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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Traditional or Unique??

35 replies

Yozza · 05/01/2019 00:09

We are expecting our first baby in March and are undecided as to whether we go with a fairly traditional name or to maybe have something quite unique. We currently have 3 lists:

Girls:
Sofia
Eleanor
Eloise
Willow
Elise
Alannah

Boys:
Chester
Arlo
Finn

Unisex:
Marley (boy)
Marlee (girl)

Suggestions and opinions are most welcome...

OP posts:
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IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 05/01/2019 00:15

Love the first two lists - especially Willow (so pretty) and Arlo but to me Marley will always be a yellow labrador.

MissLanesAmericanCousin · 05/01/2019 00:19

Sofia and Finn.

Chester is the least liked, because there was a boy in my class named that, and they called him Chester the Molester" Since then, it has always creeped me out.

Congratulations, btw and good luck! Flowers

KylieJennersTopLip · 05/01/2019 00:28

How is alannah pronounced?

Rodenhide · 05/01/2019 00:31

I like Sofia, Eleanor and, to an extent Eloise.
I quite like Finn/Finley as a boy's name but not the others, sorry. Not keen on unisex names in general.

Butterflycookie · 05/01/2019 00:33

I like alannah..

ReaganSomerset · 05/01/2019 00:37

Agree, Marley is either a yellow labrador or an excellent reggae singer.

Yozza · 05/01/2019 00:39

We pronounce Alannah as (AL-AR-NA) appreciate there are a few ways of spelling the name 🤔

OP posts:
MsTSwift · 05/01/2019 00:41

Marley is a dogs name. The others are fine though irrationally dislike Elouise as it sounds whiny.

SleepWarrior · 05/01/2019 00:43

I really like Eloise, Alanna, Finn, and Arlo.

I really dislike Willow, Chester and Marley/Marlee.

The others are neutral.

Coldtoes28 · 05/01/2019 00:45

Girls:
Sofia - no more Sofia's please!! So many around at the moment
Eleanor - lovely
Eloise - also lovely
Willow - pretty but very 'of the momemt'
Elise - gorgeous!!!! My favourite
Alannah - a little dated

Boys:
Chester - dislike
Arlo - a bit 'of the moment' and will date
Finn - nice but every baby boy is called Finn or Finley at the moment, I know if 3 born in the past two months alone!

Unisex:
Marley (boy) - no
Marlee (girl) - no

Coldtoes28 · 05/01/2019 00:46

What about Elodie or Ezra?

Shadow1234 · 05/01/2019 00:51

Alannah and Willow from your girls list
Finn from your boys list

MitziK · 05/01/2019 01:03

Eloise (should rightly be Heloise plus an umlaut but I can't find the keyboard shortcut for that ) - nice name, especially if you like the song by The Damned.

Eleanor - I like a lot (with an aside that she'll probably be nicknamed Nora rather than Ellie because there will be tons of them in the class already - unless she gets stuck with Soapy because of the similarity to Lenor softener)

Elise - nowt wrong with it. Especially if she grows up playing piano. And doesn't mind saying 'it's Elise with ONE L, not two' all the time.

The other girl's names are going to be found in multiples in every class. There will be enough Willows in some areas to have a whole fucking forest of them.

NOBODY will pronounce Alannah correctly. Ever.

Chester. No. Molester is the most likely in high school, Chesty would be the best case scenario. Tits is also a possibility (sorry, Chester from London, I sympathised, but part of my second name rhymed with Fuck, so you were on your own, mate).

Arlo. Don't see anything wrong with it.
Finn. Common, but not that bad. Unless it's because you're a fan of Sharknado.

Marley/Marlee. Dear Lord, no. There are hundreds of them - blonde girls that remind me of dead dogs and Jennifer Aniston and boys whose Mums wanted to honour their father's ancestry/love for a big fat spliff or wanted to come across as really right on/woke/not a boring stockbroker's daughter when they got knocked up at the Reading Festival just before they graduated with a third.

LipstickHandbagCoffee · 05/01/2019 01:17

We pronounce Alannah as (AL-AR-NA) Fine,but not everyone will,just sayin..
I’d say ah-lah-nah. Soft pronunciation
If you want AL-AR-NA Chose Alarna

mathanxiety · 05/01/2019 01:25

The R in there is pronounced 'ah' by non rhotic speakers.

For rhotic speakers it's Al-ahn-a.

From the lists I like
Sofia
Alannah
Marlee

Arlo

How about Marlow or Marlowe instead of Marley or even Marlee?

Would you consider Arno or Enzo or Ezra?

Astronica · 05/01/2019 03:58

I love Eleanor and Finn, which stand out for me above all your other names. Most of the others are ok, but I really dislike Marley/Marlee.

Alannah/Alanna/Alanah/Alana is a fairly popular name in Australia from the 1980s and 90s. I've come across all spellings pronounced in 2 different ways - middle syllable 'ar' as in car, or 'a' as in cat. There seem to be 'ar' states eg NSW and 'a' states eg Tasmania.

Jessabean · 05/01/2019 07:27

Congratulations! I like all your girl names really but favourites are in order:
Elise
Eloise
Eleanor
Alannah (I prefer spelt Alana though don't know why)

Boys name wise I like Finn followed with Arlo (though not hugely keen as is a bit of a pet name to me- likewise not keen on Marley/Marlee).

MarchInHappiness · 05/01/2019 08:07

Girls:
Sofia - is a nice name but Sophie / Sofia / Sophia etc I know heaps.
Eleanor - I am not keen, probably unpopular on MN but I prefer Ellie.
Eloise - I really like this.
Willow - Nice but it screams 2010s
Elise - Definitely my favourite, not popular, not dated and I think it is beautiful
Alannah - I am indifferent about this

Boys:
Chester - awful, Chester Zoo!
Arlo - again screams 2010s but I do like it.
Finn - I like a lot - easy to pronounce / spell and not overly popular

Marley / Marlee is just terrible

SnuggyBuggy · 05/01/2019 08:10

Generally traditional names are better. There are few unique names that will catch on.

howonearthdoyoucopewith3 · 05/01/2019 08:18

Are these the traditional or unique names? None of these are unique names, in fact arlo, finn etc are v common at school. Whereas I don't think this is a single John or Richard! Best to be traditional as the name won't date. In 20 years time having a name like willow or arlo will be the equivalent of being chloe or denise from all the girls born in the 80s. They are all nice names and I like your choices, but they are not unusual.

EloisaJane · 05/01/2019 09:04

I love your girl name choices.
Eloise and Willow are my favourites. I also like Alannah nn Lani, not heard of much these days.
Sofia is lovely but just too popular, Eleanor is nice but Ellie's are everywhere and it has become boring.
I'm not keen on Arlo as it's too trendy. Chester is quite nice and Finn is very popular when you include all the Finleys too.

SoyDora · 05/01/2019 09:08

Which of those names do you consider ‘unique’? Bar ‘Marlee’ I know at least 2 of each of those (under 6).
There are three alannah’s at DD1’s (small) school. As far as I know, no pronounciation issues.
My favourite is Elise I think. And Finn from the boys. Really dislike Marlee.

Belindabauer · 05/01/2019 15:53

I don't like Marley.
I pronounce Alhanna Al-ar-na.
I like Eloise and Eleanor.
Finn is nicer than Arlo.

SqutternutBoshh · 05/01/2019 16:22

Marley spelt this was for a boy or girl us my favorite!

Mr and my OH almost called our daughter Marley but I don't like Marl or Marls so we didn't in the end.

Ignore the dog comments.

SqutternutBoshh · 05/01/2019 16:23

Oh and MN hated Marley when I had it on my short list but everyone I spoke to about it in real life loved it!