Willow and Ginny or Willow and Lily??

[LVThompson]

We are expecting a baby girl and we decided on either Lily or Ginevra (nn Ginny). We also have another girl, Willow and we aren't sure which one would go better with her name. I love the name Ginevra but i'm quite afraid though that little Ginny might get teased because of the HP association, though my husband is really set on it (he's American and we're both living in the US at the moment) and says that most people won't get the HP association. We also love Lily though, but don't want their names to sound too flowery...
Any thoughts??

Ginny makes me think of gin. Unlike a lot of MN, I hate gin. HP is still going strong along primary aged children so it's extremely likely that her peers will read it. Ginevra nn Ginny is a very obvious HP homage (even if you're not a fan - like me - I think it'll still be assumed). That's not necessarily a bad thing but I wouldn't like it myself.

Lily isn't very exciting but I think it's a nicer sounding name than Ginny.

I don't think she'd really be teased for a HP name though. I'd just assume you were a parent using your child as a billboard for your fandom.

What is an HP name? I adore the name Ginevra - first saw it in "Appointment with Death". Lily is also beautiful. Willow is a good name for a horse.

Ginevra is a Harry Potter name - whilst it does exist outside HP, it’s very rare. I don’t know if she’d be teased for it but the associations are obvious. I’d prefer Ginny as a nn for something else - traditionally it’s Virginia.

Christ, if you're looking for a name she wouldn't be teased for I'd steer clear of Virginia. It'll be virgin jokes as far as the eye can see.

It could be Genevieve nn Ginny?

Lily is million zillion times better!!!

Lily is a bit 'harry potter' too.

Personally I think Ginny is nicer, especially with Willow.

I think the repetition of the "il" in Willow and Lily is too similar. Ginny is much better.

Outing but my daughter is nicknamed Ginny, I'm not a HP fan and literally no one has ever mentioned the link

I think Lily is a far nicer name but Willow and Lily almost rhyme together. I wouldn’t use Ginevra/Ginny personally. I just wouldn’t be keen on the strong Harry Potter association.

Prefer lily.

I had willow and phoebe on my girls names list

But perhaps due to friends that isn't any better than HP and Ginny!

I think the “i” and “L” sounds in willow are too same-y for Lilly. I feel like it’s almost a tongue twister.
Don’t like Ginny however. It’s a very horsey posh girl name to me for some reason.
Sorry. Not much help and I? Willow and Rose go nicely or Willow and ivy?

Ginny! Love it

Lily is nicer but it's a bit too close sounding to Willow IMO. Not a big fan of Ginny but it would work better in the pair.

Any other ideas op?

They don't sound right with your dds name.

I think Ginny is dire. I ágree with Rose or Ivy. Lily is nice but not eith other child Lily. Violet?

My DM was Ginny, nn for Georgina. Think it flows better than Lilly (which is also a name in HP if you're worried about the connection).

Definitely Ginny. The l sounds are clunky together.

I've read all the HP books and seen the films and somehow missed that Ginevra is her full name...I like it, much better than Lily which is so over used these days

@percheron67

What is an HP name? I adore the name Ginevra - first saw it in "Appointment with Death". Lily is also beautiful. Willow is a good name for a horse.

OP already has a daughter called Willow so your comment is unnecessary and rude!

@LVThompson I wouldn’t go for Ginny. I love HP completely but that’s not my child’s fault so I wouldn’t name her after a character. I love the name Merida but I worry people would think we were naming her after the character in Brave. My DD2 does have a character’s name for her middle name but it’s not as obvious as Ginny. We just happened to like the name.

Love ginny

Isn't ginny short for Virginia.?

I think the combination of Willow and Lily may end up with Willy and Lillow being used accidentally so I would personally avoid that pairing. If Ginny is the name you prefer, go for that rather than Ginevre - I think that works better than Ginevre. Juniper would be another name that could lead to Ginny as a nickname but lends itself to other nicknames too e.g. Pip, Juni, Juno. I think Willow and Juniper could work together.

Sorry if this is purile. I went to a state comp, so this is my take from that (maybe kids more sophisticated these days?):
If you already have a kid called willow (lovely name btw) then adding a Lily will result in them collectively being called Lily and Willy. Fine for Lily, less fine for Willow.
In my school, Ginevra would also have been bullied, not for any HP ref (waaaay before then) but basically because anything with a V and A combination would automatically be translated as some how gynaecological.

I would be happy to be told my school was an outlier in this ridiculousness.
If you like Ginny, there’s also Genevieve, which is lovely

Agree with pp, I slightly prefer Genevieve (nn Ginny), simply because Ginevra sometimes sounds a bit like someone mis-pronouncing Jennifer to me! Ginevra is still pretty though.

I actually think Lily goes really nicely with Willow - both being popular botanical names, but I suppose you could argue there are a lot of "l" sounds. The Willy/Lily thing wouldn't occur to me though - I don't know of any Willow's that get called Willy!