have never had a double in pre school, school or in any out of school activities. We live in a city too so you would expect at least one.

When we come across another child with her name she finds it really exciting.

In her school there are at least 3 doubles of names and they are all what I would consider unusual.

Choose a name you love. Your child will make the name their own and you will not be able to imagine them called anything else.

Whilst Mumsnet hates my DD's name (and DD2 has what Mumsnet calls a 'filler' middle name) I think their names are beautiful.

Before children, when I was a teacher, I often taught children with the same name in my classes. One year I had 4 Laurens. I can still picture each one and remember their personalities. I can't remember all of their surnames. My point is that it doesn't matter if others have the same name. Your child will be unique.

I have an Eva, it's a classic and not overused in my circle of life.

To be fair, Aoife gets mispronounced a lot. I think the spelling confuses people. The Aoife I know pronounces her name similar to Eva. Instead of Eeeva (Eva) say E-fa (Aoife) I thought it was the Irish version? I might be wrong.

Eva's my favourite. And really love Eve.

I agree they are popular but what about Eloise. Similar in feel.

Eva is my favourite. I don't like aoife really and I am Irish

Eloise is lovely.

Eva is the nicest

Eve type names and lily two a penny round here (south west). Popularity would put me off I have a popular name.