Thoughts on Willow?

[MadamPomfrey]

I'm expecting baby no.2 and just found out it's a girl! I have one DS and the name we chose for him had he been a girl was Willow. We actually had that name before he was even conceived!

My DH still wants to use it, but I'm now not 100% sure. It's just entered the top 10 baby name list for girls (not that that matters completely, but I don't want something too popular that there will be X number of her name in her class/year). It can't really be shortened to anything very nice, again not that I want a name that can be shortened, but I worry about her getting a nn I hate/her being bullied.

Don't get me wrong, I still like it, I just don't know if I love it. DH however loves it so it would be helpful if I could fall back in love/get used to it again! I don't know if it's just not a novel idea any more as we've had it for a few years?!

Please let me know what you think of it!

Other names I really like but DH isn't sure about are:
Hazel
Olive
Autumn
Alice
Penny
Summer

Thank you!

Sorry OP I’m not keen on Willow at all and mostly for the reasons you mentioned (popularity and lack of nice nn’s). It’s sudden rise makes it seem a bit faddy and it may seem dated later on.
Hazel, Autumn and Penny are all lovely.
Maybe Fern, Cassia/Cassie or Robyn/Robin for suggestions?

I work in a school and we have 3 Willows in our reception class this year

Penny is the cutest name. Very refreshing. Hazel nice too.

Dont like Willow plus is risky if she may have a larger frame. There was a Willow at my school who was large and it felt cruel.

I like Willow, it's pretty and if you love it I'd go for it. However if you are concerned about it dating, I'd go for Alice from your list. It's also very pretty, classic and in my humble opinion, prettier/nicer than the others except Penny, which is cute but feels a little bit basic.

Autumn and Summer in particular will date worse than any of the names. Olive and Hazel are clunky (sorry) and of those, Olive will probably date as well despite being an older name. It might be an older name but is having a current resurgence in popularity which will likely fade.

Hazel is lovely, as is Alice. Summer and Willow are ok, but a little too hippy for me. Not keen on the others, especially Olive.

It's nice but it's very 'of the moment' name and I wonder if 30 years from now it will be seen as a Dawn or a Tracy type name.

Not keen on Willow.

From your list I like Hazel, Olive, Autumn and Penny.

Other suggestions -
Wren
Fern
Flora
Heather
Margot
Poppy

Also, Alice can have the nn Lissy, which is cute.

Alice is such a wet sappy name. God knows why it’s so popular

Willow is nice, I think it's popular for a reason. Too popular for me, but different people have different tolerances with that, top 10 I would see it as too high risk that someone at her school, sports club, brownies... would have the same name. Though names are not evenly distributed across the country, there could be only 2 girls called Willow in 2022 in the whole UK and chance could mean they were in the same class. So you can't always put too much weight into stats.

Obvious nn is Will, are you ok with this?

I can't get caught up with the idea of kids creating nicknames to bully others. I struggle to think of a girls name more common and normal than Sarah, but when I was at school a girl was known as Psycho Sarah, so anything can be turned against a kid if the bullies want to.

I think it will be unfortunate if she isn’t Willow-y (I would not want to be a dumpy Willow) also there are a lot of them.

I don’t like your alternatives much (Alice is alright, but way overused) but maybe..

Robin
Flora
Sorrel
Laurel
Briar
Cassia
Aster
Arran
Iona
Bay
Jasmine
Jocelyn
Zoe
Aisling (Ash-linn)
Ffion
Stella
Ianthe
Beatrice nn Bea

I love Willow! I wouldn't care how popular it is. I think it's so pretty.

Willow Hazel would be lovely together.

I prefer Hazel, I don't care for Willow. How about:
Vicky
Anastasia
Belinda
Harriet
Shona
Pamela
Rosamund
Chloé
Heather
Tabitha
Christina
Helena
Jasmine
Imogen

Willow is a lovely name.

So, for context, there were roughly 2000 Willows last year, in the whole of England and Wales. That's not a huge amount for the size of two countries and the population tbh. They're not all going to be in one area.

I love the name Willow for what it's worth.
I also like Autumn from your list but the rest aren't to my taste.

Buffy

her sidekick was Willow the vampire slayer

Sorry, don't know what I did to the text.

Buffet was the vampire slayer.

Willow was a witch

Buffy ffs

The only Willow I know of is Willow Rosenberg.

P.s. I've just finished a Buffy marathon, sad because the Angel series just doesn't do it for me.

I know several Willows, including a boy.
I am really not keen on Olive or Hazel, but Rowan is lovely.
Penelope is rare and glamorous.

It's a bit bleugh to me. I feel like the name had its day a few years ago and I don't think it's a particularly nice sounding name.

I much prefer the other names on your list.

Willow was a contender for our 2nd child’s name but ended up using it for our female dog (springer) as the baby was another boy, we called him Rowan.

It's nice but it sounds like a dog's name; lots of whippets are called Willow.

If you’ve just found out you’re having a girl, won’t she be born in Spring? I wouldn’t use Autumn or Summer for that reason.

Willow is nice enough, but I don’t love it.

I’m getting a ‘nature’ vibe from your names. Hazel is lovely. What about:

Heather
Wren
Iona
Ivy
Iris
Robyn
Azalea