Girls names

[DeeDeeDaisy]

I've always loved longer names that give you nn options but we just can't decide on any of those, so I've opened my mind and have started considering shorter names. Trying to compromise!
What do you think of -

Esme (hubby's favourite)
Lydia (surname begins with an L)
Naomi
Phoebe
Millie (don't usually like nickname-as-name names but I don't mind this one and I don't like any if the longer versions)

Any other suggestions?

I feel like I like them all but don't love any. All the names I love, my husband doesn't! We've talked about SO MANY names! It's driving me mad!

---

We can see this thread is quite old now but if you’ve landed here looking for baby naming inspo, our recently updated 1000 top girl names article may offer some ideas.
MNHQ

Esme - it’s ok
Lydia - quite like this
Naomi - like this
Phoebe - love this, I know one who goes by Bee which I love too. So also gives a nn option if that’s what you want!
Millie - not keen

LOVE Phoebe (I too would use nickname Bee) and Naomi and really like Lydia too. All cool biblical women so a strong background but with a modern feel.

Don't like the others, boring, overdone and nothing-ey in my opinion.

Ezmay (Love ) Esmee (Detest)
Lydia.. Its okay. I neither particularly like or dislike it.
Naomi Love
Phoebe See Lydia.
Millie Don't like at all.

Other names you might like.
Sophie.
Hannah
Lucia
Alice

Millie - boring. It’s so overused and always paired with Rose/Grace/May the obligatory middle names for girls. Doesn’t feel like an actual name

Really like Lydia and Naomi.
Phoebe nice but popular. Don’t like Esme and it usually has pronounciation issues.

Esme - Love it!
Lydia - Like
Naomi - Don’t like. (There was a Naomi in my year at school. The boys would tease her because backwards her name is “I Moan”)
Phoebe - Sounds too ‘twee’
Millie - Not keen. Know a lot of dogs called Millie.

Longer names:

Annabelle - Anna/Annie/Anya/Belle/Bella
Isobel - Izzy/Izz/Issy/Belle
Victoria - Vicky/Toria/Tori/Tor
Alexandra - Alexa/Lexy/Lex
Henrietta - Ri/Etta
Felicity - Fliss/Flissy
Francesa - Fran/Frankie/Chesca/Cesca
Eleanor - Ellie/Elle
Sophia - Soph/Phia/Fia

Shorter names:

Lilly
Ava
Nancy
Rose
Clia
Louelle

If you like them all and he wants esme Why not go with that?

Esme - not a fan. The "sm" part sounds weirdly sinister.

Lydia - lovely. With an L surname it would be very cool.

Naomi - gorgeous. But word of warning - if you go with the Nay pronunciation, the world will still call her Nigh-oh-me. I speak from bitter experience, as I am a Nay-oh-mee!

Phoebe - beautiful.

Millie - a bit nothingy. Just weak sounds.

Esme - I like it, but I do think of Twilight can't see that being an issue
Lydia - absolutely nothing wrong with this name but I don't know why I don't like it. Something about it but I don't know what!
Naomi - I like it
Phoebe - my favourite
Millie - not a fan it seems like it needs more to it.

Esme - it's ok. Super popular and there's always the pronunciation and the accent/no accent issue
Lydia - I love this
Naomi - nice
Phoebe - one of my pet hates. Just can't get past feebs / feeble
Millie (don't usually like nickname-as-name names but I don't mind this one and I don't like any if the longer versions) - I don't like it as a full name. I like it as a shortened version of Amelie or Amelia

How about:
Miriam
Martha
Miranda
Judith
Eleanor
Charlotte

I like Naomi, this was on our list.

I don't like Millie (this is our neighbor's dog's name lol)

The others are ok but I wouldn't use them myself

Very much like Lydia. ( Anyone remember the tv series “Love for Lydia” ? I used to watch it with my Mum).
Also like Phoebe and Naomi.
I like all fivebeans suggestions too. Miriam is lovely.

Esme - no, too trendy, will date badly
Lydia - like, how does it sound with the surname?
Naomi - no, because people say it in several different ways
Phoebe - like
Millie - not keen

Do you like Emilia - Millie

Penelope - Penny
Ophelia - FiFi

Alessandra nn Ally

I've never liked Phoebe - just the sound of it… Feebee. I always think that with names, when you start saying them over and over again, it kind of breaks them down and you hear the sound rather than how it appears… Do you know what I mean? No to Millie: I know so many Millies.

I've always like Lydia. I like Esme, and I don't know any apart from the woman on the 'Great British Sewing Bee' (and she's really cool!)

I like Charlotte/Lottie
Sophie/Sophia/Sofia

Right now if I was having a DD – and there is no chance of that – I would really be pushing for Elinor. I know somebody that called her daughter Eleanor, and I thought that was a nicer spelling than Elinor, but the more I think about it, the more I think Elinor is more elegant. I like the way it looks, and I keep saying it over and over… Elinor, Elinor ... and you could always call her Elle or Ellie.

I love Naomi
Phoebe and Esme are lovely too
Lydia and Millie are neither positive nor negative for me.

You've got a lot of Biblical names on your list. How about:
Abigail, Delilah, Esther, Joanna, Keziah, Miriam, Rebekah, Rachel, Susannah or Talitha

Or, on the same lines as Esme and Millie but perhaps not ones you'd immediately think of:
April, Blythe, Callie, Dana, Effie, Fleur, Greta, Heidi, Inez, Joy, Leonie, Melody, Nita, Opal, Posy, Queenie, Romy, Sadie, Tansy, Verity, Winnie

I love Lydia!
I have one.
I’d call her Lydia Louise if I could do it over again.
Also love Naomi (and knew a fantastic Naomi).
Also love Esme.

Other names I like that sort of are in the same vein (I think):
Julianna
Vivienne
Ida
Mari
Clara
Lisette
Joy
Wilhelmina (NN Mina) - I particularly love this!
Francine
Eliana
Audrey

Esme - love it
Lydia - also love it, especially with an L surname
Naomi - pretty
Phoebe - not keen
Millie - know too many. But I like it as short for Camille or Camilla

Lydia - great, alliteration should be OK if something like Lydia Lawrence

Naomi - nice enough, people sometimes mispronounce as NYE-oh-mi which the one I know finds annoying
Phoebe - nice enough, quite popular, how do you feel about Pheeeebs??

Esme - done to death and pronunciation issue

Millie - it’s a diminutive only and quite a babyish one. Put Emily or Camilla or something on the birth cert.

My daughter is 28 and was the only Esme we ever met until about 5 years ago .
It was a really unusual unique name …she used to get really upset that absolutely no tat had her name on it 😂
Still love her name but also really like Phoebe

I'm astonished that on a forum which consistently picks out the most obscure reasons to not like a name, I'm the only one on here not liking Lydia. It's like a cross between labia and chlamydia.

That reminds me of the Cabin Pressure episode where they are identifying people who aren't evil but have evil-sounding names.

DOUGLAS: Well you can do any name in the voice. But there's nothing wrong with it. It's…Well, Calista is from the Latin for beautiful. And Flockhart, what could be nicer than the flock of hearts?
CAROLYN: Calista's suggesting callouses and blisters, Flock's suggesting flog, pluck and pick. Calista Flockhart, the calloused and blistered one who comes to flog and pluck your heart.
DOUGLAS: Nonsense.

@Thatswhyimacat , Lydia's a biblical name. I know a couple of them, one gets called Lyds, which I don't like. It also makes me think of Lydia Bennett

I don't like Sophia and Mia because they seem samey along with all the other names with a long EE sound in - Soph-EE-a, M-EE-a, Am-EE-lia, Oph-EE-lia etc

I say Naomi as NAY-ummy
Lots of people say Nigh-OH-mie
I think pp says Nay-oh-mie

Nigh-OH-mie just sounds wrong

I’m personally not that keen on any but probably like Esme best. Others

freya
margot
maisie
tilly
violet
beatrice
beatrix
thea
elsie
evelyn
zoe
alana
penelope
nancy
heidi
eliza