Girl shortlist..opinions please

[ellienotts]

We are due a baby girl in October, sister for Joseph. Here are the current names we are thinking of. The middle names will definitely be Elizabeth Kay (or Kay Elizabeth) unless first name is Elizabeth:

Elizabeth (NN Betty or Elise)
Adeline (NN Adele or Della)
Florence (NN Flora)
Leila
Mabel
Rosalyn
Esther
Annabelle

Opinions welcome, what's your favourite? Least favourite? Any other names you think we would like?

My fave is your original suggestion Elizabeth (Betty) Kay. Sounds lovely.

Love Elizabeth. I like Betty, not keen on Elise. I love Libby or Lizzie too. Or Beth. So many great choices.

Adeline (NN Adele or Della) sounds like 'outta line' to me. Adele is a different name and Della is dreadful.

Florence (NN Flora) is nice but popular, Flora is just a different name, not a nn for Florence.

Leila, Mabel, Esther and Annabelle are all fine but not my taste.

Rosalyn is nice and unusual. NN Rosie? Or would go Rosalyn nn Megan or something?!

Out of your suggestions I think..

Florence Elizabeth Kay

Other suggestions

Amelia Elizabeth Kay
Beatrice Elizabeth Kay
Charlotte Elizabeth Kay
Delilah Elizabeth Kay
Emmeline Elizabeth Kay
Felicity Elizabeth Kay
Georgia Elizabeth Kay
Harriet Elizabeth Kay
Izolda Elizabeth Kay
Jemima Elizabeth Kay
Lucy Elizabeth Kay
Matilda Elizabeth Kay
Nellie Elizabeth Kay
Ottalie Elizabeth Kay
Phoebe Elizabeth Kay
Rosa Elizabeth Kay
Sophia Elizabeth Kay
Thea Elizabeth Kay
Violet Elizabeth Kay
Zadie Elizabeth Kay

I like Flora in its own right. Goes nicely with Joseph. Don't like Florence, overdone.

Adeline I always feel is hard to pronounce for some reason.

I quite like Mabel. Elizabeth is a bit dull as a first name I think. Not keen on the others.

Elizabeth - gorgeous and timeless
Adeline - my favourite out of your list as its unusual but still classy
Florence - dislike
Leila - really dislike
Mabel - meh
Rosalyn - lovely
Esther - meh
Annabelle - no

Also like:
Edith NN Edie
Isobel
Rosalind
Evelyn

I like Elizabeth Adeline and Florence, Florence is my favourite.

I'm not keen on the rest of your list, my least favourites are Mabel and Esther.

I think that you are being super optimistic thinking that you will be able to control the nn. While that might be true at home, it won't be so at school. Florence is more likely to have Flo or Florrie as a nn than Flora.

Nb there are lots of Rose and Rosa around, so I fear Rosalyn would merge into those. It's a bit nothingy to me. Annabelle again will merge into lots of Belle and Bella, Anna, Anya etc. Annabel is less sickly.

Totally agree about the nicknames, I'm just thinking of nicknames for when they'll little and don't get a choice 🤣

Elizabeth (NN Betty or Elise) Not a fan tbh. Bit boring, I know it's a classic but does nothing for me. Elise is a lovely name in its own right, but wouldn't be my first nickname for Elizabeth.
Adeline (NN Adele or Della). Not keen. Don't like Della and Adele is a name in its own right.
Florence (NN Flora) perfectly fine. Flora is a name in its own right.
Leila. Nice but prefer Layla spelling of only to avoid people pronouncing it Lee-la or Lie-la (unless that's your intention)
Mabel. Dislike it, feels very frumpy to me.
Rosalyn. Pretty. Quite grown up but elegant.
Esther. Nice enough, neither like or dislike.
Annabelle - like but prefer the Annabel spelling.

If you like Flora why not use that as her name? It's sweet and pretty while she is little, and still cool when she's a grown up.

@AdaColeman

If you like Flora why not use that as her name? It's sweet and pretty while she is little, and still cool when she's a grown up.

I would love to but my husband isn't such a fan of Flora, but likes Florence...so I thought I could sneak it in there as a nickname x

I like Elizabeth but I'm not getting the Elise connection to it. Beth or Betsy are a lot more prettier than Betty. I can't abide Betty its so dowdy and frumpy.

Just my opinion though.
I'm also not getting the connection between Adele and Adelaide.
To me they're 2 completely different names.
I can't find any fault Florence even though I don't personally like it.
Florence Elizabeth Kay just rolls off the tongue.
I love the sound of Leila but I don't like the look of it. I prefer Laila.
Stupid I know as its the exact same name. There's no difference in the pronunciation.
Mabel is gorgeous. 😍Mabel Elizabeth Kay.
Esther Elizabeth Kay. Rolls off the tongue but I despise the name Esther
I love Annabelle
Dont like Rosalyn,

Other names you might like.
Sarah Elizabeth Kay
Dorothy Elizabeth Kay
Megan Elizabeth Kay
Emily Elizabeth Kay
Matilda Elizabeth Kay
Jasmine Elizabeth Kay
Alexandra Elizabeth Kay
Hannah Elizabeth Kay
Molly Elizabeth Kay
Sophie Elizabeth Kay
Martha Elizabeth Kay
Gracie Elizabeth Kay
Nancy Elizabeth Kay

I would say that even if you earmark a nickname for them, you may well find you don't use it - especially if it doesn't trip off the tongue/naturally come from the longer name.

I had in my mind nicknames we would use and we just don't. Partly because we just love the main name and partly because we've made up a host of other pet names as we've gone along. Perhaps when they're school age name-based nicknames will come into play.

The only people I know who've really stuck to nicknames are those who've used them almost exclusively since birth "This is David to be known as Dave" etc

Also, Esther makes me think of alcohol esters...

I like Mabel most out of those, and Esther the least.

Joseph is so lovely and classy and gentle but strong at the same time.

Elizabeth (NN Betty or Elise) - Love Elizabeth's nicknames - all of them - but the name itself is fairly dull
Adeline - LOVE Adeline, but would just stick with the full name, don't like the nicknames
Florence (NN Flora) - Florence is very overdone to the point of becomint seriously dull, Flora is beautiful and still fairly rare - can't you use Flora?
Leila - no, does it go with Joseph. Seems faddy and not strong or substantial enough
Mabel - cute, vintage, trendy
Rosalyn - will be nicknamed Roz, or Lyn. Hate both. Rosa any day
Esther - beautiful, strong, classic, classy
Annabelle - beautiful but a bit frilly

I'd choose Flora or Esther. Perfect for Joseph. 💜

Second choice, Rosa or Adeline.

I'd scratch Leila and Rosalyn off the list.

Florence, Mabel and Annabelle all perfectly nice but nowhere near as good as the others.

I think these are all lovely but I’d be a bit wary of Annabelle as I think of it as “posh” name.

Flora is a beautiful name if you don’t mind that it’s also a brand of margarine. Florence is fine.

Rosalyn’s my favourite (though I would go for Rosalind). I know a little Rosalind, she’s 3 and really cute!

Favourite Mabel
Least Favourites Esther, Leila, Rosalyn and Adeline

Elizabeth is lovely

In order:

Esther is my favourite (nn Tess or Tessa)
Elizabeth (but I prefer nn Beth or Libby)
Adeline
Rosalyn
Leila
Florence
Annabelle
Mabel

Elizabeth (NN Betty or Elise) - lovely classic - but Betty will date I think and don’t like Elise - Libby or Lizbie maybe?
Adeline (NN Adele or Della) - Ok, think Adela is much more beautiful
Florence (NN Flora) - prefer Flora, Florence cute but twee
Leila - blah - so many Lena/Lola/Lara/Lila/Leah/Lyras about..

Mabel - sweet but twee
Rosalyn - lovely but she will end up Rose or Rosie
Esther - lovely
Annabelle - ok, would keep the simpler less frilly spelling Annabel

Serena, Frances, Stella, Honor, Cassia, Edith, Claudia, Marianne might be alternatives

Elizabeth (NN Betty or Elise) - I really like Elizabeth. My favourite nn is Betsy.
Adeline (NN Adele or Della) - Love this. Also Adelina with nn Lina.
Florence (NN Flora) - Very pretty.
Leila - I like but always unsure how to pronounce. I'm assuming Layla but also heard it said Leela.
Mabel - I love this.
Rosalyn - I like all Rose names. Favourites are Rosanna and Rosalie.
Esther - I can never make my mind up on this one.
Annabelle - One of my favourites.

I love your list! The only one I don't like is Mabel. If I had to pick one I'd go for Esther or Annabelle.

Elizabeth (NN Betty or Elise) - Elizabeth nn Betty or Betsy
Adeline (NN Adele or Della) - dislike Adeline and Adele. Della is ok but there are lots of Bellas and Ellas
Florence (NN Flora) - both ok, prefer Flora
Leila - okk but is it Leela, Lile-a
Mabel - not keen
Rosalyn - prefer Rosalind or Rosa
Esther - ok
Annabelle - Annabel is ok but Anna is nicer

I don't understand some of the nn, they mostly seem different names

Elizabeth is my favourite from your list.