Baby names - first time parents

[GaaaaarlicBread]

Hi,
My husband and I are having a little girl due August. She’ll be our first and we are so excited .
We had a name that we have been pretty set on since finding out she’s a girl, but the last few days we’ve sort of gone off it due to the thought of people shortening it so we have a few other names we really like. What do you think of the below names ? They’re nothing like our original choice which is why I think we do seem to like these more as they’re more unique - open to other options though if you have anything similar in style. Would love your opinions. We have the middle name sorted (family name) so it is just the first name .
Thank you
Niamh
Maeve
Bronwen (we don’t mind that being shortened to Winnie)
Quite like Arwen too and my husband is quite keen on Caoimhe.

Are you in Ireland op or just like Irish names?

Also what's your original name?

Niamh - fine in Ireland, outside of that I think it's be lots of mispronincoation and poor spelling. But it is a pretty name
Maeve - old lady.
Bronwen - love it, but wouldn't see winnie as an obvious nickname
Arwen - love it
Caoimhe - see Niamh. If I'm remembering the pronunciation right, its lovely. Key-va?

Bronwen is beautiful xx

@SleepingStandingUp no I am Irish but my husband isn’t and we live in the U.K. but like Irish names (my husband doesn’t like some Irish names that I like as he knows people will struggle with spelling sometimes and she’ll forever have to explain to people!)
Yes it’s pronounced KeyVa we love it , it’s definitely a favourite ! The original name was Matilda but we don’t want people shortening it to Tilly . I know that sounds silly as people always find a nick name but we’d prefer a name where if it was a nick name then it would be something less obvious whereas Tilly is just a whole new name!

@coalcraft thank you I love that one too!

Love niamh! We would of chosen that for our little girl due in july but a close friend has called their little girl it. We are going with Aoife - Ee-Fa we love in england but my husband is Irish so it's important for him to have an irish name so our daughter has a link to her roots. We also loved saoirse... but thought that's too unusual in england x

@flukz1988 congratulations on your baby girl, not long now and she’ll be here ! How exciting !
We love Aoife too, and I love how you’re allowing your husband to keep his Irish roots , I had a very Irish surname and obviosuly lost that when we got married so I’d love to have a piece of it back ! I adore the name saoirse But my husband can’t pronounce it 😂

Really lovely choices. I'm exactly the same - there's lots of names that I love but really dislike the shortened version which I know lots of people will default to calling the baby! So have had to either rule them out or use them as middle names. Could you put Matilda as middle name?

Forgot to add first time mum here too, we aren't finding out the sex but a large part of me is hoping boy simply because we have the name! Girls we really really can't choose or find something we love as much as our boy name. It's so difficult!

@mrs87 congratulations! It’s so exciting isn’t it but also so overwhelming !
Have you got any ideas at all? For our boy name if we were having a boy we chose the name Ezra Paul and we were set on that. We were convinced I was having a girl so it really threw us when we found out !
We could have it we a middle name but we already have two middle names chosen (family names) . It’s hard as I know people default to nicknames but part of me doesn’t want them to 😂 like I have a cousin called Isabelle and everyone other than my auntie and uncle call her Izzy and they really dislike it but their friends just take it upon themselves to shorten it !

Convinced I was having a boy sorry *

Absolutely agree! I have always loved the name James but really not keen on the nickname Jamie AT All so it's staying a middle name. My niece is also Isabelle and is forever called Izzy!

We have about three we're toying with - one is the original I have liked for years but it's the name of someone I went to school with/used to be friends with and I'm worried my close friends will think it's really strange to use that name. Even though I'm now in my 30s and don't associate it with that person anymore, and my husband never met her! I don't know why I'm so bothered really 😂

Of yours I think Arwen, Bronwen and Maeve are particularly lovely. I also love Caiomhe but would worry that people who aren't familiar with the name would forever struggle to pronounce it. It's beautiful though.

@mrs87 I’m glad you know what I mean and didn’t think I was being a bit picky !
And I get what you’re saying about your friends name as we loved a particular girls name and it is my best friends name so we felt reluctant to use it haha

Thank you, we are thinking bronwen as that seems to have got lots of positivity here now 💕 again it depends what they look like as well as she might not look anything like any of those names !

I love Arwen, and you could have Matilda as her middle name?

Bronwen is lovely OP, that's my favourite from your new list.
It's Irish and still unusual but without the added lifetime of spelling and pronunciation issues.

I love all of them except Arwen. Niamh is a popular name in Scotland too and it’s really pretty. Maeve is unusual but I think it’s really beautiful.

Caoimhe is a beautiful name, a friend's daughter is named that, we're in Scotland, I don't think it's that hard to pronounce!

I also like Maeve, Niamh and Aoife too.

Love Bronwen, Caoimhe, Arwen and notice you've mentioned Aoife which is also lovely!

Caoimhe... I don't think it's that hard to pronounce!
It isn't hard to SAY but lots of English people wouldn't be able to sight read it, in English it says maybe cowm-he or cowmh. I only know cos I've seen it on here. Which should stop op, it's lovely, just she needs to be prepared for lots of people not spelling it right and needing reminding how to pronounce it. Saorise I think has the advantage of the GoT actress so it's more familiar.
Given how many people don't know how to pronounce my sons name, the above comments aren't a criticism

Also love Matilda, also not using it as I dislike Tilly. Could you ask people to shorten to Tilda if they must?

Argh I really love Irish names, but having no links to Ireland I wouldn’t be able to use one 😭

I love Saoirse (I know not on your list). Aoife is pretty too. Also love Bronwen and think Winnie is definitely a nickname and so cute!

Love the name Matilda. I think you could explain that you don't want it shortened to Tilly - although as she gets older, the decision will fall into her hands. Maybe she'd love being a Tilly!

I'm Rebecca; hate being called Becky, but I like Bec, Bex and Becca!!

From your new names, I like Bronwen the most. I think Aoife is my favourite Irish name! :)

I don't like Bronwen or Winnie at all, but I love all the Irish names on your list and Arwen too.

Where I live, Caoimhe is usually pronounced Kweeva, though Keeva is the standard way in other areas.

Thank you ladies , some really lovely feedback :) I never know how these name posts will go as I know sometimes They can turn into a bit of a train wreck post with hate but you’ve all been lovely !
@DramaAlpaca yes my husband pronounced it as Kweeva and I know most people do , not sure where I got Keeva from ! Must’ve heard someone else say it and assumed that’s the ‘real’ way to say it haha. Thank you I love Arwen, I might see what my husband thinks to that one !

My step daughter is called Matilda and we call her Tilly. I love the name Tilly!!

However as you're not going with that one...
Niamh and Maeve were names on my list (and I have no connection to Ireland!) as they are so beautiful.
Bronwen - I think if its shortened to Winnie that would also be beautiful.
Arwen is nice.
Caoimhe - as an English person I would have no idea how to say this at all! May come across problems with it?

All in all though very beautiful names.

Keeva is the Scottish pronunciation (near me anyway).

Would you consider Mabel? You like Maeve, and I think Mabel is pretty.