Opinions on these unusual names please

[toastofthetown]

I have finally managed to put together a shortlist of names with DP. We both grew up with very popular names, one of several in the class, so we want something more unusual for our children. Middle name will likely be Alexandra/Alexander, unless it clashes terribly. What do you think and do you have any other suggestions? Please be as honest as possible!

Cordelia
Electra
Elinor
Fern
Flora
Gretel
Harriet
Hebe
Hester
Isobel
Kitty
Miranda
Pepper
Petra
Polly
Xanthe

Ambrose
Angus
Barnaby
Bertram
Caspar
Cosmo
Duncan
Felix
Giles
Leon
Melchior
Miles
Monty
Oswald
Timothy
Vincent
Wilfred
Wulfric

Polydora is awful - it's a worm.
Alienor? Is it just me who sees Alien?

Cordelia - fine
Electra - awful
Elinor - fine
Fern - ok
Flora - fine
Gretel - awful
Harriet - fine
Hebe - awful
Hester - fine
Isobel - fine
Kitty - awful by itself, fine as a nickname for Catherine in case she doesn't want to be 'Kitty' as an adult
Miranda - awful
Pepper - horrendous
Petra - fine
Polly - I personally hate it, but nothing fundamentally wrong with it
Xanthe - awful, far too try-hard

Ambrose - awful. Custard.
Angus - fine
Barnaby - awful
Bertram - awful
Caspar - fine
Cosmo - horrendous. How will he ever get people to take him seriously with a name like that? You're naming a person & future adult, not a teddy bear.
Duncan - fine
Felix - lovely
Giles - not my taste, but fine
Leon - fine
Melchior - you must be joking, surely?
Miles - again, not my taste, but fine
Monty - I don't like it, but it's not as bad as Cosmo/Melchior
Oswald - Oswald Mosely, most notorious British fascist.
Timothy - lovely
Vincent - don't like it personally
Wilfred - fine
Wulfric - too try-hard

Love polly and xanthe

@FizzyGreenWater my eldest DD (18.5yr old) is called Xanthe Alexandra 🤣

Cordelia - like it v much
Electra - porn star name
Elinor - dull and dutiful name like Hannah, Martha etc
Fern - I like it, and love ferns
Flora - a bit frilly
Gretel - a bit house made of sweets
Harriet - like it
Hebe - I think there would be a lot of “no, Hebe, not Phoebe”
Hester - I prefer Esther
Isobel - v popular
Kitty - I like it a lot
Miranda - Love it
Pepper - no
Petra - a bit canine
Polly - like it a lot
Xanthe - Love it

Ambrose - wet
Angus - like it, love Gus
Barnaby - like it
Bertram - pompous, red trousers
Caspar - I know a few, is it on the rise?
Cosmo - more red trouser, prefer Jago
Duncan - not due a revival
Felix - chinless twerp
Giles - like it
Leon - like it a lot
Melchior - what did he bring again?
Miles - like it
Monty - the red trouser force is strong with this one
Oswald - too avian
Timothy - like it
Vincent - old man chic, not for me
Wilfred - only like Wilf
Wulfric - all a bit lady of the lake

I like them all, apart from Pepper.

I have a newborn Polly. Very rarely heard of these days & the response has always been positive. Lovely to read that lots of you like it as I've never seen it been asked about on here (I always browse here but never posted as it was always gonna be our baby girl name)

My daughter is a Harriet. I only know of 1 other toddler Harriet and it was outside the top 50 last year so it isn't popular as such but probably one of the most well-known names on your list. I love Hattie too but my daughter just isn't a 'Hattie' at all!

My favourites:

Flora, Kitty, Miranda, Polly

Angus, Caspar, Giles, Miles

Suggestions:

Lucinda or Tessa?

Alastair or Rupert?

Obviously not Alastair with middle name Alexander!

Really like Cordelia and Flora; Barnaby and Miles.

Cordelia ok
Electra awful
Elinor. Nice but prefer the spelling Eleanor
Fern. Love
Flora. No
Gretel. No (I like Greta)
Harriet. Like
Hebe. Love
Hester. No
Isobel. Love
Kitty only if it’s short for Katherine
Miranda. Ok
Pepper. Awful
Petra. Love
Polly. No
Xanthe. Ok

Ambrose. No
Angus. Love
Barnaby. Love (my favourite)
Bertram. No
Caspar. Ok
Cosmo. No
Duncan. Awful
Felix. No
Giles. No
Leon. No
Melchior. No
Miles. Ok
Monty. Ok
Oswald. Ok
Timothy. No
Vincent. Like
Wilfred. Like
Wulfric. No

I would go for Petra or Barnaby.

I really like Hester, Hebe and Harriet for girls and Felix, Giles and Barnaby for a boy.

Also, there is so much greater variety in names these days that it is very unlikely for any child to end up in a class with half a dozen of the same name. One or two, maybe.

For a girl I like Kitty, Hebe and Polly
For a boy I love Felix and Monty and also quite like Caspar

Please please please don't call your child Melchior, Oswald or Wulfric. Gretel, Pepper and Electra are almost as bad. The poor innocent child!

I like most of the girls’ names, with the exception of Fern, Gretel (I prefer Greta), Electra and Harriet (I’ve never known a nice one!).
My favourites are Miranda, Flora and Elinor.

Your boys’ names are certainly varied. I love Angus, Caspar, Felix and Barnaby. Strangely, I also like Wulfric, which is certainly unusual but would suit a cool, confident type ... not so much a shy, retiring one.
The names I really dislike from your list are Ambrose, Bertram, Leon and Oswald.

@poorolddaddypig are you thinking of Carmen Electra (ex Baywatch?)

Have never heard of Hebe (Heeb? Heebie?) Its awful. As is Hester. And if you want Elinor, why not spell it properly? I agree that quite alot of names are not at all unusual (varieties of Isobel, Kitty, Hattie (for Harriet) and Polly). Quite a few of them say "try hard" rather than "different". Pepper is horrendous, and dont like Gretel either.

I wouldnt know where to start on the boys names. Quite a few are really bizarre. Melchior or Wulfric?! Your child will be halfway through school before they can write their own name and you're setting them up for a lifetime of "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" and "how are you spelling that?"

Elinor is an old alternative version of the name - perfectly correct. Jane Austen uses that spelling in Sense and Sensibility.