Alianore?

[Iwantalonglie]

Ok, so I'm going to confess, I've posted a few threads asking for advice on baby names so far. DH is very taken with "unusual" names, especially girls' names, and it's useful to have external, impartial advice to temper his enthusiasm. With some help, we've decided on a boy's name but still arguing and throwing things politely disagreeing over our girl's name choice (we're not finding out the sex).

DH's latest suggestion is Alianore. Mine is Jocelyn. Other names in the ring include:

• Amabel
• Evelyn
• Iris
• Mathilde
• Alethea

Please don't hold back - which of these are awful? Which one would you pick?

With Amabel and Alethea she would be forever correcting the spelling. I like Iris the best - keeps it simple! And you can give her irises for her birthday when she’s older/plant irises in the garden together.

Definitely not Alianore.

I like Iris best from your list, it's the most wearable name of the lot. Evelyn is good too although then there's the whole pronunciation issue.

alianore is awful. Is it a play on Eleanor?

Please don't give her a wrongly spelled name. It's not 'unique' it's ridiculous

Iris is besr from your list.

Iris is pretty. Evelyn is nice (but probunciation issues as a pp said). The others will forever give her issues with people mis spelling or mis pronouncing.

Alianore sounds like a diet pill.
Amabel is just awful.

In fact none of them are good.

Jocelyn is good.

I've met several babies called Iris and Evelyn at baby groups lately, so don't use those if you're looking for "unusual".

Similarly, Alianore and Mathilde are very similar to the very popular Eleanor and Matilda. (That said, Mathilde is my favourite of your list, but you might care about popularity more than me!)

Amabel is also similar to Annabel and can be misheard/miswritten. I had a student called Amabel and it was the bane of her life.

Jocelyn and Alethea seem genuinely more unusual. I quite like Alethea.

On the unusual/mediaeval/Arthurian vibe I think you have:
Elaine
Ellen
Idony
Maud
Amice
Felice
Margery
Cecily

Iris is lovely. Amabel is awful. Alianore is worse!

Alianore is awful - sounds like a detergent

Amabel is clearly made up and I'd have the impression that the parents were either illiterate or just painfully pretentious sorry

To be fair to OP, Amabel is not made up - it's the original name that Annabel and Mabel both come from.

That said, I don't think it's useable now. Mabel instead, maybe.

Alethea is lovely. I also like Althea which is a bit simpler but just as pretty imo

I'd probably choose Evelyn from that list.

Aliénor (French version of Eleanor) is a name I love but I think there would be too many problems with people pronouncing it like 'alien' in the UK. I haven't come across your spelling before but I'm not keen on it.

No. Awful.

Sounds like Eeyore

Elinor is much nicer. Ellen is lovely.

I like Amabel but would not enjoy the 100 conversations to correct people who thought u ssid Annabel.
I like Mabel though and people would properly hear that.
Prefer Althea to Alethea
Cant remember the others!!

Iris - bit harsh. Sharp. But ok.prefer Lois. Much easier to say.

Jocelyn and Iris are good, solid names.

Alianore, Amabel and Alethea will be set up for a lifetime of, ‘sorry what?’, ‘how do you spell that?’, ‘no, it’s not X it’s Y’. Please don’t do that to them.

Evelyn is OK but it has 2 pronunciations so if you get annoyed by people mispronouncing your child’s name, don’t choose it.

Alianore is a nightmare. I like Amabel, and it’s a perfectly normal name with a long history though I agree it would probably be a pain to have to keep correcting people.

Althea probably better and easier to live with than Alethea.

I don't like iris (but that's because I don't like the flower either )

From your list, I like Evelyn best, followed by Mathilde, then Jocelyn.

My friend's teen daughter is called Amiela, Ami for short, which I've always thought is very pretty, and a similar vibe maybe.

Oh sorry forgot to add- Alianore is awful.

Iris is lovely and I like Evelyn too!

What about..,

Elsie
Clara (could be Clara-belle)
Annalise
Elodie
Amelie
Etta
Effie
Eloise
Rosa
Dahlia

Alethea like the aletheometer in Dark Materials? Is that where you made it from? Interesting.

Jocelyn is nice and unusual and Joss a lovely nick name. I’d go with that.

The others are questionable it’s tedious having to spell your name all the time.

Not Evelyn every other girl here is an Eve name it’s like calling her Sarah in the 70s

@ODFOx

Alethea like the aletheometer in Dark Materials? Is that where you made it from? Interesting.

If you're going to make digs at what you perceive to be made-up names at least have a quick Google to check they haven't been around for a few centuries first

Alethea sounds like Alicia with a lisp

Jocelyn, Mathilde, Cecily, Iris and Evelyn are all nice names. (Evelyn is much more popular than the others currently).

Jocelyn or Iris are my favourites.

The others are just a bit too unusual for me... as others have said, will cause a lifetime of mishearing, misspelling and mispronunciation.

p.s. if you like Alethea, how about Verity instead?
Both have the same meaning - truth.

I like Alinor, but I've just read the Philippa Gregory book.