Iris - yay or nae?

[emmyloo2]

I was quite set on my list of girl's names with Elizabeth, Isabelle, Rose, Juliet and Josephine on the list. I love all of these but none of them have made me think "this is the name".

I came across Iris last night. Am I overthinking this? Should I stick to the names on my list. I want a lovely name which is not too popular at the moment. My husband loves Isabelle and while it is a lovely name, I can't help thinking that it is just too popular. I would prefer something where people think "oh that's a lovely name" without thinking "of course they named their new baby daughter [X]". if that makes sense.

Thanks!

i love it!! really, really lovely

I love it too, but have only boys. Gorgeous and unusual, like the flower. Go for it!

Nay - eyeballs, smelly old ladies.

I love the name Iris but Rose is my #1 name if i have a girl.

Smell old ladies? Really I guess that is the problem with choosing old ladies names, is that they can sometimes be associated with old ladies.

I still like it though. I think it's pretty. I am just not sure whether I think it more or less than my other names.

I like it. Is it becoming popular though? With the old lady names trend??

I like Iris and all the names on your shortlist, actually.

I totally sympathise with wanting to feel that "this is the name", (though with 2 of my children I had to see them before I knew!). And I can also see the temptation to try and avoid "now" names but, tbh, I don't think there's always much you can do. Names can come storming up the charts seemingly out of nowhere and you may reject a name you love because it's too popular only to find that the less well used name you pick becomes the next big thing. I do think you may be overthinking a little, in the sense that what really, really matters is that YOU (and your husband) love the name and not what others think of it so much.

I love it. It's my nan's name and she may be old but she's not smelly

Love it.

Mylittlebubble - I think it is being more popular but I don't think it is as popular as Rose, Eve and Lily for example.

God this name thing is too hard. I keep changing my name!!

Boys I have decided on Edward (although my husband is still keen on Hugo) but girls I keep going back and forth....

love.it, go for it. it's really lovely.

Thanks guys and thanks autodidact with that advice.

I agree - I need to focus on the names we love (I guess I should let my husband have a say as well ) rather than worrying about whether they are too popular at the moment. My name was popular when I was born (Emma) but I have always liked it.

I still love Iris so it will go onto the list. I think then I will sit on the list for a while and wait until close to the time to decide!

Much prefer your original list. Don't like Iris at all.

No. I think your other names are much nicer.

Iris just makes me think of an eye.

Iris is such a lovely name.It makes a refreshing change to other terribly overused flower names

My 9 year old is Iris and she is not old and smelly!
I love it, strong, powerful, feminine and elegant!

don't like Isabelle.
Elizabeth, Juliet and Josephine are lovely though.

I like it and Violet

Go for it, v lovely name I like all the names on your list though tbh

love it

Iris is pronounced Eer-is in German speaking countries. Not that this may matter to you .

I would. It's become massively more popular in France over the last 20 years (but we're talking 46 registered to 276 so not everyone is called Iris!).

How is it pronounced in French?

I pronounced ee, the r is the strong French Rr and emphasis on the second syllable. I only know one and she's 40ish(? I think)

Eer-Reess is the best approximation!

Yes, that makes sense . In German the emphasis is on the first syllable: EER-iss.

I like it. Also like Elizabeth (used it for DD2's second name), Juliet (wanted it for DD2 but DH wasn't so keen) and Josephine (Little Women ...).