Girls shortlist...is Eilidh a bit unrealistic for living in England??

[marmitecheesetoast]

So we don't know what we're having but approaching 32 weeks and feel like we should really probably start to sort out our names shortlist! No idea about boys (that's a whole other thread for another day ) but we have a few ideas for girls.

I've always loved Isla, for years I thought if I ever have a girl I'll call her Isla, but it's got so popular now that once I knew I was pregnant I discounted it. As approaching due date it does keep popping back into my head though..but really I feel like realistically she would end up being one of four Islas in her class? I suggested Eilidh as an alternative which I think I actually love as much/more than Isla now and DH loves it too - yay! However, is it a bit of a burden giving that name when we live in England? Would she be forever spelling her name/people saying her name wrong?? We have a long-ish surname which while not particularly complicated we do have to spell quite a lot....

I'm Scottish and while a Scottish name isn't a must, (we have some other names on shortlist too) I am quite keen to have a Scottish name. We hope to move back to Scotland in a few years too but nothing definite.

So shortlist is

Eilidh (love it but is it unrealistic giving this name in England?)
Isla (pretty sure we are going to discount this as too popular?)
Ailsa - I suggested as easier alternative to spell than Eilidh but DH not so keen)
Also like Alice and Evelyn...

Would welcome thoughts/opinions on the above generally and particularly on whether Eilidh would be a bit of a burden living in England?! Thanks!

If the name Eilidh is pronounced Eye-lee then Eily is the modern spelling of it. As I said earlier this is in regard to Irish gaelic perhaps Scottish gaelic is different.

"If the name Eilidh is pronounced Eye-lee"

It's not, it's been posted several times how it's pronounced on this thread. It's like Hayley without the h, so ailie or ayley phonetically.

And yes Irish is a different language.

Irish and Scottish gaelic is differnt languages scottish Elidh has an Ay sound not E

I love the name Eilidh and it was a strong contender for my DD (I'm English but DH is Scottish). Our surname is really difficult to pronounce and spell though, and because we live in England, I just felt I couldn't burden her with a surname and a first name she was going to have spell and explain how to pronounce all her life! So it's her middle name. It's also the Scottish equivalent of Helen, which worked for us as a reminder of a beloved aunt my DH lost a few years ago. She has another lovely Scottish name that was my DH's favourite and I also love.

However, if we were living in Scotland (or I thought we were likely to be) we may well have gone with Eilidh as her first name, as spelling etc wouldn't be an issue then.

And if we had an easier surname we'd have probably gone with Eilidh too