Niamh or Nola?

[Amdal1]

Which do you like better? The middle name will be Lisa for sentimental reasons.

We like both but I’m concerned that Niamh is quite common now but on the other hand Nola may be too unusual!

Thanks for the help!

I think Niamh is lovely, but a friend of mine with an Irish husband chose it for her eldest. She’s in Portsmouth and said that she’s been surprised at how many people can’t pronounce it when it’s written down or write it down when it’s pronounced, as she had assumed it was similar to Siobhan and Seamus etc. in terms of English people being familiar. Her daughter is six now, but she says if she had her time again she would have probably picked another Irish name that’s more widely known in England or spelt it “Neave”.

FWIW I love Nola and have loved it since I saw ‘Match Point’ where Scarlett Johanson plays a Nola, but as PP said Nola Lisa does make me think of the Mona Lisa.

I love Niamh. So lovely too, to remember your best friend.
Nola is ok but in my head I started singing Enola Gay. 🙃

Nola Lisa is a problem sadly as Nola is pretty

Niamh is perfectly normal and I like it as a name

Marnie is outright gorgeous your dh is nuts :)

I love Nola! But I think that's because there's a very young Nola who sets questions on House of Games in the kids' round, and she's hilarious. But Nola says good things to me.

How do you pronounce Nola? Nol-a or No-la?

Shannon and Leah? Are you American?

Niamh is nice. Nola is New Orleans.

I like Nola but agree it doesn't go with Lisa.

Not a huge fan of Niamh. Like Marnie a lot though. Although Marnie Lisa possibly worse than Nola Lisa!

Both are beautiful names - I had them on my short list!

I think Niamh goes better with the middle name, but how often do people get called their full name? I don’t think it matters that much.