Our final (I think...) list

[Sexnotgender]

We’ve finally got a top 5.

Joy
Julia
Penelope
Helen
Vivienne

Thoughts welcome, or ideas. Naming a human is HARD.

Vivienne is beautiful.

sorry i can't pick, but unusually for me on these threads,
i can honestly say that
they are all fine names !
any of them would be good.

sometimes i can't pick for the opposite reason !

They are all wonderful names. I don't think I've ever seen such an excellent list.

I do think you'll find it difficult to name a tiny baby 'Vivienne' but of course she won't be tiny forever so don't let this stop you.

I love Julia, the rest are too Nana for me.

Juliet
Bethany
Amelia
Charlotte
Olive
Rosa

@WildCherryBlossom

How about using Joy as a middle name? I love Julia Joy.

We have middle names decided already

@Theoldwoman

I love Julia, the rest are too Nana for me.

Juliet
Bethany
Amelia
Charlotte
Olive
Rosa

Thank you, not really a fan of any of them but I appreciate the suggestions

Then we really need the middle names to see which first name works best?

I love Vivienne Joy.

Middle names are Daphne Mary and are non negotiable ❤️

Julia or Vivienne -
Julia - a great classic
Vivienne - love the energy of it - makes me think vivid or vivacious
Helen is dull, tho Helena and Eleanor I like
Penelope will always be Penny which is wet
Joy - the only one I knew was a misery, I think it’s a bit of a burden of a name

Other thoughts - Marianne, Genevieve, Lois, Serena, Philippa, Cassia, Claudia

Love Claudia, DH does not😔

Julia definitely! It's just gorgeous, I prefer it to Juliet by miles.

However, I also like all the names on your list, you have brilliant taste! Vivienne is the only one I probably wouldn't pick myself but it's still nice.

Joy - difficult to live up to. My friend’s sister was called Joy, it didn’t suit her. Friend was called Judith.

Julia - I like this

Penelope - not so keen. Too many girls called Penny at school so I think of it as a Karen, Susan, Sharon type of name, big for 1960s babies. Just too recent to have granny chic.

Helen - lovely

Vivienne - OK

Joy - difficult to live up to. My friend’s sister was called Joy, it didn’t suit her.

True, we both love it because we know a wonderful woman called Joy in her 90s who is just amazing.

So many kind comments, thank you. It’s so difficult choosing a name, I’m thankful we’ve managed to decide on a few we both like. We don’t have entirely similar taste.

I have a daughter whose middle name is Joy, she loves it and I love it and she certainly lives up to it. She also loves that there are many Christmas decks with her name on!

I love Julia, and the Italian version Giulia.
Julia Joy is lovely.

@Sexnotgender

Middle names are Daphne Mary and are non negotiable ❤️

In that case Julia is my favourite.

Vivienne or Helen both work ok because the ‘n’ runs into the ‘d’. But I don’t think Penelope or Joy work at all.

Oh I love Joy! I know a very lovely one in her 90s.

I’ve never liked the name Helen. Penelope is lovely and lends itself to a variety of NNs. Julia is pretty but it’s a bit mumsy for me. Juliana? Juliette? Julienne?

I’m also going to throw Jolie, Joni and Tessa in for consideration

Joy - a bit old lady and bland for me
Julia - fine, not a big fan
Penelope - quite like, much more interesting than Joy, Julia or Helen. Likely to be shortened to Penny.
Helen - fine, classic, but not a fan
Vivienne - my second choice after Penelope

Julia is my real name and I love it. It gets shortened to Jules. The only downside was when people would shorten it to "Julie" which I always hated growing up (there's nothing wrong with Julie but it is quite a different name). Having said that, this doesn't happen now that I am a grown up.

Vivienne is beautiful

Vivienne is nice. V or Vivi for short. Violet is pretty too as an alternative.

Julia is nice and also Juliet.

Similar styles of names... Rosalind, Emma, Chloë, Catherine.

Juliet is much more classic and beautiful than Julia.

My name is Helen, I don’t really like it, I always wished I had a prettier name like.....Vivienne