Help, baby name needed please...

[TigerMarshall62]

So I know what I'm letting myself in for, but wanted to get some honest feedback on names for an arrival in a few days... (fingers crossed)...

What do people think of these names?
Vesper
Zephyr
Asterin
Martha
Alba
Frieda
Elowen
Ailith

PS Vesper is first choice right now

Have you considered the impact of your choice on your child? Genuine question.

I like Elowen from the list.

Martha.
Elowen.
Alba.
Frida.

The rest, not for me.

Martha or elowen, the rest are ridiculous sorry

Prefer Ailish to Ailith - depends where you are but here (London/SE) the th gets pronounced ff, which I don’t like.

Not keen on Asterin. Will keep getting mistaken for Astrid, or nicknamed Asterix.

The others are fine or nice. Elowen will probably get pronounced ELL-uh-wen in most areas whereas I think the Cornish pronunciation would be ell-OH-wen. I like both.

They’re ridiculous, please consider your child and not bring cool or different. They’re going to be stuck with it for at least 16 years and may not have the backbone personality to carry it off.

I like Martha, Alba and Ailith.

Vesper reminds me of the vespers we do at church, Asterin reminds me of the asterisk *. Or Asterix and Obelix.

Really helpful everyone, thank you for the advice!

Interesting about the pronunciation of Elowen, we've been mulling that over.

To people asking if we've thought about how she will feel, yes, we have. We're both of the view that we want to find an unusual name, but don't want it to be a limitation for her. Vesper's associated with the church thing, Italian motorbike brand, etc etc but we still like it!

Vesper - ok, has religious connotations for me though (evening prayers!)
Zephyr - ridiculous
Asterin - also ridiculous and sounds made up, but I do love Astrid!
Martha - dull
Alba - it's the Gaelic word for Scotland land I wouldn't call my child Scotland
Frieda - really like this
Elowen - like this but I think people may struggle with pronunciation and spelling.
Ailith - sounds made up and she will be forever spelling it out and correcting people.

Thank you @OnlyFlans, that's REALLY helpful

Interesting list OP; nice to see some names beyond the usual suspects, but there are definitely some marmite ones on there!

I do like the sound of Vesper (ditto the similar sounding Zephyr), but I’d save it for a pet rather than a child; love unusual names but it’s just too out there for me. Besides the church thing, the motorbike brand is named after the Italian word for ‘wasp’, which puts me off a bit.

Otherwise from your list I really like Frieda/Frida (considered this for DD) and Elowen is nice too. Not Asterin (agree with the Astrid/Asterix point) but I do love Aster/Asta - again, made our shortlist for DD. Martha is fine but a bit dowdy, and I’m not keen on the others.

So Frieda, Elowen or Aster for me.

Aster would be very fitting if she ends up being born in September!

I love Vesper, but I remember it getting absolutely slammed on here a while ago, so be warned.
Frieda is lovely. Means peace, I believe?
Alba is nice (dawn in Spanish, it's not just a word for Scotland).
Elowen is nice.
Martha is OK. More popular than your other names.
Zephyr, while unusual, I've only ever seen in relation to boys, and going by your other names, I've been assuming you're naming a girl. I like Zeph on a boy.
Dislike Asterin. Prefer Aster. Or the similar but unrelated Astrid?
Not a fan of Ailith, sounds too lispy. Ailis? Ailsa?

Elowen, that's lovely.

Zephyr lends itself to fart jokes.
Vesper is too close to wasps/mopeds (vespa).

Martha is dowdy. Frieda is slightly less dowdy.

Vesper - dislike, reminds me of the bike, also vampires for some reason, just doesn't work as a nice name
Zephyr - this is cool
Asterin - horrible, sounds like a product
Martha - lovely
Alba - lovely
Frieda - lovely
Elowen - lovely
Ailith - I don't like this, agree it's lispy

Vesper is awful - it just reminds me of Italian scooters... and I'm not keen on the 'hissing' sound of the name. Zephyr is also not good - just a bit naff. I wouldn't want to be called either.

Martha is ok, but sounds a bit frumpy to me.

I like Alba. I Love Frida, spelt this way. Elowen is pretty, but the pronunciation may be an issue.

Asterin? No! Astrid is better known, but dislike the 'ass' sound in both - it's very harsh.

Ailith - not keen. Sounds like Ailish with a lisp.

Generally, I think it's good to give your child a more unusual name. I have a pretty obscure Shakespearean name - I got a bit of teasing at school, but nothing terrible, and I get lots of compliments about my name now. The world would be very dull if we all called our kids Olivia or Sophia, and I think people are becoming more adventurous with names generally, so less scope for teasing.

@ComeonJulia
How are the biblical Martha, classic Freida, ancient Alba, and lovely Cornish Elowen 'ridiculous'? What a bizarre comment. The others are rare but these are well known and well established names! We can't all name our kids Lily-Mae and Archie

Thanks again everyone, this is so useful.

@MrsBertBibby I don't get the fart joke thing, can you explain?!

So here's a wider question, if we're looking for girl names that are unusual and either old English/ Welsh or Scandinavian (without being straight out of lord of the rings), have we missed any?

Zephyrus is the Greek god of the West wind.

A Zephyr is a warm, moist breeze....

I couldn't use Vesper for the impact it will have as a teenager with "taking a ride" jokes. So please consider that.

I also love unusual names but that one would be a bit much with the jokes.

Ah ok, I thought I knew toilet humour but that's tenuous even for me!

Really? "Wind" doesn't immediately suggest wind/fart jokes? I reckon it does to school kids!

If you live in London any of those names are fine.

My personal favourite is Martha.
Vesper - the evensong and scooter association don’t bother me, I just think of wasps.
Zephyr - I quite like it but I’d feel a bit of a dick being called it.

Don’t let me put you off imaginative names (as opposed to younique) - I’m pro them in general, just not wild about these in particular.

Generally, I think it's good to give your child a more unusual name. I have a pretty obscure Shakespearean name - I got a bit of teasing at school, but nothing terrible, and I get lots of compliments about my name now. The world would be very dull if we all called our kids Olivia or Sophia, and I think people are becoming more adventurous with names generally, so less scope for teasing.

Agree with this.

Just trying to get some other ideas, any other suggestions? For example what about Morgan?

It has family meaning, and is also quite unisex which is ok with us, but keen to know what others think?