Girls name-what do they make you think of?

[Firsttimemother30]

Hello, myself and my husband found out we are having a girl today. We are very excited and have narrowed it down to three names. We will probably wait until we see her but looking for others opinions but reluctant to share with family. The names are:
Hettie
Effie
Pearl
What kind of name would you class each name as? What do they remind you of? We are aware of the Hettie is a hoover and Effie could be made to sound like a swear word type comments, but these aren’t strong enough factors to put us off. Surname begins with L and is fairly commonplace.

I love Henrietta and Hettie as a nn! Definitely the best option.

Pearl is not to my taste really... I can’t put my finger on why, except that it makes me think of a string of pearls, or a pearl earring first and the name second. Also, if I think about the sound of it too much it loses all meaning and sounds like a made up sound; like “beep” or “meh”. It is also a bit Golden Girls somehow, whereas Hettie manages to be old fashioned but also cool, rather than a bit dated.

Effie I would like, except for the Skins connection. Also, not keen on Euphemia, which is what it is apparently short for.

I love Euphemia!
But I think Hettie and Effie are both nicknames not full names imo
Is Hettie short for Henrietta?

I really love Pearl, it was on our list

I honestly don't like any of them. I like Pearl best, but not very much.

Sweet but sound like nicknames. I know someone who used Josephine for the birth certificate of Effie.

I couldn’t get over ‘pearl necklace’ to even consider that name but I think it’s quite nice
Hettie is lovely but I’d probably go Harriet or Henrietta on the birth certificate

You asked ‘what sort of parent’ do the names make me think of.....
Hettie - middle class
Effie - middle class
Pearl - not sure - classless (as in it doesn’t spring a particular demographic to me)
Not sure if this is good or bad for what you’re aiming for?

I’d be careful asking for lots of opinions though because I ended up miserable by the time I needed to name my daughter because I’d been convinced every single name was awful for one reason or another - no matter what you pick someone will hate it with a passion.

I think Effie is sweet as a nickname for Josephine Stefania Elizabeth Delphine or alternatively as a nickname for two names you like that make it a natural nickname - examples:
Edith Phoebe
Eliza Felicity

Hettie is my favourite from your list - it’s really pretty but still strong. A friend has a Hetty with that being the full name & I can’t see a problem with that. But Harriet or similar make great full names too. An unusual one that could easily be Hettie would be Hester. Again you could make your own combo:
Helena Rosetta
Hannah Juliette
it’s good to get opinions so you can see the sorts of associations / reactions a name will get but someone will hate whatever you choose

We only had boys so I never got to use my girl names. Hetty was one of them. We now have a cat called Hetty, named after Hetty wainthropp because she was clever took no crap of anyone. The sort of girl I admire.
Hettie is a lovely name, as is pearl.

I would go for Effie as a shortening for Josephine, because Josephine is underused and quite beautiful.

Failing that, Harriet nn Hettie is nice.

My daughter is Effie and we love it. she's 3 and we have never had anyone say anything negative about it (not to our faces anyway!) and always get nice comments about it.
I think a few of the older members of the family where a bit unsure to start but it's grown on them and she really suits it.

With regards to it sounding nicknamey or cutesy, to be honest I didn't really see the point of giving her a name we would never use just for this reason, but we did give her a more 'serious' middle name which has actually turned out to be a really popular name! So if she hates it for any reason when she's older she can always choose to use that.

Effie is Effi Briest to me. (Spoiler: it didn't end well). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effi_Briest#Plot_summary

Hettie - bit of a non-name.
Pearl - best of the bunch IMO, but I'm still not keen.

How about Edith, or even the increasingly ubiquitous Evelyn (for Effie) or Harriet (for Hettie) on the birth cert? Then you still get the name you like but don't deny your dd the choice to have something more grown-up later on.

In terms of associations, Effie and Hettie are definitely upper or aspiring middle middle-class. Pearl's a bit harder to place - a child named for her great-grandmother maybe. They all fit into the hipster bracket, too.

Just to say I like your shortlist. Think Hettie and Effie are lovely little nn's & I love the 1920's/Agatha Christie WSJ name revival happening at the mo as think they're some lovely names that should be used more.
Think your right to drop pearl though - never been keen.

For me longer name options for BC for the two:
Hettie: Hester or Harriet. Saw you're not keen on Henrietta but also think is lovely. Really love the name Hester but my OH squashed it.
Effie: more that you can use as full name I think.
Josephine (name we've chosen for our little girl that's due though we'll probs use Josie as nn).
Seraphina
Ophelia
Elizabeth/Elspeth
Sephora
Persephone
Delphine
Basically anything with a th or ph in it!

Effie makes me automatically think of effing like swearing. i effing hate you which could be a problem if she goes to school
hetty makes me think of hetty feather which could be a positive thing if she goes to primary school because jacqueline wilson is very popular. theres a cbbc show of hetty feather which i think is this generations tracy beaker
pearl makes me think of a character in emmerdale who was elderly unfortunately.
my daughters are called rose and molly and i love their names. go with a name that you would happily say over and over and want your child to be honoured with. your choice. naming a human is a personal privilege and shouldn't be dictated by anyone else

Effie makes me think "heffalump" from Winnie the Pooh.
Hettie is quite cute, but I do think of Hettie Wainthrop, was it Patricia Routledge?
And Pearl, I like.

I love Effie but I would want it to be short for something... though not sure what! Maybe Stephanie?

A similar name is Essie. Which I also think is lovely. It can be short for Estelle and Esther. I prefer Estelle.

Hattie is nice but I would eat it to be short for Harriet.

Pearl... is awful. Nothing more to say.

Hettie is definitely best, I think its a very strong name. reminds me of Jacqueline Wilsons character hetty feather.
Effie is pretty but does just sound like a swear word to me.
Pearl is my least favourite, sounds wrinkly.

Effie reminds me of skins and I like it because of the attractive young man who played Effie's brother, can't remember his name.
Hettie reminds me of the book Hettie Feather.
Pearl reminds me of the song, Pearl's a singer.
I think Pearl might be due a come back.
I like Effie best.

They all sound like northern parlour maids.

Effie bring the coal scuttle.

Pearl is beautiful x

Pearl reminds me of a gay male couple I used to know who were called Pearl and Shirley. Very very camp . Lots of " I don't know who she is rolling her eyes at" .
Hettie and effie are victorian scullery maids. All chapped hands and chilblains.

I think they are all cute names and all very normal around my neck of the woods!