Sister for Barnaby…

[Indecisivenamer]

Hi everyone, due a girl in September but struggling to cut down a very long list of names.
Any faves or thoughts on the below, or even new suggestions despite this already being v long?!

Ideally we want something not too popular (a few of these are which is why we probably won’t choose them), and nothing too girly, although I know some will argue that Primrose is! Unless we love the name, we’d rather it didn’t end in an ‘ee’ to differentiate it from Barnaby.

Stella
Dillon
Paloma
Elva
Alva
Sydney
Nancy
Stevie
Frida
Anaise
Allegra
Mabel
Anouk
Anoushka
Aster
Aurora/Rory
Bluebell
Cecily
Clover
Fleur
Flora
Cosima
Delphine
Etta
Effie
Mila
Evangeline
Ever
Nola
Gabriella/Gigi
Iris
Maeve
Marigold/Goldie
Marla
Marlowe
Uma
Pandora
Robin
Romilly
Vivienne/Vivi
Xanthe

Top 5:
Sydney
Fleur
Mila (As in Mee-La. Don’t like My-La)
Romilly
Xanthe

Absolute NO to:
Bluebell
Clover
Ever
Pandora

Nola 💖

Stella - like
Dillon - awful
Paloma - not keen
Elva - baby eel
Alva - see Elva
Sydney - Sidonie is better
Nancy - ok
Stevie - ok
Frida - ok
Anaise - did you mean Anaïs?
Allegra - like
Mabel - ok
Anouk - ok
Anoushka - dated
Aster - not keen
Aurora/Rory - Too many Rs - Wowy or Vovy or Owowa/Ovova
Bluebell - no
Cecily - ok
Clover - no
Fleur - ok
Flora - like
Cosima - like
Delphine - ok
Etta - Ate a what?
Effie - Effin awful
Mila - no
Evangeline - no
Ever - Never
Nola - no
Gabriella/Gigi - gee-gee? No. Gabrielle a bit 1970s
Iris - ok
Maeve - no
Marigold/Goldie - no
Marla - no
Marlowe - no
Uma - ok
Pandora - no
Robin - no
Romilly - no
Vivienne/Vivi - no
Xanthe - ok

I really like Barnaby, but only like a few on your list. Some of them are dreadful

Mabel or Pandora

Louisa
Hannah
Emily
Alexandra
Lia
Claire

From your list:

Barnaby and Stella
Barnaby and Maeve

Suggestions:

Barnaby and Kate
Barnaby and Melia
Barnaby and Amali
Barnaby and Katya

Stella - no
Dillon - no, not as good as Barnaby and wrong vibe, doesn't 'go'
Paloma - very pretty
Elva - sounds like vulva
Alva - sounds like vulva
Sydney - see comments for Dillon
Nancy - cool
Stevie - no, too nickname-y, not much to it
Frida - gorgeous
Anaise - it's spelled Anais, and as a teen she'd probably get called Anus. Much to my dismay, as I loved it too, but decided not to go for it for my daughter's sake! Teens are mean.
Allegra - lovely, classy, goes well with Barnaby
Mabel - cute and trendy
Anouk - cool
Anoushka - lovely
Aster - no, see comments for Dillon and Sydney
Aurora/Rory - a bit overdone now
Bluebell - a bit quirky, but a beautiful sound. Ive often wondered why this wasn't a more popular name as it ticks all the boxes. I think i am surprising myself by liking it.
Cecily - lovely and goes perfectly with Barnaby
Clover - pretty, but a bit cow-like
Fleur - i liked it until someone on Mumsnet said it sounds like someone being sick
Flora - love it and goes perfectly
Cosima - don't like it at all, no real reason why though.
Delphine - Donkey
Etta - becoming another Evie/Ava type name
Effie - love it as a nickname!
Mila - NO! So boring and overdone.
Evangeline - lovely and classy
Ever - what?
Nola - no
Gabriella/Gigi - very nice, classy
Iris - beautiful but getting popular
Maeve - see comments for Iris
Marigold/Goldie - no yuck
Marla - no yuck
Marlowe - nice sound but very different vibe to Barnaby! Id be really surprised to hear them as siblings
Uma - boring
Pandora - not very nice
Robin - nah
Romilly - reminds me of Rommel
Vivienne/Vivi - it's fine.
Xanthe - it's fine

Paloma, Frida, Allegra, Anoushka, Cecily, Flora. These to me are all perfect.

How about Tabitha?

I like Marigold Goldie

Barnaby & Gabriella is lovely.
I suggest:

Alice
Georgina
Caitlin
Clara
Catriona
Paige
Viola

I really like the name Barnaby and many from your list.

Love, love, love:
Stella (I also like Starr)
Frida
Cecily
Gabriella
Marigold

Not in a million years:
Dillon
Sydney
Allegra
Anouk
Bluebell
Fleur (sounds bleughh)
Delphine (ok if you're French, otherwise not)
Ever
Nola
Pandora
Xanthe

Our dog's name is Xanthe. The number of people who see it written down and don't know how to pronounce it, or hear it said and don't know how to spell it, is huge. It seems to be a less well known name than we expected. This may not bother you but thought I'd just mention it.

I see you have Marla on your list. It's not a name I've heard of before but it's rather nice. Or how about Mara? Or Meredith? Barnaby is a fabulous name!

Lots of lovely names- my favourites from the list are Iris, Elva, Delphine & Aster!

From your list I like Marla and Mabel.

Have you considered Fern/Fearne? It's not over used but seems similar to some of your suggestions.

@Indecisivenamer Mabel goes lovely with Barnaby x

I love Barnaby

Stella - it used to make me think 'wife beater' but now I see it as a strong, sassy name. I like it

Dillon - love on a boy but not for a girl

Paloma - lovely name and I think it really goes with Barnaby. Barnaby and Paloma so lovely. I can just imagine a little Paloma

Elva - not a fan
Alva - ditto - I would avoid names that are similar to Vulva

Sydney - I really like it, a bit 80s / 90s but not in a bad way

Nancy - not a fan. There also seem to be loads in my local area

Stevie - Nice as a NN

Frida - it's nice enough

Anaise - not a fan

Allegra - not a fan

Mabel - cute but there are nicer names on your list

Anouk - love it

Anoushka - lovely but overly frilly for my tastes

Aster - not a fan

Aurora/Rory - hate Aurora, love Rory

Bluebell - too cutsy

Cecily - pretty just not my style

Clover - the cow

Fleur - gorgeous
Flora - lovely but growing in popularity

Cosima - not a fan

Delphine - it's ok

Etta - seems incomplete

Effie - cute but nicknamey. I've heard it can be a NN for Josephine

Mila - meh

Evangeline - lovely but Evie's are everywhere

Ever - Ever what?

Nola - ok

Gabriella/Gigi - like it

Iris - love it but getting more popular

Maeve - like. I also like Mavis

Marigold/Goldie - love it

Marla - meh
Marlowe - no
Uma - not a fan but like Oona

Pandora - nice except for the jewellery brand association. Makes it tacky like using Tiffany. Like Pandie as a NN though

Robin - prefer on a boy

Romilly - no

Vivienne/Vivi - georgous

Xanthe - lovely but not for me

My top choices would be Barnaby and Paloma Iris or Barnaby and Marigold 'Goldie'

Suggestions

• Francesca
• Raya
• Gloria or Gloriana
• Meredith
• April or Avril
• Adeline or Adelaide
• Priscilla

Oh if you like Nola you might get also like Nala, Noa, Astra, Astrid

I know a Barnaby and Kitty.

Anais or Allegra

Sorry,skipped over the ee bit of post 😬

Thanks a lot everyone for your honest feedback and suggestions, has really helped narrow it down (have now removed quite a few names on the list such as ‘Ever’, there’s probably a reason that name is barely used 🤪)

Our surname is hard to spell too so also think that removes the likes of Xanthe as you say @CatkinToadflax , don’t want to make it harder than it already is when you need to give your name!

@mondler I think Fern/Fearne is a lovely name but I just think of Fearne Cotton and it puts me off (who I like so have no idea why that is!)

Adding Mara and Tabitha to the list too now 😊. Clara I like as well but a close friend’s daughter is called that so that one is out I’m afraid

How about Eliza, Sasha or Gabriella?

@17caterpillars1mouse Astrid was on the list, love it! But doesn’t work with our surname unfortunately. Really like Noa!

@17caterpillars1mouse great suggestions thank you 😊. Really like Francesca and also the NN’s associated with it eg Frankie or Cesca - will add to the list. Priscilla I can see being vetoed by husband but I also think that’s fab

Jessica

@buckleten thank you for the suggestions…Gabriella on the list and one of my faves, not too keen on Eliza but really like Sasha, it is just too much of a mouthful with our surname though (lots of ‘sh’s!)