What does a ‘strong’ name actually mean?

[Scotskynon]

What makes a strong name? I’m curious as I see a lot of people say they want a strong name, but, what does it actually mean? Especially girls names

Maybe names with the 'ee' sound are perceived as less strong, as the sound is often added as a childhood diminutive?

Si not Jamie, Alfie for boys, and not practically any girls name.

Strong girls names therefore following that reasoning: Ruth, Victoria, Elizabeth, Catherine, Rachel.

I think also an R or Z at the start sounds strong so Zara, Zoe, Zian, Rebecca.

Not a diminutive, hard consonants, owned by a strong person. Any combination of those.

In my experience, it often means "I want to give my girl a boy's name."

However, it also means no ie or y endings.

What the PPs have said above, and I'll add not the vowel-consonant-vowel names that have been everywhere for a while now.

Eve Eva Ava Evie Ada Isla Aoife Elle Ellie Ella etc

For me I think of it as a classic name not a name that sounds more like a nickname

Charlotte, Harriet, Emma, Rachel

Not Ellie, Ella, Lizzy,.
Which fits in what others have said above

To me it means you can imagine "Prime Minister" before it. We have PM Margaret and PM Theresa. We don't have PM Molly or PM Poppy.

That's partly generational though, a PM Molly or Poppy won't be surprising when current children and teens are middle aged.

I think of strong names as being traditional names such as Saints, Kings and Queens names.

Constanent rather than vowel ending sound - associated with boys ( strong) as opposed to girls ( pretty )

Useful if you want to try and encourage people not to make instinctive simplistic assumptions about your child based on sex ( small effect but noticeable over large numbers )

We've also had a Liz and Tony, which are diminutive.
Boris , Rishi and Keir. As well the stronger named John, David and Gordon.

To me a strong girls name is something traditional and non flowery. Names such as Elizabeth, Victoria, Alexandra, Catherine, Rebecca, Margaret, Helena, Sarah, Maria etc rather than Lily, Daisy, Evie, Rosie, Poppy etc. All lovely names btw

I agree with the no ee sounds at the end. My grandmother called my baby name list 'scullery maid names' which did make me think I have to say.

Agree with pp. Girls names ending in ee or ie are not strong names, or names that are just 'sounds' - Ava, Evie, Amy, Ellie.

Stronv names - longer, more distinct syllables, more consonants - Rebecca, Victoria, Caroline, Alexandra, Harriet.

Some names just sound wishy washy. Strong names have that solid consonant sound where there are distinct, separate sounds, rather than all the letters flowing into similar sounds. So Evangeline, rather than Evie etc

@CelesteCunningham "That's partly generational though, a PM Molly or Poppy won't be surprising when current children and teens are middle aged"

I will put money on most PMs still having names from The Times birth announcement pages.

Not names like Teddy, Alfie, Archie,

Or

Ellie, Evie, Lily

Proper names such as Edward, James, Alexandra, Catherine, etc

Poppy is a posh girl name, much seen in the Times name pages

Agree not flowery “-y” names like Lily or Daisy or Poppy or Emily.

Agree, not flowery/soft and more than one vowel but also not too many.

I have Stella and Juno which I think are strong but not traditional.

Names with stronger consonant sounds.
Names that aren't obviously going to get shortened.
Names that aren't excessively vowelly.

Disagree about Evangeline - it's just another Evie name.

Many of the recent PMs haven't had 'Times birth announcements' type names.
Keir, Rishi, Liz, Boris, Theresa, David, Gordon, Tony, John, Margaret.

The Molly I know is extremely posh!

'Many of the recent PMs haven't had 'Times birth announcements' type names.
Keir, Rishi, Liz, Boris, Theresa, David, Gordon, Tony, John, Margaret.'
Liz is Elizabeth, Boris is Alexander (which friends and family call him - Boris is a cynical attempt to make him seem like a cuddly buffoon) - Tony is Anthony. David, Gordon, John and Margaret are all good, solid names on the UK.

This made me laugh. It reminded me of my dad (born 1934) who considered the first few names my mum wanted for me to be "servants names". I got a sensible bible name, thank God. :-)

@Gorgonemilezola , they are standard British names if you ignore that some of them are diminutives.
That some are called by their middle names or diminutives is a factor, as they will probably have chosen to use those names.
Margaret was known by her middle name until she started to use her first name instead.

I got a sensible bible name, thank God. :-)
Me too!

I think scullery maid is a worse insult than servant. From my knowledge of Downtown, it goes housemaid, kitchen maid then scullery maid.