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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Choose for me !

53 replies

Lillylola · 12/03/2021 09:19

Helena
Christina
Isabella

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stormelf · 12/03/2021 13:11

Helena: love it! It's such a beautiful classic name. I don't normally like longer names but I do prefer Helena to Helen. As pp have said though there are different pronunciations for it.

Christina: it's a nice name. Not very common nowadays. I don't like it as much as Helena though.

Isabella: I'm not keen on this name, for me it seems to frilly. I do love Isabel though

HelebethH · 12/03/2021 13:26

My name is Helena and I was always the only one in my school (went to several due to my dads job needing us to relocate quite a lot) . I have always liked my name.

PatsyStone39 · 12/03/2021 14:14

We had Christiana on our list. I love iana sounding names. We also had Dahliana .

leggingsandwellies · 12/03/2021 14:16

Helena. It's beautiful and I'm not sure I've ever come across one in real life!

Isabella second- it's lovely but ridiculously popular- and I really don't like Izzy at all (which people would call her inevitably).

Don't like Christina at all.

VenusClapTrap · 12/03/2021 17:49

Dd was nearly a Helena. It’s a lovely name, but I’m quite glad we didn’t choose it in the end, as there are a lot of Eleanors around and I think it could have been misheard as that too often. I think I prefer Helen now.

Christina is due a comeback.

Not another Isabella.

RuthW · 12/03/2021 18:16

Christina

MadamMiddle · 12/03/2021 18:32

Love Isabella, also Isabel or Isobel.

Dislike Christina and Helena, seem middle aged women names to me

Superstardjs · 12/03/2021 18:41

Like Helena. Love Christina (knew an incredibly chic Christina who was a very lovely woman). Cannot stand Isabella. In the 00s, I taught approximately 3699863 of them and the various diminutives.

Batmansrightfoot · 12/03/2021 18:51

Christina/ Christiana! Beautiful names.
I like Helena too but would it be ‘Hel-AY-na’ or ‘Helen-a’?
Isabella is so overdone

ChildOfFriday · 12/03/2021 19:02

Helena can also be Hel-ee-na

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 12/03/2021 19:05

Christina Helen. Perfect.

lljkk · 12/03/2021 19:06

All nice names & I probably slightly prefer Christina
I know at least 3 different pronunciations for Helena.

HuhLEENuh is one I find most natural.
Hey-LEY-nuh
Heh-LEY-nuh
Heh-LEEN-uh

Cissyandflora · 12/03/2021 19:41

We had a female friend called Christian. That’s nice. Also christiana is nice too.

partyatthepalace · 12/03/2021 19:53

Helena - really lovely, wonderful history, not overused - easier if you want the Helen-a pronunciation mind you. (only minor thing is if she nn herself will likely be Nell or Ella and there are a lot of those - but there is Lena too).

Christina - it is nice though not as lovely as the other two IMO... but for me the big problem is Chris is such a dull nn - you could try imposing Christa, or Christy, but you can’t stop it.

Isabella - lovely, but there are so flipping many Isabella/Isabel/Isobel/Isabelles ... I think it needs to retire now.

Ysella (Ee-sella) is a Cornish alternative, or Ishbel a Scottish one. Or Annabella or
Arabella.

laughoutquiet · 12/03/2021 20:03

Helena Smile

octoberfarm · 12/03/2021 20:04

Isabella - it's just got a lovely sound to it. The other two sound slightly dated to me - sorry! But do love Isabella.

mathanxiety · 12/03/2021 22:01

Helena - classic, lovely, mellifluous sound. This would be my first choice.

Christina - dated, will get NN Chris/ Chrissy.

Isabella - nice but there are millions of them and also millions of Izzys and Bellas.

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 12/03/2021 22:08

Helena would be my first choice - elegant and Shakespearean. It also has a lovely sounding nn in Nell and because it has never been very popular in the UK, it feels quite timeless imo. I prefer the Helen -ah pronunciation and thanks to Bonham Carter, I think in E&W most of the time you'll get that.

Christina would be my second choice - it feels a touch dated (70's/80's) but is a lovely name and the nn Kit/Kitty is very cool. Isabella is pretty but is quite popular and I personally prefer the simpler Isabel.

MercyBodle · 13/03/2021 00:15

All 3 are good names. If one is closer to your heart just use it without hesitation.
My take:
Helena - beautiful classic name, stylish. More soft and gentle in sounds than the others. The different pronunciations would put me off a little. Love Nell as a nickname.
Christina - this and Helena are my favourites. Traditional, stronger feeling than Helena, not often used, lovely nickname Christy. Feels feisty, which is good. I like Christiana too, but the extra syllable means it is more likely to be shortened, which may matter if you prefer the full name being used.
Isabella - nice enough, again strongly traditional, but frillier than the others which doesn't appeal to me. Over-used. I prefer Isabel, which seems somehow smarter and neater.

I'm torn between Helena and Christina as first choice. If you're pronouncing it Hell-uhn-uh with emphasis on the first syllable, then I'd probably choose that.

MercyBodle · 13/03/2021 00:17

Just to add, I love Kit/Kitty nickname for Christina. If she was getting this nickname I would put Christina as first choice.

DarcyJack · 13/03/2021 00:20

Christina is nice - too many Isabella's and I don't know how to pronounce Helena

NeedSomeInfoAgain · 13/03/2021 00:49

Helena is lovely. A few other thoughts (sorry!)
Estella (same 'clean lines' as Helena)
Christabel, Georgina/Georgiana, Henrietta (nn Ria), Francesca (nn Cesca), Emmeline, Felicity
Lydia, Sylvia, Julianna, Rowena, Susanna

MojoJojo71 · 13/03/2021 00:50

Christina, lovely name. Not keen on Christiana.

Helena has too much potential for mispronunciation and Isabella is far too popular.

Smallonesaremorejuicy · 13/03/2021 01:50

Christina & don’t shorten it , Christina is beautiful.

Marty13 · 13/03/2021 01:54

I was a bit "meh" about all your names until I saw Christiana, love it. Amongst your chosen names I'd pick this one hands down.

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