I want you to hoist up your judgy pants as well on my baby girl shortlist!

[kenandbarbie]

I need some feedback:

My favorite:
Elinor / Eleanor (nickname Nell, but I'm called Helena...so that's a bit weird and is all that is putting me off this choice)

Others I like a lot:
Isobel (nickname Belle? Don't really like Iso)
Lilian/ Lillian (nickname Lily)
Alice (Is Ailis Irish version, I'm not sure on pronunciation?)
Evelyn (nickname Evie)
Cora / Delia / Cordelia
Ivy
Elizabeth (dh likes nickname Liz , I like Bette)

Still not totally ruled out:
Isolde / Iseult (too tricky to pronounce?)
Beatrice
Violet
Elsie
Iris
Leonora / Leonore

Middle name is going to be along the lines of Bridget / Jean / similar grandma type plain name.

Surname is O'......... I don't want her to sound like the name of a pub and lots of the nicknames kinda do.

I love Eleanor/Elizabeth/Lillian.

I wouldn't discount Elizabeth because you both like different nicknames. I wouldn't be put off Elizabeth because you both like different nicknames. Babies often have quite a few. Eventually one will stick.

Crikey I need more sleep. Sorry I thought I'd erased that first sentence.

I love Isolde!

Definitely not hard to pronounce, but it might make people think of Tristan & Isolde

I love:
Isobel
Cordelia, not as popular as many of your other choices
Elizabeth
Beatrice

I personally wouldn’t go for a name ending in an ‘a’ sound if your surname is an O’, as the names don’t run together well.

From the rest of your list, I like Violet, Iris and Evelyn. Definitely don’t go for Lilian / Lily if your surname is O’Brien!

I think Helena and Eleanor would be a bit odd, sorry.

Cora, Isolde, Violet, Leonore, Ailis are lovely.

Isobel / Lilian /Alice /Cora /Cordelia / Beatrice / Violet /Iris are all lovely. Elsie I prefer as nn for Elspeth. Elizabeth - no reason why you can't use different nn, this often happens once kids go to school anyway.

Less keen on:
Eleanor/Elinor if you're Helena, as they're very similar (basically pronounced the same in some accents) and she might decide to be known by her full name. If you particularly like Nell could you use it as a nn for something else (Penelope, Cornelia)? Or even Isobel from your list.

Evelyn (nickname Evie) - LOTS of Evies, Avas, Evas, Edies etc around
Delia - Smith
Leonora / Leonore - I like these but they sound a bit like the washing liquid.

Isolde / Iseult (too tricky to pronounce?)

I think you would have to be prepared to correct people's pronunciation/spelling regularly, yes, especially with Iseult.

The name we have chosen has a similar shortened version to my name but it hasn’t put me off, I think it’s kinda cute . So if you really like Eleanor, go with it. Eleanor and Helena are really nothing alike.

Evelyn and Lilly are really, really common so I would avoid those two. I’m not keen on Cora, Isolde (I do think it’s a tricky pronunciation), Cordelia, Delia or Leonora but the others are lovely.

Is Nell a nickname for Isobel?

Elinor / Eleanor - I like Nell but prefer Helena to Elinor/Eleanor

Isobel - Prefer Isabel but dislike Izzy. Belle O'barbie sounds like a pub
Lilian/ Lillian (nickname Lily) - Dislike Lil
Alice (Is Ailis Irish version, I'm not sure on pronunciation?) - yes
Evelyn (nickname Evie) - Just Eve or Evie. Don't like Evelyn esp Evverlyn pron.
Cora / Delia / Cordelia - all ok
Ivy - dislike
Elizabeth (dh likes nickname Liz confused, I like Bette) yes

Still not totally ruled out:
Isolde / Iseult (too tricky to pronounce?) Iseult is nice
Beatrice - nice
Violet - too popular
Elsie - no
Iris - makes me think of old lady smelling of lavender talc
Leonora / Leonore - don't like it

Ailis is pronounced Ay-lish so different from Alice. I know a 1 year old Alice and it’s a lovely name.

I like Isobel/Isabel there are several possibilities for shortening or nicknames too she may prefer one over another as she grows up and this gives her some choice.
We gave DS a fairly traditional Irish name (heritage) which has several ways of saying it or shortening it although we never do but he chose one of them and always introduces himself with it.

If you like Nell why not just call her Nella?

My all time favourite girls name is Violet. I also like Ivy and Evelyn from your list.

I like Cora, Delia, Ivy and Bette (for Elizabeth). I love Eleanor but agree that it could be a bit odd with your name.

I don’t like Alice at all - I always find it quite insipid. And although Isobel is lovely, it’s been overused for about 20 years now.

Have you been here before? I remember Eleanor/Helena. I still think they’re too close - it will cause confusion. Also Eleanor is ghastly while Helena is really elegant.

Much prefer your not ruled out list to your like a lot list which is frankly very dull.

Isolde/Iseult, Beatrice, Violet, Iris are all fabulous names. Can’t go wrong with those. Iseult is one of my very favourite names in the world.

Elinor by miles... Wouldn't worry about it being close to your name it's a nice tie and you may start your own tradition.

Elinor / Eleanor - lovely but I agree it is a bit weird if you are called Helena
Isobel - nice but prefer Isabel spelling
Lilian/ Lillian - don't like this, thinks it's a granny name but not in a cool way but I know a Lillian who is an absolute weapon so I'm biased
Alice - nice
Evelyn (nickname Evie) - meh. Every other child is an Evelyn/Evie these days
Cora - don't like it
Delia - quite like this actually
Cordelia - quite like this too with Delia as a nn
Ivy - OK
Elizabeth - classic and timeless, ultimately she will probably decide on her own nn as she gets older
Isolde / Iseult - quite like Isolde
Beatrice - yes, also like Beatrix
Violet - a bit wet
Elsie - Victorian scullery maid
Iris - yes
Leonora / Leonore - yes to Leonora
Middle name: Yes to Jean, no to Bridget.

My suggestions:

Isabel Jean O'XXX
Cordelia Jean O'XXX (Delia)
Elizabeth Jean O'XXX
Isolde Jean O'XXX
Beatrice Jean O'XXX (Beatrix? Trixie?)
Leonora Jean O'XXX

Iris I think needs a longer middle name.

Iris Elizabeth O'XXX
Iris Eleanor O'XXX
Iris Josephine O'XXX
Iris Kathleen O'XXX
Iris Annabel O'XXX

Elinor / Eleanor (nickname Nell, but I'm called Helena...so that's a bit weird and is all that is putting me off this choice)

Nice name but don't spell it Elinor...

Others I like a lot:
Isobel (nickname Belle? Don't really like Iso). Ok
Lilian/ Lillian (nickname Lily). Not keen
Alice (Is Ailis Irish version, I'm not sure on pronunciation?). Can't stand Alice...so twee.
Evelyn (nickname Evie). Nice
Cora / Delia / Cordelia. Love Cora but not the others
Ivy Nice but too common now
Elizabeth (dh likes nickname Liz confused, I like Bette). Too classic for my taste

Still not totally ruled out:
Isolde / Iseult (too tricky to pronounce?). Bit pretentious
Beatrice twee
Violet lovely
Elsie too old womany
Iris. Lovely
Leonora / Leonore. Love this..my favourite..Leonora is better than Leonore

Elinor / Eleanor - I like these, and Nell, but probably too close to Helena.
Isobel - nice. But Izzie isn't, and I'm not keen on Belle.
Lilian/ Lillian - really like. There's also Lilias.
Alice - nice and classic, perhaps a little dull.
Evelyn -nice, as long as it's not shortened to Eve or Evie, which are everywhere. I probably prefer Jocelyn, which is more unusual.
Cora / Delia / Cordelia - I like Cora a lot. But all are fine.
Ivy - don't like. It's a weed.
Elizabeth -yes.

Isolde / Iseult - both are nice
Beatrice - great
Violet - don't like. It's a weed.
Elsie - awful.
Iris - like a lot
Leonora / Leonore - like, but heading into frillydom.

Yeah I was on before but people were too kind! I wanted more feedback to help narrow down!!!!

Thanks everyone! Very helpful comments I will mull over! DH isn't really that bothered he thinks it's more my choice as he had more input on older dc names, so that helps.

I LOVE Cora. It’s a beautiful name.

Isobel

I think the nicknames of Elizabeth + O’ surname could risk sounding very old Irish granny! While “old lady” names are very in fashion and generally lovely, I’d avoid names common in older Irish women for that reason.