Some names we are pondering over......

[daisy5]

Just wondering what people think of when they hear these names.....

Juliet
Genevieve
Portia
Gretchen
Francesca
Emilia
Helena
Anastasia
Alexandra

We have a short surname so the longer names sound really good but I worry that they can come across as pretentious (such as Anastasia - although very pretty I think).

Any thoughts.

Many thanks.

Anastasia is my favourite of the bunch. Portia is the only one I'd class as pretentious

Love Alexandra, like Helena, find people always spell/pronnounce Portia wrong (Porsche). Prefer Amelia or Amelie.

Also like Cecile and Cecelia.

Alexandra is the best
Juliet, Genevieve are second best
Gretchen, Helena are good
No to Portia, Francesca, Emilia and Anastasia.

I like Alexandra best.
Quite like Gretchen but don;t think I'd be brave enough to use it myself!

have known Gretchens, Genevieves and Juliets and always thought those were great names. The others are ok but i like those three best.

I only like Francesca. Though Alexandra is ok.

Is Elizabeth too boring? Gabriela?

I don't really like long names, sorry!

They're all OK except Gretchen which is horrendous.

Of your list I think I prefer Anatastia, and nn Ana. Emilia is nice too.

Juliet - ok
Genevieve - don't like
Portia - terrible
Gretchen - no
Francesca - lovely but hard for little ones to say?
Emilia - like
Helena - very nice (my favourite on your list)
Anastasia - no
Alexandra - also very nice

So Helena, Alexandra and Francesca are my favourites.

like them all except genevieve, portia and gretchen

Emilia is my favourite, you could have Emmy for short which is lovely.

Not overly keen on any other except for Juliet.

Be brave, bluff it - no one will dare say you're being pretentious! Especially as you're not, you just like the names.

I love most of those,

Juliet is the nicest imo.
You can't have Gretchen as I have bagged it for my yet-to-be-conceived daughter!

love
Helena,
Gretchen
Juliet

not keen on the others

I love Anastasia and Helena!

I find Gretchen really ridiculous (sorry, I really do)! It is the German 'cute' form of Greta and would not suit a girl older than 3!! I also have no idea how you would pronounce the -chen in English . Sorry, but you did ask!

Juliet-like it
Genevieve-ok
Portia-ok
Gretchen-really don't like it
Francesca-lovely
Emilia-very nice
Helena-very pretty and classical
Anastasia-ok
Alexandra-very pretty and classical again!

Portia is a bit poncey.

Gretchen a bit Hansel and Gretel-ey - you expect pigtails and Germanic wholesomeness.

Genevieve was the name of a car in a 1960s film, but is lovely.

The rest all nice names.

Juliet - absolutely lovely. A really feminine but strong name which doesn't end in 'a' I like that.
Genevieve - probably ginny for short which is pretty. Genevieve hard to spell, hard to pronounce and a bit Disney Barbie.
Portia - lovely but I would use it as a middle name.
Gretchen - not keeen, but I love Greta and Margot
Francesca - not keen because I don't like Franky or Fanny
Emilia - nice. Jemma or Jemima lovely too.
Helena - ok. the H spoils it. ELena nicer
Anastasia - ok, bit long and fussy, so it would be shortened to Ana or Annie which are both nice. I prefer Annabel, especially as it is a pretty name like Juliet but doesn't end in 'a'
Alexandra - not overly keen. Sasha for short ok.

Juliet - Classic, but a bit wet.
Genevieve - Classy, grown up, very nice.
Portia - Awful, quite chavvy, reminds me of a name like Chanel or Armani.
Gretchen - Ugly sound. Greta is ok.
Francesca - It's ok, Frankie isn't nice, so I would be wary.
Emilia - Nice, a bit close to Emily which is way over used.
Helena - Very nice, imo the nicest name of your choices.
Anastasia - I love this name but Ana & Stasi only nicknames are not great.
Alexandra - Safe, again can't go wrong but not very interesting.

This is really helpful. Thanks for all the feedback. I love hearing all the comments.

liffey - I do like that Juliet and Gretchen don't end in an -a and our dd's name ends in -ia so I was trying to look for names where I could avoid that.

I really like Juliet, and it's interesting that so many of you agree. I'm not so keen on Julie (more because I have known so many over the years) but I don't think Juliet would necessarily be shortened. But my dp is not crazy about Juliet - thinks it is old fashioned!!!!

Portia - I think I will forget about this one - I had some reservations. Gretchen maybe too - although I do like it.

My dp's grandmother was Emily, and he likes the name, but I am not that into it, so I was looking for an alternative. I do like Emmaline - thanks for the suggestion.

Good point about nn's for Francesca.

Still pondering the others. Anastasia - Alexandra, Genevieve and Helena. There are two ways to pronounce Helena (helen-a or hel-lain-a) - that could get confusing.

I love the name Portia but I seem to recall looking it up during one of my pregnancies to discover it means 'piggy/pig-like' which is a bit off putting for a girl.

Oh, Elizabeth too common in my family. Gemma is the name of my cousin. Gabriela - my brothers ex girlfriend (and he wouldn't thank me). Cecilia - the name of a girl that I find a bit annoying.

Thanks for all the feedback though as really needing inspiration.

Juliet - no, there's only one
Genevieve - a car
Portia - posh and awful
Gretchen - german and ugly
Francesca - italian
Emilia - italian
Helena - ok
Anastasia - pop singer
Alexandra - ok

My favourites of your list are Juliet, Genevieve and I also like Helena, although prefer Elena. One of these is DD2's name. I named her after my father in a way and it has really grown on me. It is a proper name, but not terribly common, and will work for her whole life as it's not a little girl name.