Names for a baby girl

[Sootyandsweepp]

For girls names, we love the girls name Isla, and another name we like is Emilia shortened to Millie. We like the middle name Grace, and our surname is one syllable. What sounds better Isla Grace or Millie Grace?

I love Mila and Norah.

Both would be nice with Grace as a middle name.

Other names:
Camilla Grace
Leonora Grace
Arianna Grace
Daphne Grace
Lena Grace
Lorena Grace
Nina Grace
Ella Grace
Lydia Grace
Alma Grace
Nancy Grace
Leah Grace

Isla Grace is adorable.

Ignore others claiming your choices are boring" or "too popular". Too popular is such a subjective term. Too popular for who? Too popular for them, clearly, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use them as I'm guessing you're seriously considering them that doesn't matter to you. We all have different tastes, not everyone is striving to stand out or be different.

Personally I much prefer Isla and Emilia to your additional list of Mila, Aria and Norah. Norah isn't too bad, but a very different style to your other names. Mila and Aria are both incredibly trendy right now and could end up dating quickly I think.

Personally I would avoid Emilia with your surname. There's a popular book character, aimed at young children, called Amelia Fang. Emilia Pang is virtually the same and could lead to some gentle teasing when she reaches school age. Isla Pang is a much less problematic combination.

@BoleynMemories13 I never understand the popularity debate, either. They're popular for a reason.
My son was 1 of 4 in his reception class. Never bothered me at all - I love his name. My name is also popular - I like it.

The popularity issue is that the names tend to drop in popularity and the name slots you into an age group, and ageism is rife. (e.g. Karen)
Also you run the risk of giving your child a name that is duplicated. Isla Grace is such a popular combination that she might be one of several Isla Grace Smiths at school or work.

With Emilia, there's the sameyness with Amelia, Emily, Amelie, Emmeline, Emma etc, again with the same middle name and surname.

XH was one of two at his office with the same name, and it wasn't a particularly common name, they got each other's emails (confidentiality etc), and he was horrified to receive emails on his first day with 'Hi Jim' on them when he was never ever called Jim and was always James or Jay.

I agree with you to an extent @JimNast in that you definitely want to avoid trendy names in case they date. But that is not necessarily the same as popularity- names like Emily (as opposed to Amelia/Emilia) , Charlotte, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Rose etc (and yes, James for boys amongst others 🤣) are all popular but they are also timeless enough to avoid being the equivalent of “Karen” in the future.

As @BoleynMemories13 said many people don’t care if there happens to be someone else with their name in class (or later in work) - in fact kids often like it in my experience as it means they “fit in” (and can probably find tat with their names on in the shops!). A popular name plus common surname might cause confusion or confidentiality issues - but if OP is in the UK, Pang isn’t that common a surname to have to be concerned about that imo.

Good point about the surname being unusual. Liz Truss more memorable than Liz Jones etc

My point was, it's only an 'issue' for some as we're all different in terms of what we look for in a name.

If someone says they're looking for something unusual and some of the names they have listed are rapidly on the rise and are now far from unusual, I'll point it out as I assume they'll appreciate knowing that. If someone hasn't mentioned that they're bothered by popularity though, and they're considering names that are statistically popular, I'd assume this doesn't bother them. Terms like "too popular" are so subjective that they're utterly pointless feedback for someone who isn't bothered by that. "Too popular" for the personal saying it, maybe, but not "too popular" for anyone to use.

There's a happy medium, @BoleynMemories13 . Most feedback is useful, apart from the 'Have you considered Felicity, Aveline, Isabella or Arabella? when the OP was asking 'Ava or Isla?'

How about Isabella?

I really like Emilia and it goes nicely with Grace. Isla is nice too but I’m not sure Isla Pang sounds quite right!

It totally depends on the circumstances as to whether the feedback "too popular" is useful.

When someone is asking which sounds best out of two names, and the feedback is "neither as they're both too popular" that doesn't sound particularly helpful or useful to me, when the OP has given no indication that they see popularity as a problem.

If someone directly asks about the popularity of a name, it's obviously worth commenting if you think it's too popular. If someone claims to be looking for unusual but is considering names far from unusual, it may be useful feedback that actually their choices are far more usual than they'd probably like. When popularity isn't asked about though, it's not really useful to tell someone their choices are all too popular. Not everyone wants unusual. There may be a 'happy medium' for you, but not everyone is bothered whether their child's name is in the top 10 or not. For many, finding something they both love and agree on is all that matters. We're all different.

Yes, we are all different and our tastes are different, and the feedback we offer is different. You seem to want posters to conform to what you consider to be 'useful feedback'.

And?? I'd rather be "boring" than use some chavvy, madey-uppy name!

And actually, not "every girl has those middle names"! Neither of mine do. Middle names are hardly ever used in any case!

Does that happen to Emilia Wickstead, fashion designer? Or Emilia Fox, actress?

When you break down the 'popular names', it doesn't necessarily translate into a huge number of babies being given a certain name per year! Most of all, you don't want to give them a name they are going to be embarrassed by in years to come!

I think that when it's the first child, and people haven't been around children, they don't realise how popular some names, are, so it's a reasonable, helpful point.

Isla was popular, at baby groups, and there were 2 in my son's class, throughout primary; one spelled 'Aiyla' and one 'Isla'. He's 14, now.

And, of course, Grace is one of the big 3 'filler' middle names, along with Rose and May. But, if you haven't been around children, or on Mumsnet, you may not know this.

I prefer Emilia, but again, it/Amelia, was popular among my children's age group.

'Popular' doesn't mean it's a poor choice though?

When you drill it down, there might only be a small number of babies given the 'popular' name, and tbh I would rather 'popular' than some outlandish or made-up name anyway!!!

Iris

@Runnerinthenight , I haven't a clue, but they weren't born at a time when there were thousands of Amelias registered every year. I alwys thought that Emilia was Em-ill-ya but if someone says it more like Em-eel-ya, it sounds very close to Amelia.

Popular doesn't mean it's a poor choice but your child might be one of several 'Sarah Janes' or 'Emma Louises'.

Possibly not when they were born, as Amelia wasn’t as popular then. And I don’t know about Wickstead but with the thespian circles Fox was born into it would have been easy enough to say “Like the character in Othello”. I suspect you’d get a blank look if you tried that with many people though.

And nobody ever wins the popularity debate as even “experts” can’t agree (it’s a bit like indoor vs outdoor cats, nursery for 2 years olds etc) - I suspect there is no right answer as there are pros and cons to both. I personally think there are more pluses to having a popular name than not - only because rare is the name that is easy to say and spell, but not dated or “weird” but also not popular! But accept that other people feel differently.

@IamnotwhouthinkIam , there are advantages to having a popular name, but I'm glad that my name isn't unique or overwhelmingly ordinary.
People probably have more positive thoughts about an Emily than a Gertrude.

It’s so difficult to find a middle ground- because if a name is well known enough to be easy to spell and pronounce, it’s either likely to be Top 100 (or even 200 is too popular for some people) or dated and used used primarily by 40s/50’s plus. Or considered too “try hard” /odd - especially for boys.

To try to find a middle ground name I often use the old Gossip Girl Rufus and Serena example - both used in similar low numbers, both easy to say and spell, but luckily Serena is considered generally acceptable but Rufus often seems to get “no” or “dogs name” on here.

Isla Grace and Millie Grace are both really lovely! Both the two syllable first name Isla Grace has a slightly more flowing feel and Millie Grace has a sweet and classic charm.

Personally I like Isla Grace better with a one syllable surname but either one is a lovely name.

Congrats on your little one🤗