Ophelia or Isla??

[Balletmummyxx]

Don’t mind about popularity of Isla. These are the final two we’ve narrowed it down to and due in 2 weeks! Help!

Definitely Ophelia. And you should listen to

Isla - I love that name.

Ophelia is nice too but I'm not a fan of names with tonnes of syllables!

Ophelia is one of DDs middle names. Love it.

Isla is too popular/common these days which would put me off.

Isla is just far too unoriginal and everywhere.

I don’t personally like Ophelia, but I much prefer it to Isla. Has more character.

What about Aurora, Aurelia/Aurelie, Ottilie...

Ophelia is terrible imo.
I don't like Isla, way too popular, but I'd choose it in a heartbeat over Ophelia.

Isla over Ophelia any day, although I'm not hugely keen on Isla. Ophelia has a pretty sound, but I wouldn't name a child after a Shakespeare character who goes mad and drowns herself.

Isla is too popualar imo.
Ophelia is nice but there are nicer names imo.

Isla may be high ranked in terms of popularity but you still aren’t going to find many per 10 girls.

Per 100 that should have said!

Ophelie, lovely. Ophelia - how many times will you correct the punctuation? Isla - dull which is why it's common! Imho!

Orla? Good mix of the two :)
Isla is beautiful but there are so so so many here (south east)
Ophelia is a bit Hyacinth Bucket and theres the whole 'I feel ya...' thing

Practice shouting it across Tesco car park.

Agree orla is a good alternative.

daisypond thank God someone else thinks this too. I’ve noticed an explosion of Ophelias in my corner of London (three at my DDs nursery) and I just want to shout “why have you named your kid after a singing, suicidal lunatic?!” Whenever I hear it. But I don’t, obviously.

So based on that, I’d go for Isla. Which I think is very nice.

I find the preciousness about the deaths of literary/mythological figures tiresome.

She’s the love of one of Shakespeare’s most compelling tragic heros who has one of the most beautifully described deaths in literature. ‘Our cold maids do dead men’s fingers call them’... And a beautiful painting of her despite the fact I don’t like preRaphaelites.

It’s a shame I don’t like the name, but I like the character.

Isla is so popular now that I'd go for Ophelia on that alone.

However - lovely though Ophelia is, it's not one I'd choose as I don't think the options for shortening are at all great. Feelz? Feelie? La? Offy? Lia? Hmm. It's also a bit fussy sounding somehow, eg compared to somethign like Aurelia which is very similar, but far stronger.

So - not sure!

Oh yes Fifi.

I guess that's the best short form.

Tatiana I don't think it's precious at all. There's only one Ophelia and her story is wretched. There aren't any other Ophelias with happier tales.

Tatiana I’m with Daisypond on this one. No one wants to hear “Well you’re named after the Shakespeare character who had the most beautiful death....”

I do. I like tragic death scenes - whether it’s Dido’s Lament - ‘when I am laid, am laid in earth..’ or Cathy in WH ‘why did you betray your heart?’ or La Boheme or Ralph Touchett ‘death is good but there is no love’ etc.

Their death doesn’t put me off a character in the slightest, if the name is beautiful and the life is dramatic it’s all good.

Dislike Ophelia because of the tragic, and wet, character in Hamlet.

Like Olivia more.

I don't like either much, but I couldn't call a DD "island" so it would have to be Ophelia

I don’t think she is wet she’s just rather underwritten. Shakespeare’s preoccupied with Hamlet.

My favourite character is Rosalind.

I like the French version, Ophélie

Ophelia. I've met three Isla's born in the last year. Lovely name but far too popular.