Teacher struggling with names

[ARodeoQueen]

I'm 25 weeks and we don't know if I am having a boy or girl. We love old man boys names like Walter, Wilfred, Oswald but we are struggling on girls names. I really love long girls names. My favourites are Genevieve and Evangeline. The problem is I have one lovely niece and her name is Evie. So I feel that they are too close to her name.
To complicate things further me and DH are teachers. I would really like a name that I haven't taught - which narrows it down significantly. Whenever I hear a name I just picture a face of a child I've taught. If that makes sense! I want a 'new' name. It was really hard naming my son 5 years ago and this one is harder. Middle name will be Joan if it's a girl. I do like Gwen so potentially Gwendolyn or Guinervere. I'd be greatful of any suggestions. Thank you!

How about Georgiana or ursula?

Can I recommend one that's a bit 'out there' but in keeping with once being popular? I love Ashley or Ashleigh. Such a gentle sound, and lovely to say. No harsh edges. I haven't met any little Ashley's.

Kerenza
Marianne
Christina
Christabel
Penelope
Seraphina
Davina
Marina
Dorotka
Wilhelmina
Philomena
Natalia
Ariadne
Esmeralda
Cornelia
Antonella
Caroline/a
Violetta
Marietta
Eloisa
Thomasina
Rosalinda
Honoria
Stephanie
Sabrina
Horacia
Lindsey

I’m a teacher too and know exactly what you mean.

Vivienne
Adelaide
Honor
Lysette
Zandra
Nova
Beatrice

Cassiopeia
Adrianna
Adrienne
Verona
Mariette
Fenella
Catriona
Elspeth
Morgana
Hannaliese
Claudette
Collette
Sarah Jane

This is the first year I've taught a Barbara. She's 11. Jane, Susan, Lisa, Debbie, Sue and Donna are pretty safe bets.

Gwendolyn or Guinervere.
It's Guinevere.
Gwendolyn is ok, but the Welsh Gwendolen from which it is derived is much nicer, with the stress on the Dol, not the Gwen. She could be Gwen or Dol(ll/lly). Which leads me to Dorothy - Dot is cool and Dottie is cute.
If you like Gwen, you could use Gwenaëlle, which is Breton.

Oswald is a bit too Moseley.

@menopausalmare , those are nice names and a refreshing change.

I'd be wary with names like Kateryna. I work in an international organisation and it's popular.

Thank you everyone for all of these suggestions!I will go through them with my husband later. Really appreciate your ideas!

Adelaide ?
Julienna/Julienne/Juliette ?
Stephanie ?

Laetitia
Ondine
Rosina
Hortensia

The exact same thing happened to me! I had to triple check the register!

I don’t think Genevieve is at all a problem with a niece called Evie - they are very different names and more seem to get shortened to Gen/Genny than Evie anyway. Evangeline might be more of a problem, I admit.

Can I also suggest Juliet (Jules, Letty, Jet) or Antonia (Anya, Annie, Nina)? as both seem classic but quite underused now.

Love Wilfred of your boys choices and Walter is quite nice too - only one I’m not keen on is Oswald as it’s still Mosely to me or The Penguin from Batman, sorry.

ETA: It double posted for some reason, sorry

Your approach makes sense @ARodeoQueen, I vetoed a particular boy name that DH was very keen on purely because it had also been the name of the 'naughtiest' boy in my class at primary school. (I suspect he was undiagnosed ADHD; I was undiagnosed autistic but it made me super shy and quiet so we got opposite reactions from teachers.) If you're actually a teacher then you'll have many, many names that you won't want to touch!

Please don't go for Guinevere though, I think that's really a step too far. And DEFINITELY don't go for it if, as pointed out by @Emanwenym , you aren't going to spell it properly!

I'm pleased to have gone for a name that was quite easy for DD to learn to recognise and spell when she was very young; I always felt bad for the kids in her preschool and Reception class who couldn't even recognise their names, let alone write them. They tended to have names like some of those suggested above, e.g. Cassiopeia - that's a guaranteed lifetime of struggle, having to constantly put up with misspelling and correcting the spelling and correcting the pronunciation!

Congratulations on your pregnancy; wishing you a smooth ride and I hope that you can settle on the perfect name.

How about Evelyn, Vienna or Vivienne? If you like the Evie kind of sound that is!

Magdalena
Lunella
Silvana

Gwenllian is a nice alternative for Gwen.

I have a boy with one of the names you like … girls names I like are;

Cecily
Daphne
Delilah
Alma
Darcy
Evelyn

Love Cassiopia and Margarita. Dd2 has a similar problem as she's a gynaecologist and didn't want to name her dd the name of a baby she'd delivered. She chose Persephone in the end and now she's met a couple!

As a teacher, I also found agreeing on names almost impossible.
Wilfred is a lovely boys name- I taught one and he was the loveliest, little boy
For a girl, how about...
Beatrix
Constance
Elizabeth
Felicity
Gwendolyn
Josephine
Madeleine
Rosemary
Verity

I have 3 girls and their names are cerys leila Georgia. But I do love the name Elodie and Addison

Have to throw in a vote for Guinevere because that is just beautiful

If I ever end up with DD3 she’d most likely be Ophelia.

Also love Clara and Sofia.