Thoughts on Girl name shortlist

[Jessabean]

Me and my OH are expecting a little girl (our first child) in April and have been working on a shortlist of names with two current forerunners but we both decided not to talk to friends and family about names until after the birth and we've decided between ourselves. I agreed as don't want to feel like we couldn't choose a name we wanted because eg a family member said they didn't like it but equally struggling with not being able to bounce our ideas off people. So wondering if I can get some feedback on here.

Current forenames we're considering are:

Evelyn (Evie or Eve for short)
Josephine (Josie or Jo for short)

Others include:
Eliza
Elizabeth (Lizzie for short)
Alice (Ally for short)
Harriet (Hattie for short)
Sophie

As you can probably tell quite keen on the whole idea of being able to have shortened nicknames with a longer formal name!

Middle names we were thinking of were any of the above as well.

Also just wondering on what thoughts are on your child having the same initials as both parents? Both me and my OH have names beginning with J- main thing putting us off Josephine at the mo in case it's a bit Kardashian and cliche/whether we'll feel inclined to call subsequent children something beginning with J so they don't feel left out!

Thoughts much appreciated!

Alice Elizabeth is lovely.

I love Josephine, but the initial thing would put me off.

I like them all, except Evelyn but only because there are 3 in dds nursery class and it's a bit much!

This isn't helpful but I love all those choices. They are lovely and classic and your daughter will have options with what she's known as in adulthood. I think I lean to josephine

There are so fucking many Evelyn/Evie's around rn.

All the others are lovely! Particularly Alice imho.

Love all of these, especially Josephine.

Hattie Jo is sweet.

I love Eliza. Nothing else really jumping out at me I'm afraid. Eliza is unusual enough to be interesting but not too 'out there' and is a lovely name in itself.

Evelyn and Eliza are lovely but SO common at the moment! Pretty much every baby girl born in my town seems to be called one of these! Elizabeth is also very popular at the moment but I think it's better as it has more choice re shortenings. I'd go for Elizabeth or Harriet x

please, no more Eve/Evies/Evelyns.

I love all those names, especially Josephine.

I like Josephine Harriet.

I don't think the initials thing would bother me.

I have the same initials as my mother did. It has never caused any problem other than very recently as she passed away and I am dealing with lots of post - never sure if it for me or her whether to dread it as sad (ie from someone who didn’t know she had died) or not etc. Also Have to be very careful in ohinebthey know which ‘AB’ has died and which is still alive. Seems to confuse some customer service bods.
When we were both alive no problem at all

Congratulations by the way. I like all of your names. Evelyn does seem very very popular on mn and irl.

Josephine is my favourite girls name (although not DH’s). I wouldn’t worry about the initials - DH, DC2 and I are all eg XY Surname. DC1 has completely different initials!! It’s been 7 years. No one has ever noticed. The dc have, but really don’t care.

I think they are all pretty. My favourites are Josephine, Alice and Harriet (love Hattie!) My least favourite is Evelyn just because I know two babies and a toddler called that.. i think it's just everywhere at the moment.

Alice Elizabeth.
Definitely not Josephine, awful name, imagine her as a teenager? She will never want anyone to know her real name!

Thank you for all the replies & the congratulations. Am finding it all very useful!

Interesting to hear just how common Evie/Evelyn seems to be at the mo - you read statistics and see that a name is in the top 20 or 30 but is good to hear how that translates to just how many babies in the same nursery with the same name though. Had a feeling that might be the case though is a shame though as do like the name.

If I'm honest think my hearts mostly with Josephine at the moment. Initial thing seem to bother my OH more than me so will maybe see if I can bring him round on it over the next few months!

Saying that still don't think will completely rule out other options either as do quite like them all really.

What MrsDaisy said about Josephine.

Love Eliza.

Initial thing will be a pain when they’re teens and getting their own post etc

I don't think having a J name is a problem, as long as you don't then also use a J name for a second child. Josephine has so many good short forms I can see the appeal of it! I love the nn Posy, but also really like the simple Jo.

As has been said, Evelyn/Evie is very popular if that bothers you. It's more that Evelyn, Eve, Evie and Eva are all in the top 100 names where I live, so added together that (plus some Evangelines and Genevieves called Evie) makes an awful lot of Eve/Evies around.

I love Eliza, Harriet, Alice and Sophie, and like Elizabeth/Lizzie too. I'm not so keen on Ally or Hattie, so my final choice would end up depending which short form you are using. I like them more than Evelyn though, which is my least preferred name on your list.

Evelyn (Evie or Eve for short) - No. I don't like Evelyn whether you say it Eve-lyn or Ever-lyn. Eve and Evie both lovely but way too popular.
Josephine (Josie or Jo for short) - I like it but Sephy is awful. Little Women name.

Others include:
Eliza - nice
Elizabeth (Lizzie for short) - Lovely
Alice (Ally for short) - yes, will be Al not Ally.
Harriet (Hattie for short)-yes, bit popular
Sophie-yes, lots of Sophias and Sofias around. Will be Soph.

Evelyn and all the other Eva, Ava names are very overused.

Josephine is lovely.

I like Josephine Alice.

I have an Eliza so I am biased .

Love Josephine - another nickname option is Posy/Posey if you’re bothered about the ‘j’ thing, though I wouldn’t be. It’s a beautiful name.

I'd definitely make sure she has her own first initial at the very lease it will save any confusion with the post. Plus your right it is a little cliche. What about Addie short for Adeline or Adela?