Judge my girls' list / any other suggestions?

[Mumtobe2020A]

DP and I are sorted for boys' names but really struggling with girls' names. Ideally it will be something classic (ie not something people have only started using as a name in recent years) but not very plain (the surname is quite common and I don't want her to be the equivalent of Jane Smith - DP prefers really simple names like Jane and Jess and Sarah so we may wrestle a bit with that criterion!). I also quite like 'strong' names rather than cutesy ones, don't really like flower names, and don't want her to be one of a million in her school year (not to sound too picky!)

My current favourites:
Ada (veto'd by DP who says it's an 'old lady name')
Juno (is this too kooky / will people think of the movie?)
Phoebe (really love this right now but is it too popular?)
Audrey (veto'd by DP as he knew one he didn't like)
Rory as a nickname for either Aurora or Aurelia (but will people just think I watch too much Gilmore Girls and/or are the full names too poncy?)

On my 'quite like' list:
Viola
Vivienne
Hazel
Cora
Hannah (but it's a bit plain combined with the surname)
Alice
Iris (love the fact that it's the Greek goddess of rainbows, which feels appropriate for a pandemic baby given we see them everywhere, but don't love the 'iss' sound much)
Kathryn

I like these but think they're too popular
Evelyn
Ava
Eva

I quite like these but DP has rejected them
Ida ('too old lady')
Stella
Edith
Lilian
Maria
Judith
Elena
Maya
Emilia
Mae
Joy
Leah

Now that I've seen them all written down I'm not sure it's a great list. Opinions very welcome! And are there any others that fit what we're looking for that people could suggest?

Vivienne or stella

Wow, that's a long list of names!

I absolutely adore Ada and don't think of it as an old lady's name. I quite like Hazel, Evelyn, Ava, Maya and Mae as well. In fact I don't dislike any of them, some are perhaps a bit old/dated for me but none of them are horrific.

Margot
Imogen
Harriet
Grace
Lydia
Constance
Mabel
Georgina
Florence
Skye
Anna
Victoria
Helen
Eleanor

@LotusClover Haha, can you tell I've been overthinking this?

Thanks for backing me on Ada! I wish I could persuade DP. The problem with wanting a classic but not crazy popular name is you end up looking at names that were popular a century ago i.e. 'old lady names'! But Eva and Evelyn were 'old' names that don't seem it any more, so I don't worry about it like he does.

Emma
Jasmine
Cordelia
Georgia/Georgina
Victoria
Esme
Rosemary
Olivia
Natasha
Millie

@dorothysredshoes Those are great, thanks! Unfortunately I have good friends with babies called Margot, Imogen and Eleanor or they'd definitely be contenders.

I do like Grace and Helen (or maybe I slightly prefer Helena?) And Victoria is fantastic but I think I'd hate 'Vicky' :(

@Standrewsschool Esme's an interesting one, thank you! I would have loved Olivia (or Sophia for that matter) but I worry it's just too popular.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my favourites? Am I bonkers to think of a girl called Rory or Juno?

Juno would be fine. Not Rory, unless nn for something else.

Just thought of a few more.
Naomi
Meredith
Marnie
Hallie
Eloise
Cecile
Sylvie

I love the name Vivienne and I also really like Juno. I don't mind Rory - think I prefer Aurelia to Aurora though, and I've never seen Gilmore Girls so I can't comment on that. My first thought when reading your criteria was Alexandra. I wouldn't use Alice as I think it's quite boring and is also getting popular (in my area anyway - I knew a few baby Alices). I really don't like Hazel but lots of people do like it / suggest it on here so that's just me!

My current favourites:
Ada (veto'd by DP who says it's an 'old lady name') - No
Juno (is this too kooky / will people think of the movie?) - No
Phoebe (really love this right now but is it too popular?) - Fine
Audrey (veto'd by DP as he knew one he didn't like) - No.
Rory as a nickname for either Aurora or Aurelia (but will people just think I watch too much Gilmore Girls and/or are the full names too poncy?) - No. Dislike both

On my 'quite like' list:
Viola - Fine
Vivienne - Not keen.
Hazel - Fine
Cora - Not sure
Hannah (but it's a bit plain combined with the surname) - Fine
Alice - Lovely
Iris (love the fact that it's the Greek goddess of rainbows, which feels appropriate for a pandemic baby given we see them everywhere, but don't love the 'iss' sound much) - Not keen
Kathryn - Katherine.

I like these but think they're too popular
Evelyn - No, I don't like it
Ava - No, I don't like it
Eva - No, I don't like it

I quite like these but DP has rejected them
Ida ('too old lady') - I don't like it
Stella - like
Edith - I don't like it
Lilian - I don't like it
Maria - lovely
Judith - not keen
Elena - Ellen-a or Elaina?
Maya - no
Emilia - nice but Amelia is too popular.No
Mae - awful
Joy - no
Leah - not keen

My current favourites:
Ada (veto'd by DP who says it's an 'old lady name') - 9/10
Juno (is this too kooky / will people think of the movie?) - 1/10
Phoebe (really love this right now but is it too popular?) 0/10
Audrey (veto'd by DP as he knew one he didn't like) - 0/10
Rory as a nickname for either Aurora or Aurelia (but will people just think I watch too much Gilmore Girls and/or are the full names too poncy?) - 2/10

On my 'quite like' list:
Viola - 9/10
Vivienne - 3/10
Hazel - 9/10
Cora - 1/10
Hannah (but it's a bit plain combined with the surname) - 8/10
Alice - 5/10
Iris (love the fact that it's the Greek goddess of rainbows, which feels appropriate for a pandemic baby given we see them everywhere, but don't love the 'iss' sound much) - 10/10
Kathryn - 7/10

I like these but think they're too popular
Evelyn - 1/10
Ava - 9/10
Eva - 10/10

I quite like these but DP has rejected them
Ida ('too old lady')
Stella - 1/10
Edith - 0/10
Lilian - 0/10
Maria - 1/10 (prefer Ria)
Judith - 0/10
Elena - 4/10
Maya - 8/10
Emilia - 9/10
Mae - 8/10
Joy - 6/10
Leah - 0/10

Love Juno Iris Alice, Cora, Ada

How about Greta, Cleo,Martha, Edith, Margaret (Maggie, Peggy), Willa, Mabel, Clementine (Clemmie), Jemima, Roxanne

Stella is my favourite. I prefer Ida pronounced the scandi way as 'Eeda'.

How about Adeline/Adaline with Ada as a diminutive?

Claudia
Ottilie
Katya
Marianne

I do think you are bonkers for thinking of calling a girl Rory. It's a boys' name and to me sounds ridiculous on a girl. Juno is fine, though, nice in fact.

As for the rest of your very long list, why not get your partner to look through it and veto what he doesn't like, because you both have to agree after all.

Then you'll be left with a shorter list that might help you see the wood from the trees. The long list suggests to me that you tend towards slightly classic names with a quirky twist. I think you might find that you and your DP are more on the same page as you think if you whittle the list down.

I don't think you're bonkers for Rory or Juno. Although Juno isn't hugely popular at the moment, it's on a sharp upward spike and I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the top hundred in the next few years.

Rory also comes up a lot on various name forums, mostly in America, but also over here. Aurora is popular so I can't imagine people will find it poncey. It fits into the trend of more masculine names for girls.

If popularity and avoiding name trends are important to you then I can't recommend this website enough. You can type in any name and it will show you how the popularity in England and Wales has changed over the past 24 years. It makes it very easy to see at a glance which names are spiking in popularity.

Really like Ada! Reminds me of peaky blinders as it’s the sisters name. Like Hazel and Alice too!

Ada - I know so many baby Ada's so it's definitely on the rise and a recent trend

Juno - not a fan, seems faddy

Phoebe - love it. I don't know any baby Phoebe's, in fact the youngest Phoebe I know is 12

Audrey - pretty but I doubt you'll change his mind

Rory as a nickname for either Aurora or Aurelia - I like Rory but dislike both Aurora and Aurelua. Plus I know alot of Aurora's

On my 'quite like' list:
Viola - beautiful name
Vivienne - gorgeous and classy
Hazel - very pretty
Cora - not a fan
Hannah - love it, such a beautiful, classical name
Alice - lovely. Though not a favourite

Iris - love it, was gutted it doesn't go with my surname

Kathryn - love Katherine, Katharine, Catherine, Cathryn. Kathryn is my least favourite spelling but it's a gorgeous name and underused these days. I live Kate as a nn

I like these but think they're too popular
Evelyn - lovely but way too many Evie's in the world atm. Would make a lovely middle name
Ava - pretty but yes very popular
Eva - yes I know a few

I much prefer your second list to your first

Phoebe and Hannah are my favourites on your shortlist.

Agnes
Greta
Louise
Talia
Freya
Estella
Paloma
Xanthe
Iona
Bryony
Rowena
Olive
Delta
Zoe
Natasha
Seren
Holly
Elspeth
Juniper

Hattie, Madeline, Violet, Viola, Hallie, Enid, Margaret, Elizabeth, Edie. I taught an "Avie" which is more modern but quite close to Ada?

I like Ada too and Cora was my girl's choice for my youngest. We had this when naming my son, it took ages to agree!

Also Adeline/Adelaide, either of which could have Ada as a nickname?

Iris is my favourite on your list

Cherry
Martha
Orla
Piper
Madeline
Felicity

Susanna
Melissa
Adelaide

How about Victoria with nickname "Tori"

I absolutely love Juno - I'd definitely pick it if it didn't sound daft with our surname (which it unfortunately does). Might be able to get away with it as a middle name.

People might think of the film, but more likely the goddess :)

Vaeda?