Bree, Leonora, Juliet etc

[CandyflossGin]

DH and I have come up with a shortlist of names for our daughter due in November. Would greatly appreciate any feedback!

We already have a DS named Henry and her middle name will be Violet after my grandmother.

Thanks in advance! (Not in any particular order)

Leonora
Juliet
Jolene
Caoimhe (pronounced Keeva - DH is irish)
Bree
Emmeline

Emmeline Violet. Also love Juliet, but not with Violet. Congrats!

Juliet is gorgeous and miles ahead of the rest but I'm not sure that it goes with violet. Too many 'et' sounds going on.

I like the sound of Keeva but the spelling would totally throw me. Bree is OK but sounds like it should be short for something - Brianna etc?

Sorry I'm not a fan of the rest.

Emmeline or Juliet

All lovely except Jolene and Bree😬

Leonora Violet

Emmeline or Juliet, though Violet doesn’t pair well with Juliet. I also like Jolene but only because i like the name/nn ‘Jolie’ (i know a child with this name and it suits her so well!)

Juliet is my favourite of your list, so pretty! It wouldn’t go too well with Violet though.

Caoimhe is also pretty but again, not with violet. Too many V sounds.

Of your list Leonora Violet are the best together x

All my children have Irish names and although I’m a fan of them I think certain ones just won’t do well in England, Caoimhe is one as it’s too “out there” with spelling v pronunciation for English people. Will also be ridiculously hard in school spelling her name phonetically. One of my DDs gives me grief on her Irish name which is a lot easier to pronounce and spell phonetically than Caoimhe.

Love Emmeline and although I personally don’t know any I did read it was getting popular on MN somewhere.

Leonora is beautiful, but then again one of my favourite girls names is Lenore, I just couldn’t have it because of the fabric softener 😢

Like Juliette and Bree, think both names are due a resurgence.

Jolene, no no no not unless you want Dolly sung at her her entire life. Not that I don’t love a bit of Dolly, but 8 couldn’t do that to a child.

I wish I could tell you my real name. Although it’s a perfectly acceptable and lovely name, I do love it, I grew up to people constantly singing a horrible song that my name was vaguely associated with, it would be consider crass and inappropriate these days but in the 70/80s no one though twice about singing it to me.

I also slightly prefer Lenore but thought Leonora was far removed enough from the 'lenor' sound that maybe people wouldnt make the connection 😂

Emmeline, Juliet or Leonora for me, but Juliet doesn't work with Violet.

I adore Caoimhe, but in my region it's Kweeva, not Keeva, so be aware of that. English people will really struggle with this one - they will, honestly.

Bree - no, very Desperate Housewives.

Jolene - only if you don't mind the Dolly Parton song.

Love Juliet
Bree is really nice
Loathe Jolene ( that awful song)

I wish I could tell you my real name. Although it’s a perfectly acceptable and lovely name, I do love it, I grew up to people constantly singing a horrible song that my name was vaguely associated with, it would be consider crass and inappropriate these days but in the 70/80s no one though twice about singing it to me.

"Come on Eileen" or "Look at me, I'm Sandra dee"??

OP, I vote Juliet or Leonora

Caoimhe is a name I really like but the Caoimhe’s I know pronounce it Kee- vay.

Bree is pretty too,

I don’t like Bree, I know the spelling is different but my first thought is the cheese.

Juliet is beautiful but doesn’t go with Violet - would Julia work instead?

Otherwise I’d go for Emmeline or Leonora.

Emmeline

What about Briege?

Leonora

Emmeline is pretty, goes best with Henry in terms of style and sounds nice with Violet.

Juliet doesn't work with Violet.

I personally dislike Leonora, though nothing objectively wrong with it.

Caoimhe would be okay.

I don't think Bree goes with Henry at all, style-wise.

Juliet is my favourite by miles but doesn't work with Violet, so I'd go for Emmeline (or ditch Violet!).

I like Leonora, Caoimhe, and Emmeline. Of those, Leonora and Emmeline go best with Violet as the middle name. Caoimhe Violet has too many Vs running together.

Jolene is far too Country and Western - the song Jolene is almost a parody of C&W - Juliet Violet doesn't work at all, Bree is very 80s Irish American, and doesn't go with Henry or Violet.

Children don't learn to spell their names phonetically. They learn the letter sequence almost as a song, like the ABCs. They learn to write the letters in the correct order but often with letters backwards. Their name is often the first word they manage to write. They don't need to know anything of phonics in order to write their name.

Having an Irish name isn't going to interfere at all with a child's ability to write it.

How do people here think hundreds of thousands of English speaking Irish children manage in school in Ireland?

We are going with Leonora, it’s gorgeous and underused and has amazing nicknames! Leo, Nora, Nell, Leni etc. Leonora Juliet would be beautiful.

What about Julianne/Julianna? Would go better with Violet than Juliet does.

I came to say exactly this.

Thanks for all the feedback so far!