Girls name list - due next week!

[StatisticallyChallenged]

So DD2 is due to make an appearance shortly and I'm still not sure what to call her. With DD1 I was very sure for ages! I'm also struggling as DH is fussy as hell, but suggests nothing.

DD1 is Alexandra, to give you an idea of our kind of names.

Obvious options that are ruled out - Elizabeth (family member), Catherine (family member), Victoria (really don't like Vicky!)

These are the choices we are down to although other ideas welcome. We'd quite like to use Susan as a middle name but might combine it with another name depending on how it flows (and the resulting initials)

Worth mentioning we're in Scotland too so trends are a bit different and in some cases names are several hundred places apart on the name lists vs England!

So, our not so short list....

ELEANOR
PENELOPE
VIOLET
ANNABELLE
ARABELLA
BEATRICE
ANASTASIA
MADELEINE
JOSEPHINE
AURELIA
ROSALIE
PHILIPPA
CLAUDIA
MARGARET
VIVIENNE
GENEVIEVE
JULIETTE
CECILIA
VERONICA
ROSALIND
PERSEPHONE
SERAPHINA
MARISSA

Love: Eleanor, Madeleine, Aurelia, Juliette

Like: Rosalind, Rosalie, Cecelia, Genevieve, Josephine (love Josie as nn), Anastasia (though maybe not with Alexandra)

Neutral: Claudia,
Marissa (bit of a 'nothing' name to me),
Margaret (I like it for an old lady but can't imagine it on a child/young adult),
Arabella (pretty but very posh, I would expect a Jack Wills clad, horse-owning private school girl)
Beatrice (I hear 'Beer' in the first bit, just not a fan!)

Dislike: Penelope, Violet (sounds like violent), Annabelle (this spelling is too frilly unless you're French, Annabel is much nicer)

Hate:
Philippa (my mother's name - she despises it),
Veronica (will become Ronnie), Persephone/Seraphina (over the top), Vivienne (looks strange, like a made up version of Vivian, would have no idea how to pronounce it)

Eleanor: okay name, plenty of nickname potentials
Penelope: same as above
Violet: not keen on this one
Annabelle: cute name but overused now. I'd probably spell it 'anabel' as well!
Arabella: I like it
Beatrice: REALLY don't like it. Makes me think of a miserable old lady
Anastasia: I like it
Madeleine: not to my taste
Josephine: don't like the full name to this - prefer 'Josie' on it's own
Aurelia: it's okay
Rosalie: cute name
Philippa: just doesn't seem feminine enough in my opinion
Claudia: not to my taste
Margaret: really don't like this either, same reason as Beatrice.
Vivienne: don't like it
Genevieve: I like this one only for the nn 'ginny'

Good luck

Great list! I like/love almost all of these. My favourites with Alexandra are:

Eleanor
Penelope
Violet
Beatrice
Madeleine
Josephine
Rosalie
Juliette

Funny how you have Violet but Juliette. In French we also have Violette, but it's pronouned more like vee-olet.

Not too much into long names personally, but I do like Juliette. Since you have Aurelia, you may also wish to consider Aurora or Amelia.

Thanks all

DH actually works with children (which makes choosing names a bloody nightmare) but as I mentioned, different name popularities up here too! Annabelle for example is number 139 on the Scottish girls list for last year whilst Annabel is 220 and there were only 55 combined last year!

DH currently prefers Beatrice...no beer sound in our accent but I have heard it said that way.

Favourite on your list would be Eleanor and Marrissa

Other suggestions:

Eloise
Matilda
Clarrissa
Karina
Roseanna
Lydia
Olivia
Florence
Isobel
Clara
Georgina
Amelie

Good luck!

p.s. I was working through the ONS spreadsheet (looking for divine inspiration) and just selecting names I liked so with spellings chances are that the one on my list is just the more popular version as it's the one I would have hit first.

I like Josephine, Claudia, Genevieve and Cecilia best.

How about Susanna(h) or Louisa?

Some great names there!

ELEANOR - Don't love it but a solid name.
PENELOPE - Like it.
VIOLET - Like it.
ANNABELLE - Don't really like Annabel/Annabelle and prefer the less fussy spelling.
ARABELLA - Lovely but popular
BEATRICE - I prefer Beatrix
ANASTASIA - Love it
MADELEINE - Meh. Maddy. Blah.
JOSEPHINE - Love it
AURELIA - Love it
ROSALIE - it's ok. Bit old fashioned.
PHILIPPA - I imagine someone middle aged.
CLAUDIA - As for Rosalie.
MARGARET - No.
VIVIENNE - as for Rosalie.
GENEVIEVE - Love it. Just don't abbreviate to "Gen".
JULIETTE - it's ok.
CECILIA - as for Rosalie.
VERONICA - No! Awful.
ROSALIND - it's ok.
PERSEPHONE - LOVE!
SERAPHINA - LOVE!
MARISSA - Like it.

Based on the above have you considered Araminta? Serena? Cressida?

We actually considered Susannah - but the Susan who the middle name is after is actually still very much alive and a close family member who goes by Sue, Suzie and Suze so we thought there would be too much overlap

Would you believe we actually have an Araminta in the family already? There's quite a few names I like knocked out due to family and close friends. Off the top of my head these are names we can't use but like: Araminta, Amelia (although it's super common here too), Ariadne, Antonia, Catherine, Elizabeth, Elspeth, Eloise, Felicity, Georgina, Isobel/Isabella and variants, Marianna, Olivia, Ophelia...

In order, I like:
ROSALIND
JOSEPHINE
MARGARET
BEATRICE
ELEANOR
MADELEINE
CECILIA
PENELOPE
VIOLET
ARABELLA
PHILIPPA
CLAUDIA
VIVIENNE
GENEVIEVE
JULIETTE (though I like this MUCH better if spelled Juliet)
VERONICA
ANNABELLE (prefer Annabel)
ANASTASIA
AURELIA
ROSALIE
MARISSA
SERAPHINA
PERSEPHONE

really like AURELIA unusual pretty and easy to say

The more I think about it, the more I like Margaret. So many great options - Meg, Mags, Maggie, Daisy, Greta. Plus it always sounds perfect in a Scottish accent to me.

We have quite similar taste in names.
I love Genevieve. Its my favourite on your list and goes well with Alexandra imo. I also really like Violet, Aurelia and Rosalie as well. They are all lovely. X

Out of your list my favourite is Eleanor. What about Camilla? Also Scottish and I've never met a Camilla but I really love it.

Love Beatrice.

Georgina
Philippa
Harriet
Esther
Rebecca

In general I really like your list, many are on mine (Claudia, Aurelia, Philippa, Juliette, Violet) the rest I'm not keen on at all. Other names we've considered are

Lydia
Francesca
Astrid
Marcella
Xanthe
Lorna

This is helpful! It's really difficult when DD1 was very easy to name IYSWIM?

We have a Camilla in the family too; our families are from very different backgrounds and it makes for some interesting naming issues. Margaret is growing on me too but I think one side would love it and the other would loathe it. And probably for exactly the same reason (Thatcher!)

DH is a nightmare, as soon as we find a name we both kind of like he things that's it, we're done! Makes no bloody suggestions either, but picks so many holes. He's not normally this nippy!

What a fabulous list OP !
I love the middle name Susan.
Eleanor Susan
Josephine Susan
Rosalie Susan
Aurelia Susan

It's nearly 40 years since Margaret Thatcher became PM. I really think it's okay to use the name!

I like Claudia and Juliette

Beatrice Susan

ELEANOR - not keen
PENELOPE - goes with Alexandra in terms of length. the Pennys I know are lovely but I don't love the name. it's ok.
VIOLET - no. Vile-it, Violent.
ANNABELLE - drop the last LE and it's ok. Alexandra and Annabel a bit matchy.
ARABELLA - pretty but I don't like Bella. A bit matchy.
BEATRICE - Beer-triss
ANASTASIA - no.
MADELEINE - nice but I don't like Maddy
JOSEPHINE - ok
AURELIA - no
ROSALIE - prefer Rosalind. Not keen
PHILIPPA - like
CLAUDIA - ok but others won't
MARGARET - nice. Like Margaretta too. nn Greta?
VIVIENNE - prefer Vivien. Will get spelt Vivian and said as Vivvy-Enne.
GENEVIEVE - not keen
JULIETTE -no. Juliet is MUCH nicer
CECILIA - not keen
VERONICA - like but will get nn Ronnie or Vera
ROSALIND - Lovely
PERSEPHONE - try hard?
SERAPHINA - no
MARISSA - like

Rosalind. Beautiful, pretty meaning, Ros, Rose, Rosa, Rosie, Lindy as poss. nns. all nice

I like Georgina from your list.
I would not go for another name starting with A but would probably go for a long name.
Victoria could be Vita or Tori as a nn.
Diana?

Juliet is lovely