Eleanor or Meredith

[Helpmechooseanamein1day]

Hi, if any of my friends / family spot this, please don't share it or make fun of me 🙈

We have a little boy Kit (Christopher) and recently welcomed his baby sister.

We're settled on either Meredith (Merrie) or Eleanor (Nell), but which should we choose?

I do wonder if Eleanor / Nell goes better with Kit, or whether this is my by now fevered / panicked imagination at work. I maybe prefer Eleanor slightly for its sound (all other considerations aside)?? However, I do worry Eleanor and it's derivates are a bit overused - in particular I've noticed it a lot among female acquaintances of my age. Is it a bit square? Will it feel middle aged when she is a young woman? We're particularly not keen on Ellie (don't hate it just find it boring I suppose) and aware you can't always choose the nickname you want.

Meredith by contrast seems very unique (I've never met one) and not dated at all. Is Merrie too twee? I like that it's relatively unisex. Does it "go" with Kit?

We have to name this baby in 2 days(!!!) when she is registered. Got a middle name already for either and they both go nicely with our surname. They're both good names! Help!

Please no new name suggestions, I couldn't handle any more possibilities 😅

Weirdly, I know an Eleanor who has changed her name to Meredith!

I agree with a PP that I like Meredith over Eleanor but Nell over Merry!

I prefer Meredith to Eleanor but prefer Nell to Merrie.

I prefer Eleanor, and I love the spelling Elinor too.

MattyGroves! 😲 What prompted your friend's name change??

Much much prefer Eleanor. Sits very well with kit/Chris/Christopher depending on what HE chooses to use once old enough to decide for himself.
Meredith - not unpleasant. I know more American meredith’s or references so it doesn’t feel wholly uk - but actually doesn’t it have welsh roots? Just less fond of.

@Helpmechooseanamein1day

MattyGroves! 😲 What prompted your friend's name change??

She was changing her surname anyway (divorce) which gave her a bit of a prompt to think about it and decided she wanted a more unisex name as she considers herself non binary these days

I can't believe Meredith is unisex! I think of it as extremely feminine. I had no idea until I googled it after reading the above post. It would be horrible for a boy!

Both are really lovely names. I would probably choose Meredith because Eleanor (especially the derivatives) is so popular. merry is cute for a little girl, and nice on a woman, and as pp says, Edie would be a lovely shortening too.

@Balonzette

I can't believe Meredith is unisex! I think of it as extremely feminine. I had no idea until I googled it after reading the above post. It would be horrible for a boy!

Yeah, it has been a male name historically but isn't really now so it works for my friend's gender presentation but agree it's not a true unisex name

Both names are lovely but I prefer Meredith as it is less frequently used.

I love Eleanor. Meredith ... when I read that name the first thing that popped into my head was Meredith Kercher. I guess because it's a fairly unusual name and it was in the news a lot when I was younger.

I know you specifically said no other suggestions but if you love Nel what about Helena or Penelope? Both nice with Kit/Christopher.

Sorry if I’ve made you frustrated. I struggled naming mine too.

I love Meredith - unusual these days but not an out-there 'unique' name. And I think Merrie as a nickname is lovely.

Not a big fan of Eleanor and she will almost certainly be Ellie. Which I'd always be wary of in case your daughter ends up as Ellie-elephant (I was a very chubby child though so hyper conscious of names that are ripe for bullying). And Nell will always be that twee little child who dies amidst clouds of warbling angels in a Dickens novel.

Definitely Meredith!

I have a Meredith so obviously that's my preference but Eleanor is lovely too - all of the Ellies and Ellas etc would put me off though.

My Meredith gets Meri among the immediate family but Meredith everywhere else. She's still only a baby so who knows what will happen when she's older. I agree Meri/Merry/Merrie is twee but I don't mind that on a baby, and I guess it's up to her when she's bigger.

Eleanor is nice but I only like the Ella-ner pronunciation. I think if you're in Britain, this is still the default way to say it, while the -nor ending is more how people say it in the US, so might be worth taking into account where you live if you're very attached to the -nor version.

Meredith is nice. Just to be difficult, I prefer Ella-ner over Meredith, but Meredith over Ella-nor.

I would go for Meredith due to the current popularity of Eleanor. Would use Edie though, not keen on Merry.

Have you considered Imogen?

All of the adult Eleanors I know are Eleanor not Ellie.

One very young one is ‘Ellie bobs’ or ‘Ellie belly’ occasionally - she’s 6 months old !

Meredith is horrible

Eleanor. I have one. Still love it.
Meredith is meh!

Eleanor

Eleanor is beautiful, definitely would be my choice.

I love Meredith, I had a very long discussions with my DH about it. I never convinced him but I still love it. And Merrie or Edie for short are super cute.

I like both but Meredith is my favourite.

My name's Eleanor (pronounced eh lair NOR) and I prefer Meredith from your choices.