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Baby names

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Top 10 opinions

28 replies

stellarfox · 10/09/2017 07:40

Hello please can you give me your honest opinion of these names:

Cora
Eden - not sure if too untraditional and popular (although I'm UK based and don't know any Edens)
Emmeline
Niamh - love but I'm not Irish but does it matter?
Stella
Constance "Connie" - Not keen on the nn in my partners accent
Charlotte "Lottie" - Too common?
Aurora "Rory"
Claudia
Margot - Love the sound but not the look of it written down

Eric
Seth
Louis
Percy
Max
Liam
Harrison
Grayson "Gracie"
Stanley
Rufus

Thanks for any help!

OP posts:
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17caterpillars1mouse · 10/09/2017 07:53

Cora - gorgeous name
Eden - I know 1 little girl named Eden. I like it
Emmeline - beautiful
Niamh - also a lovely name
Stella - I want to like it but it just reminds me of the beer
Constance - a gorgeous strong name. Would probably use it for a dd myself if dd1 didn't already have a virtue name
Charlotte "Lottie" - like but too common for me
Aurora "Rory" - I know loads. It seems to be very in. I do like Rory for a girl though
Claudia - It sounds very grown up. Not that that's a bad thing
Margot - another gorgeous name

My favourites are Emmeline and Constance

Eric - it sounds too American to me
Seth - really hate the sound and I think of Seth Green who I don't like
Louis - I'm bored of this one
Percy - gorgeous. I actually know a 1 year old Percy
Max - a bit overdone here
Liam - love as a nn for William
Harrison - really dislike
Grayson "Gracie" - no not would thank you for Gracie
Stanley - nice enough
Rufus - love it

Rufus is my favourite

Askingforafriendlyneighbour · 10/09/2017 07:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Twooter · 10/09/2017 08:01

Favourites are Max and Lottie and Margot. Girls - also reLly like Claudia and Niamh. I struggle to say Rory - don't know if it's just me though. Definitely no to Gracie, although you could just use Gray.

DuggeeHugs · 10/09/2017 08:03

Cora - lovely
Eden - not keen
Emmeline - pretty but a little bland
Niamh - lovely
Stella - lovely
Constance "Connie" - not keen
Charlotte "Lottie" - nice but popular
Aurora "Rory" - nice
Claudia - not keen
Margot - ok

Eric - not keen
Seth - nice
Louis - not keen
Percy - not keen
Max - ok
Liam - ok
Harrison - not keen
Grayson "Gracie" - not keen
Stanley - not keen
Rufus - nice

SlugKiller · 10/09/2017 08:18

Claudia, Stella or Cora

I'm not keen on any of your boy short list but if I had to use one I'd choose Grayson.

MammieBear · 10/09/2017 08:49

Hello,
I'll try my best for you,

Cora - always seems unfinished to me like it should be Cordelia.
Eden - really not keen on these sorts of names myself, I can see it's appeal being a garden of paradise.
Emmeline - probably my favourite Girl's name on Your list, long elegant, feminine and gives the most options.
Niamh - love the story behind this name I feel the same way with the "Irish connection" in my heart I feel it does matter.
Stella - like it but prefer Estelle.
Constance "Connie" - nice name good Nn you may like the Italian version Constanzia livens it up a bit.
Charlotte "Lottie" - I feel it's not too popular but people saying "oh you chose it after the princess " would annoy me, love Charlotte's Web though.
Aurora - lovely, but if she can't pronounce r you may have a problem...
Claudia - it's the meaning that puts me off, lame, not very nice.
Margot - prefer Margaux as to me margot written down reminds me of Maggot.

Eric - not keen
Seth - OK
Louis - Lovely
Percy - sweet, but he'll need to learn Boxing
Max - prefer Maximus
Liam - prefer William
Harrison - I really like this name, Harrison Ford fan.
Grayson "Gracie" - not bad
Stanley - old name reminds me of laurel and hardy, that's not a bad thing.
Rufus - cute name put it in the same catagory as Rex.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 10/09/2017 08:52

Emmeline is beautiful, as is Stella (Estella).
I would go for Louis, from your list.

stopbeingadramallama · 10/09/2017 08:58

Eden was on my girls list so would chose that!

We didn't have a girl and I called our little boy Stanley.

stopbeingadramallama · 10/09/2017 08:58

.. Eric is good tho. Eric Cantona.

strawberrypenguin · 10/09/2017 09:03

Stella is lovely and not very common. I like Stanley or Eric from your boys list. Not Gracie though - that's very much a girls name

AutumnalLeaves38 · 10/09/2017 09:08

OP,

You've chosen some nice name options there.

Niamh: one of my very favourites; beautiful name, and no doesn't matter if you've no Irish heritage.

(And to pre-empt the usual warnings of doom, don't be concerned about the spelling issue: names as familiar as Catherine/ Katherine/ Katharine etc. can cause just as many complications, frankly! Pronunciation-wise, people can blooming well just learn fast Wink Keep the original Irish names alive, I say).

Niamh, with Stella as middle name, would be rather special, btw: "radiant and bright star".

Eden, Emmeline, Aurora: all lovely.
(prefer the Emme-LEEN pronunciation to Emme-LINE, but perhaps you disagree?).

Cora: afraid will always be connected in my mind with Cora-Beth, from
The Waltons
(shopkeeper Ike's interfering, gossipy wife).

No strong opinions either way on the rest.

Of your boys' names:

I do love Louis (if pronounced LOO-ee, rather than LOO-iss).

Stanley's becoming quite popular around these parts, same Edwardian vintage bracket as Bertie/ Wilfred/ Archie. (Percy would fit in there, too, I suppose?). Do you like Stan as much, though? Because I'd guess he'd likely become that half the time.

Grayson: I automatically thought Grayson Perry, the artist. Have never heard it otherwise.

Max/ Liam: very, very popular here.

Rufus is great. Love Rory/ Ruairi/ Ruaidhri as well.
(Bonus points if used for a baby redhead) Grin

AutumnalLeaves38 · 10/09/2017 09:11

^ Oh. Just realised your "Rory" suggestion was actually meant as NN for Aurora.
Not bad, but think I still prefer it as a standalone for a boy. Smile

SuperBeagle · 10/09/2017 09:52

Cora - Lovely

Eden - Don't like at all

Emmeline - Lovely, but the pronunciation will be different depending on the person. Emma-LEEN or Emma-LYNE.

Niamh - Alright

Stella - Lovely

Constance "Connie" - Don't like at all, and really don't like Connie

Charlotte "Lottie" - Lovely. Very common where I live; I think it was no. 2 in 2016 where I am.

Aurora "Rory" - Don't like. Difficult name to say (tongue twister). And I think Rory is a bit Gilmore Girls

Claudia - Don't like

Margot - Don't like

Eric - Lovely

Seth - Don't like. Sounds hissy to me, and some will pronounce it Sef.

Louis - Lovely.

Percy - Don't like. Percy Weasley, "point Percy at the porcelain" (penis)

Max - Lovely

Liam - Lovely

Harrison - Lovely, but do prefer Harry

Grayson "Gracie" - No. So trendy at the moment. And Gracie for a boy it torturous.

Stanley - Lovely

Rufus - Nope. Dog's name to me

My favourites from your list are Stella and Stanley

Iknowit · 10/09/2017 09:53

I like Claudia and Max but don't really like any of the others.

CakeRattleandRoll · 10/09/2017 10:25

My favourites are:
Cora and Margot
Louis and Rufus

loobybear · 10/09/2017 10:46

Girls names- i like Eden, Constance and Margot (i actually really like Margot!)

I think Niamh is a beautiful name but I do think it matters quite a lot that it's Irish to be honest. I think names are a huge part of our identity and cultural identity comes into that and I don't feel comfortable with the current trend of disregarding the history and heritage of names that are clearly from different cultures because we like the sound of them or want something a bit different (not saying this about the OP but just it seems to be quite common in general right now, particularly with Irish, Scottish and Italian names).

From the boys names I really like Liam but also Eric and Seth.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 10/09/2017 10:49

I love Eric too.😄

Sophronia · 10/09/2017 11:49

I like Constance, Claudia and Eric best.

AutumnalLeaves38 · 10/09/2017 13:36

loobybear,

But "Liam" is Irish, too!

Don't you object to that, then, for the very same reasoning as Niamh?
(Or is non-Irish use of Liam ok, because it's not the full "Uilliam").

Which, as you'll already know, was itself from the FRENCH "William"...
[source medievalscotland.org/problem/names/liam.shtml ]

I understand what you're saying, but, equally, would guess very few of the multitude of girls named Isla, so incredibly popular all over England, have true Scottish family connections.
(I certainly haven't met/ heard of anyone without them using the traditional "Islay" spelling, which would tend to back that up).

As someone of Scottish background myself, I can assure you I value names and identity, yet wouldn't see that as "disregarding" heritage, or cultural misappropriation...

Where do you stand on 'anglicising' traditional names from elsewhere, instead of using the correct original, with any fada etc?

Makes sense that more exposure to, and combining families of, different nationalities/ cultures (as well as travelling widely/ living abroad) means less familiar names reach a far wider audience nowadays.
Personally, I prefer that to the alternative of, say, "John" only for the English, "Iain" only for the Scots, "Evan" only for the Welsh, "Sean" only for the Irish...

loobybear · 10/09/2017 14:10

I think some names have been used widely for so long that they have become anglicised and while their original place of origin may be somewhere else, it's not immediately obvious. This is also far easier with names that phonetically match with the spoken language where the name is being taken on which Niamh is not.

Im not saying that no one should use names from other cultures at all but I think it's disrespectful the original culture to ignore it's history and correct dictation (which often happens) just because someone likes the sound of something. To be honest I come from another country but moved over to the UK very young. My name gives me a connection to my home and people know immediately where I'm from and that forms a huge part of my identity and is really important to me, as it will be for my children in maintaining a connection to their heritage. Some names cross cultures and fit in naturally and easily into new ones and blend in easily and well but others have clear links to a particular culture or heritage (and I believe your example of Isla is actually one of them) and I don't think that should be disregarded particularly when it's in an attempt to find a 'different' or 'unusual' name as seems to be the current trend.

loobybear · 10/09/2017 14:19

But sorry OP, don't want to detail your thread!

stellarfox · 10/09/2017 14:42

Thank you for your feedback all and no problem regarding the Niamh/origin posts as it was something I mentioned to start with anyway! Its something I'm really thinking about but it has been one of my favourite names forever. I could consider Neve as a spelling instead if that is more authentic as an English name. I'll research it. It's really helpful to hear people's different associations of names. Emmeline I would use Emma-leen pronounciation and for Louis it would be Lou-ee. I really like Cordelia as well as Cora so that's one to think about. With Stella I also did not like to start with but since meeting a lovely little girl with this name I really like it. People are definitely divided on Eric but it is a family name so I've always liked that one. I'm not worried about dog names as most dogs have human names now anyway and if you discounted them all there wouldn't be any names left! Thanks again everyone, super helpful!

OP posts:
Liadain · 10/09/2017 17:34

Cora - this is quite pretty
Eden - it's ok but you have nicer options on this list
Emmeline - ok
Niamh - I am Irish, I say go for it - please don't butcher the spelling though. I see this and Aoife on here all the time so it seems to be getting recognised in the UK.
Stella - a type of beer. Not for me.
Constance "Connie" - don't go for it if Connie doesn't sound good when your partner says it. Tbh I'm not a fan of this one anyway.
Charlotte "Lottie" - Lovely name.
Aurora "Rory" - not a fan. I think it looks prettier written down than it sounds.
Claudia - also not a fan
Margot - a nice name! But you don't seem to love it so no.

Eric - love this name
Seth - no. Has a very hissy sound imo.
Louis - ok
Percy - nope
Max - ok. A bit bland
Liam - nice name
Harrison - wouldn't choose it personally but I do like it. Probably be called Harry?
Grayson "Gracie" - I like Grayson but hate Gracie
Stanley - I know the old man names are trendy atm but not a fan of this one
Rufus - no. Dog name to me, though I know that doesn't bother you Smile

Montsti · 10/09/2017 18:57

I like Charlotte & Max but don't like any of the others...

Mrsknackered · 10/09/2017 19:53

Hello please can you give me your honest opinion of these names:

Cora - I really like
Eden - Much prefer for a boy
Emmeline - I want to love it but I just don't
Niamh - quite popular now so don't think people would be that caught up on you not being Irish, I wouldn't though personally.
Stella - Artois. Grim, sorry.
Constance "Connie" - I prefer just Connie.
Charlotte "Lottie" - Just a bit blah
Aurora "Rory" - not a fan
Claudia - detest! I hate the 'claw' part.
Margot - i really love it.

Eric - no
Seth - quite cute
Louis - love (as long as it is Lou-ee)
Percy - no
Max - like
Liam - love, especially short for William
Harrison - no
Grayson "Gracie" - no please don't call him Gracie
Stanley - my fave
Rufus - I really like this too