Struggling for girls

[fadingfast]

Hi. Our 'short' list for girls names is still not getting anywhere so if you've got any views on the following names I would be v grateful. We like quite traditional names(DS1 is Henry)

Emma
Amy
Eleanor
Martha
Alice
Laura
Frances

Also, does anyone think it would be a mistake to have a name ending in 's' or 'ce' when our surname starts with 's'? It's always been a fixation of mine (that we should avoid it) but now I'm not so sure...

thanks

I love Martha. Not sure about frances. All the others are lovely.

Eleanor.

Just lovely.

In fact any of them except Martha.

Sometimes I think I'm the only person in the world who dislikes Martha.

.....the name Martha, I should say.

From your list I like Martha best. Eleanor is nice too. I find the others a bit more plain but thats all I would have against them personally.

I think I would generally agree with your rule about the S and ce ending but I think you should take each name on it's own merit -some may actually sound fine togther.

btw - I also like Margot and Megan if you feel like adding them to your list (no more DDs for us )

I love martha - don't like (the names) Amy, emma and Francis.

I like Martha and Frances from your list.

Here's some traditional possibilities using your short list:
Claudia Eleanor
Frances Emmaline
Laura Alice
Holly Frances
Emma Catherine
Amy Nicole

Sorry I can't think of anything for Martha but it's still a lovely name.

Martha is my favourite from your list

my top pick would be Laura (but I'm biased )

Agree that eg Alice Stone is too many s sounds

I love Emma (DD is one) but it is very popular, there are going to be 3 of them in her primary 1 class. She is forever being called Emma ?(initial of surname). That is despite my requests for them to use her first and middle names.

I love Alice too.

Eleanor
Alice
Emma

Am feeling very smug since we have a name for DD3 now, girls names are HARD

I'm finding boy's names much more difficult tbh!

Really like all the names on the list, but I do think that -s or -ce names with an S surname rarely work. Something like Francesca might though.

what about Emilia? I love it, the character in Othello is just about hte best female character Shakespeare wrote imo and it's much prettier than Amelia (less commonly used too I think)
From your list Alice is my favourite although ds was Emma for a while (before we knew he was ds obviously)

Love Frances but Dh wouldn't let me have it for ours...and not too common. Have not met any Frances. Also love Martha and Alice although Alice is becoming more popular.

Emma- it's a o.k. name...
Amy- like a lot
Eleanor- really like a lot
Martha- not that keen personally
Alice-it's a cute name...never really liked it, but it's grown on me over the years
Laura- tis o.k.
Frances- not sure

I don't like Frances and I don't think I would go for another "y"ending so that would rule Amy out for me too.

I'm biased towards Laura but I think that Emma goes very well with Henry.

Other thoughts are

Clara
Elsa
Ruth
Rebecca
Catherine
Jemima
Dora

I would probably avoid ending with a 's' sound if the surname starts with one, which is a shame as Alice is my favourite from your list!

Also like Emma, Eleanor and Martha though!

I love the name Martha; beautiful.

I like Amy, but spelt Aimee.

I love Alice and Elinor (has to be the Jane Austen spelling for me though!) and considered both of them for dd1.

Martha is nice too.

Thanks all. We keep coming back to Martha and DH is adamant that is what we should have, but I also like Eleanor a lot. Was a bit put off though by friends who pointed out the risk of her being called 'Smelly Ellie' (and I do remember an unfortunate girl at school being called that).

Am convinced it's a boy anyway so all this is probably in vain. Boys names are so much easier!

Esther?
Edith?
Esme?

Emma..nice name
Amy...love it
Eleanor...nice name
Martha...really don't like at all
Alice...not keen on
Laura...it's OK
Frances...really dislike

Emma..lovely
Amy...lovely
Eleanor...lovely (esp Elinor a la Jane Austen but maybe condemned to lifetime of misspelling)
Martha...really don't like at all, makes me think of the housemaids in Handmaid's Tale which is rather dark and grim
Alice...not keen on, too prissy middle class
Laura...it's OK
Frances...really dislike but had very vigorous NCT teacher with that name... just makes me think of her labour pain impression I'm afraid.
I'd avoid the S-S you are worried about. But then (according to some) I have a slight lisp so maybe that's personal!