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

Stella- ok
Dillon- no
Paloma- like
Elva- ok
Alva- ok
Sydney- nah
Nancy- like
Stevie- ok
Frida- ok
Anaise- no
Allegra- not keen
Mabel- like
Anouk- no
Anoushka- no
Aster- no
Aurora/Rory- love
Bluebell- like
Cecily- ok
Clover- love
Fleur- ok
Flora- like
Cosima- ok
Delphine- like
Etta- like
Effie- ok
Mila- meh
Evangeline- like
Ever- no
Nola- ok
Gabriella/Gigi- no
Iris- like
Maeve- ok
Marigold/Goldie- like
Marla- no
Marlowe- ok
Uma- no
Pandora- like
Robin- no
Romilly- like
Vivienne/Vivi- no
Xanthe- love

+1 for Francesca, but from your first list I love how “Barnaby and Flora” go together

Stella

Effie
Iris
Allegra
Paloma are such pretty names

Ocean
Star
Esmeralda
Blue

Love this list OP - way most interesting than most I’ve seen on here lately, and lots of these were on our (also ridiculously overlong) list for DD.

Immediate (honest) thoughts:

Stella - quite like, but feels a bit ‘harder’ than Barnaby to me - different style
Dillon - not keen on this for either sex
Paloma - pretty, bit try hard, different style from Barnaby
Elva - too elvish. And will be confused with the endless Evas
Alva - as above, but with Ava
Sydney - Aussie city, not a girl
Nancy - nice, bit more commonplace than Barnaby but similar feel
Stevie - like this but it doesn’t pair well with Barnaby - edgier feel
Frida - love, would be in the running if we had another DD
Anaise - not keen and unconvinced by spelling
Allegra - pretentious and I dislike the ‘leg’ sound
Mabel - very overdone right now
Anouk - cute, quirky but
Anoushka - not keen - feels pretentious and a bit ‘Eurotrash’
Aster - loved this for DD but we were worried it would be heard by some as ‘Asda’!
Aurora/Rory - too frilly/Princess my for my taste
Bluebell - no, feels celeb twee and not very classy (sadly I know one of whom this is very true)
Cecily - weak and insipid
Clover - a guilty pleasure name of mine, but feels super twee with Barnaby, and possibly better suited to a pet
Fleur - no, dislike how it sounds…
Flora- …but really love this.

Cosima - pretentious, even though I quite like how it sounds
Delphine - OK
Etta - no, just feels like a suffix
Effie - too flimsy and nicknamey
Mila - extremely bland
Evangeline - too frilly, and the world doesn’t need yet another Evie!
Ever - nope
Nola - meh
Gabriella/Gigi - too princessy for me, and realistically she’d end up as Gabby or Ella.
Iris - like this a lot, but super popular right now
Maeve - having a moment. Suspect it will date.

Marigold/Goldie - sounds a bit clunky and awkward. Really dislike Goldie for anything other than a dog.
Marla - feels a bit made up and nothingy
Marlowe - no, too celebrity trendy
Uma - OK
Pandora - either Adrian Mole’s sweetheart or Pony Club brat
Robin - quite nice, but a bit nondescript compared to some of the others. Think I’d stick with the Robyn spelling to avoid potential confusion.
Romilly - automatically makes me think of Field Marshall Rommel. Plus it’s too frilly - I dislike ‘illy’ names - and too similar sounding to Barnaby

Vivienne/Vivi - just OK
Xanthe - really like this, but suspect it would mean a lifetime of correcting people’s spelling and pronunciation.

Love both Tabitha and Mara. My shortlist would be those two, plus
Frida
Nancy
Flora
Aster
and maybe Xanthe, if you’re unfazed by spelling/pronunciation issues. Possibly also Stella, if you don’t need the names to ‘match’.

That’s quite the list Op!

My main thing would be that Barnaby is a lovely name with a rich cultural history, and if I were his sister I’d be expect the same, so -

1sts
Cecily

Flora
Stella
Nancy
Aster
Vivienne
Allegra

Other ideas - Rosanna, Claudia, Marianne, Jemima, Tabitha, Oona, Esther, Philippa nn Pippa, Adela, Lois, Caroline, Emmeline, Iona, Isadora, Dorothea nn Dora / Dorey, Francesca, Serena, Frances, Katharine nn Kit or Kate, Susannah, Edwina, Jasmine, Genevieve, Cassia, Fernanda

2nds - nice but slightly odd w Barnaby
Elva
Frida (Freida better)
Sydney
Romilly (not odd but Too Much)
Anouk
Anouska
Robin
Xanthe
Dillon (it’s Dylon)
Evangeline - it does go with Barnaby, but she will be one of a zillion Evies
Paloma - lovely but jars with Barnaby a bit
Cosima - same, but a bit less lovely

No
Alva - ugly. Aphra?
Stevie - only if short for Stephanie, and that’s not great with Barnaby
Anaise - what?! Annelise is nice
Mabel - meh
Aurora/Rory - former is too Disney princess, latter too popular as a boys name
Fleur - always sounds like someone trying to get to the loo before throwing up
Etta - meh
Delphine - sounds like a drug store perfume
Mila - meh
Gabriella / Gigi - OTT, also will likely end up Gaby
Iris - lovely but done to death
Maeve - ugly, also overused, weirdly
Uma - ok, but very weird combo

NO!!!
Bluebell. She’s a baby, not a barbie, and one day she will be a grown woman
Clover - as above, but substitute cute baby cow for Barbie
Effie - wet as a full name, sweet as a nn for Euphemia, but that’s too much
Ever. Do you mean like the French pronunciation of Eva?! Anyway, no.
Nola - no, she isn’t 77 and the victim of a repressed Catholic childhood
Marigold/Goldie - just no:They called her Marigold and hoped she would..
Marla - no. Depressed 1970s barmaid
Marlowe - no. Very low rent indeed
Pandora - no, come on - Pandora’s box?
Primrose - wet and Prim. So no.

I mean Dylan, obvs..

I think the meaning of Mara is 'bitter' (it is in the bible).

Barnaby is lovely.

Stella - gorgeous and perfect with Barnaby
Dillon - awful. An entire lifetime of no I'm a girl
Paloma - not keen. Too linked to Faith
Elva - not keen at all. Sounds like a baby eel (elver)
Alva - nope don't like
Sydney - don't like. Really doesn't go with Barnaby
Nancy - lovely and goes well
Stevie - don't like at all
Frida - nice but the spelling is always tricky
Anaise - looks like a mistake
Allegra - I like it in principle but would worry about "leggy" even though nn's don't normally bother me
Mabel - nice enough but popular
Anouk - nice
Anoushka- lovely
Aster - ok
Aurora/Rory - nice and goes really well with Barnaby (as long as the Rory is just a nn)
Bluebell - awful
Cecily - gorgeous. Definitely my favourite
Clover - also gorgeous
Fleur - lovely
Flora - lovely
Cosima- don't like
Delphine - can't get past the donkey
Etta - it's ok. Prefer Henrietta
Effie - don't like at all
Mila - not keen
Evangeline - it's ok
Ever - is this one a mistake? Nope
Nola- don't like
Gabriella/Gigi - like Gabriella. Don't think Gigi works that well from it
Iris - gorgeous
Maeve - ok - a bit dull
Marigold/Goldie - nope
Marla - nope. Feels very middle aged big-haired Floridian
Marlowe - awful. Really down-market feeling
Uma - prefer Una
Pandora - nope
Robin - prefer the Robyn spelling. It's ok
Romilly - not keen
Vivienne/Vivi - nice
Xanthe- lovely

Cecily, Iris, Stella and Clover are all lovely and would be my picks

Ooh just saw that you added Tabitha.
That's my favourite!

I like Mara, Vivienne, Iris and Robin.

Not so keen on the others due to either pronounciation, style or perception.

I'd suggest Anya, it has a similar feel ? And Alanna.

If you like Mara there's also Marina (though I think I prefer Mara).

I’ve come across Greer in a novel.

I think there was an actress called Greer Garson.

I really like Mabel, Maeve, Etta and Nancy. And I love Barnaby!