Rosa or Eva or....? And is Arthur too common?

[IslayBrigid]

Hi all. I'm still early on in my pregnancy so don't yet know the sex. However, I can't stop thinking about names!

I have done lots of research and keep coming back to Rosa. Classic but a little bit unusual. My DP likes it but doesn't LOVE it. He really likes Eva and Aria. I used to love Eva but it is just so common now (is that right?)

If it's a boy, we both love Arthur and we are pretty set on it. But again, is this getting too common?

For girls it's still a bit difficult and luckily we have many more months still to think about it haha. But my faves so far are:

Rosa - as I said, my current fave
Eva - love it, but too common?
Elba - love it, but a bit like elbow?
Lyra - always loved it, big fan of HDM but not a huge fan of recent BBC show

For middle names I'm thinking:
Sophia (my middle name)
Vivienne (grandma's name)
Alexandra
Iris
Freya
Isadora (DH doesn't like this though)

The last name ends in an 'eey' sound so I'm not really keen on names like Emily, Lily, Ottilliee etc as don't want it to be too matchy. It's also going to be double barrel so four syllables (gulp!)

Any thoughts? Any other beautiful unsusual, classic names you could add to my list?

Thank you!

Oh sorry, I should have included on the list for girl's names:

More possible first names:

Aurora
Aria
Dahlia
Nina
Vera

More possible middle names:
Pearl
Junia

Rosa is beautiful. Eva is becoming more common, as is Arthur. Saying that I also know 2 Rosa’s.

I really like Lyra and Rosa.

How about:
Thea
Zara
Allegra
Sasha
Colette
Clara
Ophelia
Lois
Tara
Faye
Fleur
Orla
Xena
Cassia
Una
Willa
Etta
Maeve
Anya
Nora
Sylvia
Celia
Della

I like Arthur, but you’re right - there seem to be lots of little Arthurs these days.
How about:
Alistair
Xander
Asa
Casper
Xavier

I really like Rosa. I think it goes well with most of your middle names.

Please strike Vera & Nina off your list! No! No! No!

Rosa is beautiful & the only one I know is an adult.

I haven’t heard of Elba as a name. But I do get your point that in some accents it will be pronounced the same as elbow.

Arthur I feel the same as you. I love it but there are lots ATM. However, my DSs both had top 5 names at the time they were born - purely because DH & I couldn’t agree on any others at all! DS1 was the only one with his name in his year at both primary & secondary school. DS2 was one of two at primary, and 4 at secondary (in a year of 180 pupils). Both are adults now & neither feels their name held them back.

I don't think Eva is that common. I hear lots of Evies and Ava's but rarely Eva. I love it by the way.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts so far! Nice to see people like Eva and Rosa which are most probably the forerunners.

@CoffeeRunner Haha how come you don't like Nina and Vera? Any specific reason? They aren't my favourites so probably won't get the winning spot ;)
@Ricekrispie22 Thank you for the list of names! Quite a lot of them are on my longer list :) I really like Willa but can't use it for various reasons. Maeve I love, it could be a middle name. Orla has a beautiful meaning (golden princess). Also for boys - Alistair is great! Thanks :) x

Nina is the sound a police car makes. One of the ugliest most distressing sounds possible.

Vera is Vera Duckworth. Or one of the “old lady” names that should definitely be kept in the past.

I think Eva (or Eve / Evie) is much more common than Arthur. I like Rosa and Lyra from your girls' names.

I love Junia! Never heard it before but it's really pretty.

I think Rosa Eva Aria and Aurora are all gorgeous - really lovely. Shame you can’t use Willa, I love that too.
Other suggestions for girls:

Sadie
Edith nickname Edie
Imogen
Margaret nickname Maggie or Peggy
Roxanne/Roxanna nickname Roxy
Pearl
Clementine nickname Clemmie
Delilah
Ottilie nickname Ottilie
Cora
Eliza
Jemima
Holly
Cleo
Mabel

OP I think we have similar taste; Eva, Nina, Rosa, Iris, Alexandra are all favourites of mine.

My DD is called Eva - it's often said on MN that it's very popular but we don't know any others at her school, among friends or at her hobby group which has kids from all over our region.

If I had another DD not likely, too old and enough kids already Nina and Rosa would be on the shortlist with Iris or Daisy as the middle name.

Rosa - Rose, Rosalind, Rosamund, Roisin, Rosalie, Rochelle, Rachelle, Rachel, Rose, Rosie

Eva - Aoife (Irish for Eva), Evangeline, Evelyn, Evan

Elba - is this meant to be Alba?

Lyra - Lucy, Lyric, Louise, Larissa, Aria, Luciana, Lucretia, Lilac, Lila, Leila/Layla, Lily

I personally really love Arthur - such a great strong name with a lot of history

Some alternative boy name suggestions:

Ones with good nicknames:

Christopher nn Kit
Wilf(red)
Barnaby
Nathan/Nathaniel nn Nate
Rafferty / Raffy
Sidney

Other ideas:

Eli
Ellis
Miles / Milo
Seth
Cole
Otis
Eric
Casper
Rudy/Rudi
Dexter
Blake
Angus
Dominic
Idris
Percy
Chester
Caleb

Rosa and Eva are both lovely and not too popular at all. I know a little Nina and think it's gorgeous - police cars don't make that sound anymore anyway. The baby name wizard named her daughter Nina! But then again, I also like Vera!

Thanks everyone! Good to know Eva doesnt seem too common. I still love Arthur the most so I don't think I'm going to care really that it is getting more common.

@Naughtysausage - yes Junia is pretty right! A bit like Juno... think it means the same thing.

I like Nathaniel @Whatsyourflava very nice :) It is my sister's partner's name though ... or maybe he is Nathan actually. Goes by Nate.

@El2020 I like Alba too, but Elba is an island in the Adriatic sea, so am thinking Elba as like it with the "e" spelling a bit more. But I'm not sure if we will go with this one anyway! I guess Alba gets rid of the elbow connotations haha.

My newest name combo ideas (thinking maybe two middle names ... ):

Rosa Sophia Vivienne
Rosa Vivienne Freya
Eva Rosa
Eva Lyra Alexandra
Eva Freya Juno
Rosa Lyra Pearl
Rosa Alexandra

Arthur Julian
Arthur Nathaniel
Nathaniel Forrest
Arthur Alisdair / Alistair

What do people think of Dahlia/Delilah?? xx

Never personally met a Rosa, lots of Rose’s and Rosie’s but never a Rosa. Eva is definitely common, it has been for the past decade. Arthur is becoming more common but it’s a classic, I don’t think it will ever go out of fashion like James or William.

Not RTFT.

Rosa - like it a lot
Eva - dislike it and it's overused.
Elba - Napoleon association, Idris association, and it does sound like elbow. No.
Lyra - don't like it

Rosa Sophia is the nicest combination.

Not keen on Arthur. Too popular.

Absolutely love Delilah! @IslayBrigid
Arthur is also one of my favourite boy names