Annabelle versus Juliette

[Suzy3637]

Hello, I have a son and daughter already named Ethan and Penelope and was wondering which girl name goes best with them as a little sister. We are deciding between Juliette and Annabelle. Thanks

Don’t like either of the frilly endings; I’d spell them Annabel and Juliet.

I’ve always had an irrational dislike of the name Annabel. It just seems twee and very ‘Pony Club’ to me - a bit smug-sounding somehow!

Juliet is much nicer IMO - feels more elegant and timeless, but I’m suddenly seeing it everywhere and suspect it’s going to get much more popular in the near future. Nickname wouldn’t have to be Jules (which I hate) - Jet or Ettie are good alternatives.

I'm not keen on Annabelle - it's cutesy on a baby/child and then uncomfortable on an adult. Brings to mind a sloane ranger type picture for me. I'd go with Annie as a shortening as the Bella type names again are twee.

I really like Juliet and had it in our list for dds. We would have gone with L/Ettie/a shortenings though.

In both cases I'd go with the simpler spellings.

Annabelle

Juliette sounds really dated to me. I think because of the Julie part

Annabelle for me I really dislike the name Juliet it's harsh sounding to my ears.

Juliette goes better with your other children’s names. Much fresher sounding than Annabel too.

I know 3 Juliets. None of them have ever had anyone try and call them Julie!
I prefer it to Annabel but I like them both.
I must admit i prefer both spelt the simpler way.

My daughters are Juliette and Annabelle - both such beautiful names

I prefer Juliette. Thought Juliet was pronounced Juli-utt and Juliette as Ju-lee ette

If you wanted to combine both your names you could go for Julianna. They are both lovely OP.

@GreyhoundG1rl

Juliet - JOOL-iet, Juliette - Julie-ETTE I've never heard them be distinguished in this way. They're both pronounced as per the second one.

The poster is right. The -ette spelling is French and that’s how it’s pronounced. The British are very vague about the implications of using French rather than British spelling of names.

If it’s pronounced JOO-iet there’s no reason to use the -ette spelling.

See also Vivienne - which posters seem think is the same as Vivien - but the pronunciation is different - VIV-ee-un vs Viv-ee-EN

Another example is Amelie - which became popular after the French film.

British pronounce it AM uh lee - stress on the first syllable. But it’s actually Am - ay - lee - equal stress on all 3 syllables.

Juliette well Juliet.
Annabelle sounds like a doll.
Anna is lovely.