Shorten our long list

[Bamchic]

There are so many! How does anyone pick just one?
I need octuplets at least!

Dora,
Dotty,
Ada,
Ivy,
Zara,
Stevie,
Bobbie,
Grace,
Marnie,
Sasha,
Penelope,
Ottilie,
Mathilda,
Iris,
Sarah,
Coral,
Ruby,
April,
Tara,
Poppy,
Nellie,
Lottie,
Millie,
Martha,
Eva
Thea
Nancy
Theadora
Cerys
Vitoria
Catriona
Micheala
Mollie
Rainey
Phillipa/ Pippa

Dora, - ok. the Explorer
Dotty, - short for Dorothy - ok
Ada, - no
Ivy, - no
Zara, -shop
Stevie, - ok but Stevie Wonder
Bobbie, - not sure, Dazzler
Grace, - overused
Marnie, - Hitchcock film
Sasha, - nice
Penelope, -ok
Ottilie, - Otter
Mathilda, so many Matildas
Iris, - not sure
Sarah, - it was very popular in my age group
Coral, - no. Cora is ok
Ruby, - not sure
April, - not sure. Would you call a child February?
Tara, - ok
Poppy, - ok
Nellie, - Nell is nice.
Lottie, - ok, short for Charlotte
Millie, - there are loads of Millies and Tillys
Martha, - ok
Eva - no, too many Evas, Eves, Avas etc
Thea - Fea
Nancy - yes
Theadora - Theodora. No
Cerys - no. will need spelling. will get called Cerise.
Vitoria - Victoria. yes
Catriona - bit long
Micheala - Michaela. Not keen
Mollie. ok. Prefer Molly. V popular about 15 yrs ago
Rainey - only if your surname is Knight or Day
Phillipa/ Pippa -ok

Dora, the explorer
Dotty, old lady name
Ada, quite like it, v. Pesky blinders
Ivy, the holly and the
Zara, clothes shop
Stevie, fleetwood mac/boys name
Bobbie, boys name/nick name
Grace, love it
Marnie, nickname
Sasha, fierce - Beyoncé
Penelope, will be penny
Ottilie,
Mathilda, will be spelt Matilda and known as Tilly
Iris, old lady ish
Sarah, sooo many of them
Coral, hippy ish
Ruby, ruby ruby rubyyyy
April, showers bring May flowers
Tara, Reid or tpt
Poppy, little girl name
Nellie, the elephant
Lottie, yes but Charlotte as a proper name then risk Charlie
Millie, like it - popular nickname for Amelia
Martha, Scottish
Eva, 2geva 4eva
Thea, like it
Nancy Drew
Theodora - posh
Cerys- welsh
Vitoria - do you like sticky Vicki and tori?
Catriona - will be misspelled and nn of cat
Michaela - just Michael with an extra a on
Mollie - yes but molly
Rainey - hippy surname
Phillipa/ Pippa - Middleton

So grace is my favourite

@shpoot DPs nan is called Ottilie, I think it’s real.
I wasn’t a fan of Micheala or Philippa (dps choice, and can thankfully veto as I can’t spell them which is very embarrassing)

Go with Ruby. It's by far the nicest of the lot.

Also interesting that everyone has gone Roberta for Bobbie, we were thinking Robyn...

Iris, Poppy, Cerys, Ottilie, Martha

My top 5 from your choices:

Sasha
Iris
Coral
Thea
Molly

Bobbie and Robyn are the same length - so not sure why you'd use them for the same person.

My faves are:

Ivy
Grace
Marnie
Iris
Thea
Theadora

Mike it's the same with Sarah/Sadie, Henry/ Harry, Mary/Molly/Polly.

Yes, but I think that your examples are old names that were used by many in a family e.g. 2 sisters might each name dd1 after their mum, Sarah, but 1 might be called Sally and the other Sadie.
Robin is a diminutive of Robert, Robyn a different spelling to make it a girl's name. Bobbie is usually short for Roberta.
I quite like Robyn.

Great to see your shortlist. I've put the names in categories (which are only according to my tastes, of course).

A bit mothballed...

Dotty
Nellie
Rainey (would be slightly better as nickname for Lorraine, which is unfashionable but I quite like it)
Stevie (I like Stephanie though)
Mollie
Thea
Martha
Michaela
Dora

Graceful old-fashioned chic, I like these...

Ada
Grace
Ruby
April
Ivy
Marnie
Eva (Eve/Ava/Evie/Eva have been super-popular for a while though)
Millie as nickname for Amelia, Emilia, Millicent

Retro again but not "old lady", more 70s. I think these deserve a comeback...

Sarah (also Sara and Serena)
Victoria

Nature names (I like the following)

Ivy
April
Coral (Coralie is nice too)
Ruby (but maybe too popular)
Poppy

Harsh, clunky or unattractive...

Sasha
Ottilie
Mathilda
Iris

Cool 😎 ...

Zara
Tara
Robyn/Bobbie

Too twee...

Nancy
Lottie

"Sensible" names which are quite nice

Penelope
Theodora (and Dorothea!)
Philippa/Pippa

Random nice names starting with C...

Cerys (lovely name)

On the fence...

Catriona

Dora, no
Dotty, absolutely no
Ada, no
Ivy, no
Zara, yes
Stevie, no
Bobbie, no
Grace, yes
Marnie, no
Sasha, yes
Penelope, yes
Ottilie, yes
Mathilda, yes
Iris, yes
Sarah, yes
Coral, no
Ruby, yes
April, yes
Tara, yes
Poppy, no
Nellie, no
Lottie, no
Millie, no
Martha, yes
Eva no
Thea no
Nancy no
Theadora no
Cerys yes
Vitoria no
Catriona no
Micheala no
Mollie no
Rainey no
Phillipa/ Pippa no