Veto my extremely long shortlist

[Edenember]

Agnes
Alyse

Arrietty
Aurora
Beatrice
Betsey
Cecily
Clara
Daisy
Eliza
Eloisa
Erika
Eve
Flora
Florence
Francesca
Freyja
Harriet
Heidi
Honor
Indiana (Indie)
Ingrid
Iona
Isla / Eila
Isolde
Isotta
Louisa
Lucinda
Luna
Mary
Nancy
Nell
Ottilia
Pippa
Poppy
Romilly
Rowena / Rowenna
Sarah
Thebe
Theia
Tilda
Xanthie

Names that have already been knocked off- Aphra, Astrid, Autumn, Eleonora, Eseld, Iris, Ivy, Imogen, Norah, Tabitha, Evelyne, Zorah.

@notalwaysalondoner Yes Thebe is pronounced Thee-bee, like Hebe. One of the wackier ones 😂 but also one of the lesser used Greek mythological names. Sarah would only ever be a middle name. In fact a lot of these are shelved to middle name territory. List would be a lot shorter if only names considered for first names were on it. I think part of the reason I like Sarah as a middle name is just to confuse people 😂 a super common name after something more unusual... ‘is that after someone?’ ‘No I just like it’... ‘Eh?’ 😂😂😂

@SansaSnark very detailed and helpful, thankyou xXx

I like Beatrice, Clara, Florence, Eve and Isla

@Vintagegoth Thankyou but I’m certainly not going to scrap everything except those 2, however it would really help to narrow it down somewhat. Love Iona but my concern would be about potential future surname calamities to negotiate - Iona Carr? Iona Kitchin?? Probs loads more funny ones I can’t think of immediately 😂

Agnes -old lady, droopy tights
Alyse - nope (lice or don't use it)
Arrietty - nope
Aurora - nope (salad is my first thought)
Beatrice - nope (a MNers daughter who was sick & died, to me it is and always will be, her name)
Betsey - Betsy no E - kind of cute
Cecily - Nope (to me its ugly)
Clara OK
Daisy💕
Eliza - nope Doolittle
Eloisa -Eloise ok (not 'a')
Erika - no no matter how you spell it
Eve - meh
Flora - Margerine/butter teased for 'easy spread'
Florence - Nightingale
Francesca NO NO NO
Freyja Freya (in uk with j too much hassle)
Harriet if you don't mind Harrie
Heidi meh
Honor nope (don't like attributes)
Indiana (Indie) definitely nope (don't like places)
Ingrid nope (another I find ugly)
Iona nope
Isla / Eila nope
Isolde definitely not
Isotta no
Louisa no
Lucinda no!
Luna god no
Mary hairy?
Nancy Drew
Nell Def not!
Ottilia noooooioo
Pippa 🌷
Poppy 🌷
Romilly NOOOOO
Rowena / Rowenna NOOOO
Sarah (second if you must)
Thebe no
Theia NO
Tilda AGAIN WITH. THE RICE
Xanthie NOOOOO

So, Daisy it is then

You can thank me later 😊

🤣🤣

Wait until she's born -you'll know! Though you might want to narrow it down a tad!

Iona - is always going to get teased about 'what? What do you own?' Etc

Most of them are not to my taste at all but I have always liked Francesca and Heidi.

@IncrediblySadToo brutal 😂😂😂 I like you 😂 wish rice and margarine didn’t spoil things for me. Weird how I vetoed Sephora for the brand name when it’s actually a far more glamorous brand to be associated with that pantry products 😂😂 . Yeah I’ve had the same thoughts about Iona

Agnes - ugly sound.
Alyse - not a name I'm familiar with. Sounds made up.
Arrietty - Borrowers.
Aurora - lovely.
Beatrice - nice.
Betsey - horrific! Why the random "e"?
Cecily - nice.
Clara - nice.
Daisy - twee and cutesy.
Eliza - great.
Eloisa - no.
Erika - spiky and ugly.
Eve - nice.
Flora - posh girl.
Florence - posh girl.
Francesca - nice but quite common.
Freyja - nice, but without the "j".
Harriet - ok.
Heidi - horrible.
Honor - "on a" what?
Indiana (Indie) - Christ, no.
Ingrid - ugly. Like Hagrid.
Iona - "I own a" what?
Isla / Eila - Isla no. Common. Eila yes. Pretty.
Isolde - pretentious.
Isotta - made up.
Louisa - nice.
Lucinda - prissy.
Luna - FUCK NO. Footballer's kid.
Mary - nice.
Nancy - twee.
Nell - hipster.
Ottilia - fussy.
Pippa - means "blow job" in Greek. Also, ugly sound.
Poppy - ugly.
Romilly - wannabe.
Rowena / Rowenna - like a haggard old witch.
Sarah - lovely.
Thebe - lispy.
Theia - Thea?
Tilda - Swinton.
Xanthie - why the "i"?

@Futurenostalgia yeah, I like Francesca but I always remember girls at school and indeed once school was a distant memory being teased with ‘Fran the man’. I really dislike Fran as a shortened form and it would definitely, definitely happen whether I liked it or not and I just don’t think I need that kind of constant aggro in my life. Love Heidi but for some reason people seem to think it’s a dogs name 😂😂 I think it’s about weighing up criticism to a point, it’s helpful to have things narrowed down and perhaps be made to consider things you hadn’t thought about, but ultimately everyone’s got their own set of entirely subjective positive and negative associations, beyond even allowing for personal taste, so it’s also got to be pinch of salt time.

@Sparklypurpleunicornsaremyfav thanks for your input. It’s so interesting to find out people’s associations with names

My name is on your list and I am cry-laughing at people's reactions to it each to their own arseholes

Alyse (Alice?) (Elise?)
Arrietty – love it
Aurora – no
Beatrice – no
Betsey – .not unless she moos
Cecily – cute but what would her nickname be? Silly?
Clara – meh
Daisy – moo
Eliza – I think Elizabeth is nicer, more room for nicknames
Eloisa – no.. maybe Eloise?
Erika – cute
Eve – lovely
Flora – 100% plant goodness
Florence – cute and can be called Flo
Francesca – "franny" - adorable, "fanny" - not so much
Freyja – love it
Harriet – always nice
Heidi – loved the book, it's a yes from me
Honor – no
Indiana (Indie) – if you insist
Ingrid – bit old-fashioned but quite nice
Iona – actually quite like it
Isla / Eila – love it!
Isolde – no
Isotta – no
Louisa – no
Lucinda – no way
Luna – please no
Mary – had a little lamb
Nancy – NO
Nell – no
Ottilia – actually quite nice
Pippa – Philippa?
Poppy – cute
Romilly – no
Rowena / Rowenna – no
Sarah – it's nice but quite a common one
Thebe – no
Theia – only if you spell it Thea
Tilda – no
Xanthie – no

Agnes - dated
Alyse - looks wrong, use Alice
Arrietty - strongly dislike
Aurora - like
Beatrice - strongly dislike
Betsey - strongly dislike
Cecily - love
Clara - LOVE, possibly my favourite girls name ever
Daisy - too common
Eliza - plain and boring, becoming popular too
Eloisa - looks wrong, use Eloise or Louisa
Erika - strongly dislike
Eve - LOVE
Flora - love
Florence - love
Francesca - love
Freyja - looks wrong, use Freya or Freja
Harriet - meh
Heidi - LOVE
Honor - strongly dislike
Indiana (Indie) - dislike
Ingrid - strongly dislike, very dated
Iona - dislike
Isla / Eila - definitely use Isla over Eila
Isolde - dislike
Isotta - dislike
Louisa - dislike
Lucinda - meh
Luna - meh
Mary - dated and boring
Nancy - dated
Nell - strongly, strongly, STRONGLY dislike... I don't like using the word "hate"
Ottilia - dislike but Ottilie is okay
Pippa - dislike
Poppy - like
Romilly - love
Rowena / Rowenna - dislike
Sarah - dated and plain
Thebe - dislike
Theia - strongly dislike
Tilda - meh
Xanthie - strongly dislike

The ones I would cross off the list straight away are Arietty, Beatrice, Betsey, Honor, Ingrid and Nell.

I would narrow it down to Cecily, Clara, Eve, Florence and Heidi.

I have a Cicely, slightly different to Cecily and I absolutely love it 5 years on and so does she x

Aurora
Beatrice
Betsey
Cecily
Clara
Daisy
Eliza
Eve
Flora
Florence
Francesca
Freya
Harriet
Honor
Indiana (Indie)
Ingrid
Iona
Isla
Isolde
Louisa
Lucinda
Nell
Ottilie
Pippa
Poppy

Rowenna
Thea
Xanthe

Kept the ones that I think are Ok and changed the spellings of some.

Some are awful! Arietty Isotta etc

Tilda does = rice for me. How about Tessa or Gilda?

Agnes - ok
Alyse - hmm
Arrietty - no
Aurora - no
Beatrice - ok
Betsey - no
Cecily - nice
Clara - ok to nice
Daisy - no to Ok
Eliza - bit dull
Eloisa - ok
Erika - ok
Eve - no
Flora - ok
Florence - ok
Francesca - nice
Freyja - ok
Harriet - ok
Heidi - nice really like
Honor - not keen
Indiana (Indie) - no
Ingrid - ok
Iona - hmm no
Isla / Eila - no
Isolde - no
Isotta - no
Louisa - no
Lucinda - no
Luna - no to ok
Mary - ok
Nancy - no
Nell - no
Ottilia - no
Pippa - no
Poppy - no
Romilly - no
Rowena / Rowenna - no
Sarah - ok
Thebe - no
Theia - no
Tilda - ok
Xanthie - no

You’re going to get such a mix of replies

Heidi
Clara
Louisa
Eliza
Betsy
In that order if preference.

Agnes - love it, strong and fiesty
Alyse - veto
Arrietty - veto, yes it sounds pretty but would you really want is as your name? As a grown woman?
Aurora - not a fan, know quite a few
Beatrice - lovely though prefer Beatrix
Betsey - nice as a nn not as a fullname
Cecily - pretty
Clara - love it
Daisy - too cutsy for me
Eliza - nice
Eloisa - not a fan
Erika - not a fan
Eve - not a fan
Flora - nice
Florence - love it and seriously considered it for dd2 but just too popular for me
Francesca - love it, was also a strong contender for dd2
Freyja - it's OK spelt Freya but they are everywhere
Harriet - like it
Heidi - nice enough
Honor - not a fan
Indiana (Indie) - prefer for a boy
Ingrid - love it
Iona - nice enough
Isla / Eila - don't like
Isolde - like in theory but wouldn't like it as my name
Isotta - not a fan
Louisa - it's OK
Lucinda - love Lucy but not Lucinda
Luna - dislike. OK for a cat
Mary - like it
Nancy - hate it
Nell - nice as a nn for Eleanore or Helen
Ottilia- not a fan, though I like Ottilie
Pippa - like as a nn for Phillipa
Poppy - dislike
Romilly - it's OK
Rowena / Rowenna - like it
Sarah - like it
Thebe - why not just Phoebe. Thisbe?
Theia - I like Thea
Tilda - "it's ok
Xanthie - yes to Xanthie, no to Xanthie

So you're considering Eloisa, Ottillia, Arietty, Xanthe, Francesca and Indiana

but consider Matilda to be too long and unwieldy?

(In case it's not clear, I think Eloisa and Ottilia are ridiculous)

Alyse is a terrible spelling if you want it pronounced as Alice.

Not at all keen on Isotta. Prefer Louise to Louisa. Don't like the non-standard spellings (if you don't think people will understand the name Isla, don't use it). Would you pronounce Rowenna with a short e? because if not then don't spell it that way.

Aurora is a lot to live up to. I've always thought Dawn is not a particularly pretty name for such a concept. Thinking about it, I suspect I actually prefer Sunrise.

Agnes has a bit of a harsh sound to me
Alyse - prefer Alys spelling
Arrietty Too reminiscent of the Borrowers
Aurora - lovely
Beatrice is nice
Betsy not a fan
Cecile is nice
Clara a bit dull
Daisy ok
Eliza boring
Eloisa very nice
Erika ok, prefer Erica
Eve ok
Flora lovely
Florence not keen
FRancesca ok
FREYja not keen
Harriet boring
Heidi either a pet or the Swiss story
Honor nice
Indiana just about ok
Ingrid no
Iona quite nice
Isla boring
Isolde classy
Isotta lovely but may have to be spelt out regularly
Louisa ok
Lucinda ok
Luna nice but a bit too Harry Potter
Mary nice revival
Nancy boring
Nell boring
Ottilia a bit too busy
Pippa no
Poppy quite like
Romilly no
Rowena lovely, but not Rowenna please
Sarah boring
Thebe sounds like you’re trying too hard
Theia ditto
Tilda no
Xanthe lovely bit not spelt ie

I like.
Aurora.
Eliza.
Isolde
Daisy
Freya
Erika.
Poppy
Cecily
Heidi
Louisa.

I've left my favourites:

Clara
Eliza
Eloisa
Erika
Flora
Florence
Heidi
Ingrid
Iona
Louisa
Lucinda
Mary
Nancy
Sarah

Top favourites are probably Heidi, Louisa, Mary or Eloisa.

Agnes - awful. Harsh and Granny ish

That list is too long. I’m sorry, I can’t help you

Agnes
Beatrice
Cecily
Flora
Harriet
Honor
Ingrid
Iona
Isolde
Louisa
Mary
Nell
Rowena / Rowenna
Sarah

These are my favourites from your list