Reading this I'm astonished at the casual bullying going on of potential parents of a Persephone.
Comments about "poncey-ness" of the name say so much about the character of the posters.
If I were to have an opinion about one of the names offered by posters as an alternative, for example that Stephanie sounds like she is a cheap 17 year old with 3 kids living off benefits in a council estate, or that Helen sounds like a common old woman waiting to have her incontinence pad changed, there would be uproar.
And the reason is that many of you know or ARE a Helen or a Stephanie so such an opinion wouldn't be accepted.
Instead you revel in your collective ignorance, hiding behind reasons such as "people will mispronounce it" - should everyone with heritage from overseas abandon their roots for the same reasons? No, because it seems it's not alright to be xenophobic or racist, but it is alright to be "classist".
It boils down to the idea that some people feel confined by tradition and the opinions of others when naming their child. Anything which is new or different is regarded as "not normal" but it's only in the circles you move in that these names are "not normal" just as in the circles others move in Stephanie would be unthinkable.
Discussions about sound, mouth-feel, nicknames, back-story etc are all valid and valuable, but please don't try to humiliate or degrade others using your own sheltered standards.