Ianthe, Cicely, Apolline, Paloma, Salome...

[Messalena]

Thoughts please on these names for a girl?

Yes why doesn’t OP line up Madison, Harper, Ella-Grace and Lily-Mae like everyone else.

Dwangela, I'm also curious what names you like?

I like Cecilia more than Cicely
Paloma is my favourite from your list

Also like Cecile

Enjoying Tam's descriptions!

I like Cicely best. Or Pandora as suggested above.

These names are better than the usual Lily/Evie/Isabelle/Isla/Ada lists we see.

Or Araminta.

Tam but we won’t be using a whole swathe of them, just the one.

No, I know that OP, of course. I’m just ribbing you.

How would you pronounce Cicely, OP?

Sis-uh-lee

Things you'll only read on Mumsnet "I think Iseult is a bit pedestrian these days compared to your other names"



Key part of that sentence being "compared to your other names" which you ignore nicely I see.

Anyway OP the world can do without another Izzy.
Now that a pp has suggested Xanthe I think I'm Team Xanthe.

I didn't ignore it, it's very much included in the quote 

I'm fully embedded in the Home Counties/London bubble and haven't met one Iseult. I think a PP said there had been 11 children given that name in recent years....

I am regretting only thinking of Iolanthe years too late ! It's beautiful and would really suit my dd aged 9...

Anyway...back to the thread.

My vote is Ianthe.

I've even added it to my own list though I'm not sure it really goes with our surnames which are very solid, quite dull sounding and double barrelled (horrible clash of sounds with the solid/dull part but with the double barrelling makes it sound awful some how).

Ah well, MN can be reached outside the home counties. I am not from the UK and work with a lot of kids who would have been born abroad. So knowing a couple of Iseults may be unique to my particular situation.

And it is pedestrian compared to Apolline or Ianthe imo. Certainly so when it morphs into Izzy.

I like Xanthe but think I prefer Ianthe. Iolanthe not so much. I also like Athene and Ariadne but a friend has an Arrietty so don’t feel I can use the latter.

Thanks for all the input!

I like Cicely. What about Evadne? Evvy or Addy for short?

“Apolline just sounds like Pauline with a funny accent...”

Oh, yes. Where I come from it would sound like “our Pauline “

Apolline is beautiful and sounds nothing like Our Pauline

I like Antigone! I know a baby Antigone actually, it's a lovely name. And I like Pandora too.

I quite like Appoline. Cicely is also lovely.
However is it siss-ily or s-see-lee

I met a toddler Ianthe at baby ballet class (naturally ). It’s a lovely name.

I went to school with an Antigone. I love it. Also went to school with a Portia and an Athena. This paints an inaccurate portrait the sort of school I went to

None of them are my taste at all, they’re the kind of try-hard names that thankfully I only ever hear on MN!