Girls List

[Freddie456]

Hello

Thoughts welcomed on my current list of girls’ names:

Grace
Verity
India
Olivia
Briar
Lilah

Grace - not keen. Nice meaning but I don't llike the sound of it
Verity - Ferrety
India - no
Olivia - overused so will always be Olivia Surname outside the home
Briar - nice
Lilah - awful, sounds like Lilo

Grace - bland, very popular
Verity - quite lovely
India - feels overtly colonial to me. India threads are usually divisive and I’d try to avoid giving my child anything loaded as their name
Olivia - it’s so popular there’s nothing anyone can say really. Clearly it’s a fine name as so many are choosing it, but for me it’s just dull
Briar - love it
Lilah - sounds bland, as it fits right in with the vowel heavy names popular for girls at the moment. Lilac doesn’t stand out in a sea of Isla, Ivy, Lily, Ella etc. I prefer the spelling Lila

Grace - it's ok but super popular, definitely not the best name on your list.
Verity - I like this one! Unusual and quite a strong name.
India - not personally a fan but nothing wrong with it.
Olivia- also very popular but much prettier than Grace, so I'd go for this over that if they are the top two for you.
Briar - love this. My favourite on your list.
Lilah- it's ok although I'm not a huge fan.

Thank you!! Super helpful so far and I love that you have all gone through each of the names.

Grace - really pretty, so popular yet it never gets boring
Verity - wouldn’t use myself, but would be interesting to see on someone else
India - beautiful
Olivia - I understand it’s popularity to some extent but it’s way too common at the moment
Briar - a lovely name with a lovely meaning
Lilah - quite pretty but it sort of blends in with all the other names beginning with ‘l’ that are in and out of the top 50 (Lara, Lyra, Layla etc)

Some really nice names - I’d go for Verity, or Briar if you want something really unusual

Grace and Olivia are lovely but way overused

Lilah will just blurr with the multitude of Lily/Lila/Lola/Lara/Lyra/Leah/Lena/Leilas

India I would avoid unless you have Indian heritage, it just sounds unsettlingly colonial on a white British child

Might Briar be ,mistaken for Brian?

I like Grace and Olivia best.

Grace and Olivia are completely overdone.

Verity is a bit twee.

Briar is nice.

India is lovely and Indie is a cute NN.

Lilah I dislike.

Grace - beautiful name I think! Popular but sound lovely
Verity - a bit harsh sounding to me
India - not my kind of name really but had a cool sound to it?
Olivia - very pretty name but of course popular
Briar - I’m surprised people seem to like this?! It sounds very ugly to me and makes me think of Brian
Lilah- love this but prefer the Lila spelling! Kate moss’s daughters name

Grace - pleasant but a bit boring
Verity - lovely!
India - I like it but would feel a bit weird calling my daughter it with no ties.
Olivia - beautiful but crazy popular
Briar - I don’t really like it
Lilah - meh

Grace - very dull
Verity - quite like, sounds strong but maybe a bit horsey?
India - weird colonial vibe
Olivia - pretty, love Liv as nn, popular if that bothers you
Briar - nope, sounds like Brian to me
Lilah - ok, but lots of similar names around at the moment - I prefer Lyra or Luna

Wasn’t the “excuse my tits” lady on Dexter called Lilah?

Grace - no, always reminds me of grease.
Verity - no, ferrety.
India - no, colonial pomposity
Olivia - ok but sooo many of them
Briar - yes absolutely lovely
Lilah - ok but a bit nothingy.

Grace - OK, but it was so popular a few years ago, it's a bit nothingy to me now.
Verity - I like it. Unusual these days.
India - I agree with the others about the colonial vibes so wouldn't use it. I like Indie though.
Olivia - Classic and classy. I don't know any under the age of 30 despite it being the most popular girls name for several years now.
Briar - Love it! Unusual and strong with a slightly whimsical vibe.
Lilah - OK, but it does seem to merge in with a lot of the L names around.

Grace boring. Ten a penny.
Verity like. Nice meaning, too. Very pretty.
India not a fan of it as a name. prefer Indiana.
Olivia dull and too commonplace for my liking.
Briar LOVE. Absolutely stand out.
Lilah blah blah. Like Layla, Lola, Lily, meh.

Grace - nice name, strong and classic
Verity - not keen on the actual sound
India - really dislike, it is quite linked to colonialism for me as that’s when it first emerged as a name
Olivia - pretty. Very very popular in my area but that wouldn’t bother me, but it would bother some people!
Briar - I don’t like it. I think it has a harsh sound
Lilah - very pretty

Briar is great. No to the rest,

Verity is my favourite, a lovely elegant name.

Grace and Olivia, also lovely, but far too popular.

India is my least favourite, and not keen on Briar or Lilah.

I like Olivia best it's timeless. India sounds pretentious. Lilah, I agree about the see if L names.
Briar reminds me of Briar Rose from the fairytale.
Grace is ok just not my taste.
Verify is ok too.

Rules of thumb.

• Don't choose a name in the top ten (unless you really love it and have always wanted to use it, or the child is named after someone dear to you).

• Choose an easier to-spell, popular name if you have an unusual or 'amusing' surname, or a more unusual firstname with a very common surname such as Smith.

• Shortish names go well with longer surnames and vice versa.

• See also my other post on another thread about being careful with how names flow and onerous initials.

Lots of people have names that don't follow the above and sound fine, but this is what my baby name book said and it does help IMO.

I quite like all the names on your list. Briar is unusual and some people idiots might struggle with it. Poor handwriting (not your child's necessarily, other people's) might result in it turning into Blair (made famous by the character in Gossip Girl). I knew a Verity when I was a child and at the time thought it was pretty, unusual but not 'strange'. As it happens, she was a lovely girl too. I'd probably pick that from your list.

Lilah is my favourite. Olivia and Grace are ok but extremely boring. Others not keen on.

Love Grace, classic grows with them.
Verity - it's pretty but not my style.
India, love nn Indie, not sure about India
Olivia - really not keen on this but like Olive
Briar - not my style
Lilah - pretty

Grace - nice enough but also a little harsh sounding to me starting with Gr- and just one syllable
Verity - ok but a bit frumpy to me
India - bit odd, wouldn't saddle child with it
Olivia - boring, overdone
Briar - lovely, interesting and original!
Lilah - nice but very overdone where I am

Grace - pretty, with a nice meaning
Verity - not a huge fan
India - no
Olivia - lovely, but too popular
Briar - no
Lilah - never heard of it, but sounds quite pretty. I'd be worried it would be misspelt and mispronounced