This is your first baby. You want something meaningful and unique. I understand.
My oldest DS has a very unusual name. I have never met another one.
Fast forward- people would say it wrong, spell it wrong, give him and us weird looks, call him similar more conventional names because that is all they could remember. He does love his name now, but it took 20 years and a long childhood of hating his name most of the time. If I had my time again I think I would give him a more known variant of his name.
So I guess what I am trying to politely say is most people want a name that a least blends in a little. A name with some familiarity. Sure, choose something unusual, but keep it known. For that reason I think [name]Florentina[/name] is the best from your list. The other names are very unusual and would make delightful interesting middle name options to give your little one a unique name.
I like [name]Florentina[/name] and I think Aleydis is ok.
[name]Reading[/name] your list, I automatically thought about greek myth (even before I think about saint names). I mean, Dionysia is from [name]Dionysus[/name] right? the god of wine. And Nemesia is connected to Nemesis, goddess of revenge. So I don’t think it’ll work.
I thought the same thing as c@29 with the greek thing and got really excited haha, oh well.
Aleydis - I don’t think this sounds too strange, but it looks pretty crazy. You will always have to spell it, which you do get used to.
Dionysia - I relate this to [name]Dionysius[/name] who happens to be the god of wine and was basically a drunk D: Was never my most favourite sounding name either, sorry. I don’t think it’s too crazy, though definitely way out there.
[name]Florentina[/name] - Sounds italian to me. Nothing wrong with that, just nms. Usable for sure, though.
Nemesia - Sounds too much like Nemesis, which is not a good connotation…
Osyth - This is definitely a crazy name, but I absolutely love it! I think it looks vintage and sounds unique, I think it’s great! People will give a double take for this, though and you will always have to spell it.
I think that they are all a little too crazy as well!
Aleydis – I think pronunciation would be a problem
Dionysia – Reminds me of the god of alcohol
[name]Florentina[/name] – I think this is the best, but I think that [name]Florence[/name] is so much nicer!
Nemesia – Sounds like Nemesis/enemy
Osyth – No idea how to pronounce this and it just doesn’t look that attractive
I think that there are a pretty decent amount of unique saint names that aren’t as bizarre and hard to pronounce.
I think its funny so many on here find Dionysia and Aleydis unusable. Aleydis is a pretty classic Dutch name and Dionysia is really popular among Greek Americans and it isn’t unheard of in the Hispanic community. I think Osyth is usable because it has the same feel as the currently trendy masculine sounding surnames as first names, so on that, I completely disagree with the general consensus. I think in the real world, many people may take Osyth as a cool surname as first name. Its not my style, but I wouldn’t say its unusable for someone else.
Here are more unusual saints names:
[name]Abra[/name]
[name]Acacia[/name] (fem. of [name]Acacia[/name])
Agape
[name]Agatha[/name]
Agathoclia (you could call her [name]Aggie[/name] or [name]Clio[/name] for short)
[name]Agnes[/name]
[name]Alexandria[/name] (in reference to [name]Catherine[/name] of [name]Alexandria[/name])
Alodia/[name]Elodie[/name]
[name]Amata[/name]
Amunia
[name]Anastasia[/name] (this one is a two for one deal, not only is it the name of several saints but it also means “resurrection.”)
[name]Anatolia[/name]
[name]Annunciata[/name]
Anysia
Apronia
[name]Aquilina[/name]
[name]Ariadne[/name]
Arianel
[name]Arcadia[/name] (fem. of Arcadius)
Arilda
[name]Assisi[/name] (in reference to [name]Francis[/name], [name]Claire[/name] or [name]Agnes[/name] of [name]Assisi[/name])
[name]Asteria[/name]
[name]Aurea[/name]
[name]Aurelia[/name]
I have met two different men named [name]Dionysius[/name] and one woman named Dionysia, and nobody seemed to have trouble with their names. None of the three were American, though, and I only knew them as adults in a professional setting, so that might be different.
I think it’s likely that your list comes off as less approachable when considered as a set than it would as just one child with a unique name. So, when you look at all of them together it might seem a little crazy because it’s one unfamiliar name after another, but once it’s narrowed down to just one of these names I think you wouldn’t get such a strong reaction, especially if your last name is fairly straightforward.
I love [name]Florentina[/name]! Dionysia is also nice, but a bit of a mouthful. I’ve never heard of nor know how to pronounce Aleydis or Osyth, and Nemesia just looks like nemesis to me, sorry!
I don’t think any of these are too difficult to guess at with pronunciation, but I did a lot of Classics so maybe that’s helping. In any case, I like [name]Florentina[/name] and Dionysia best, although something about Osyth really intrigues me, though I think its actually the least useable of the group. I also agree with some other pp’s about Nemesia sounding too much like nemesis.
I’m all for names that aren’t common but giving your child one of the these very unfamiliar names will spell a lifetime of difficulty for your child. They will constantly have to tell people how to pronounce and spell them and then people will still mispronounce and misspell them regardless. It will be soooo annoying. We have an unsual family name and no-one ever spells or says it correctly - this drives us all insane! Why are you fixed on a saints’ name? I think the more familiar name [name]Florentina[/name] is the best of the bunch. I am also of the opinion that you choose a name that you love, not a name that you have chosen simply because you feel obliged to use it - for example I’m not into naming children after other people to honor them, but that’s just me. Good luck!
Aleydis and [name]Florentina[/name] (would love to see [name]Flora[/name] as nickname) are very nice. Nemesia, Dionysia and Osyth could make nice middle names, but I fear they are a little too ‘out there’ as firsts.