Are these girl names too obscure? Isolde, Odette, & Esmeralda

These names make me think of a foreign princesses in a romantic legends or fairy tales. But can they be worn by a modern day baby, kid, teen, and someday adult? [name_m]Will[/name_m] I constantly be having to correct others’ spelling or pronunciation of my daughter’s name? Are folks gonna think we’re crazy?

I absolutely love these combos:

[name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Marisol[/name_f] (Pronounced IZ-ol-da, and [name_u]Izzy[/name_u] for short)
[name_f]Odette[/name_f] [name_f]Opal[/name_f]
[name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]

What do you think?

[name_u]Poll[/name_u], if you’d like: Odette Opal vs. Esmeralda Louisa vs. Isolde Marisol - Baby Name Poll

I do not think they are too obscure. Not at all!

I’m not sure about the flow of all of the middle names, but [name_f]Isolde[/name_f], [name_f]Odette[/name_f], & [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] are lovely choices. If there was any issue with how people spell or pronounce them, I would hazard a guess that it would only be for [name_f]Isolde[/name_f]-but I could be wrong.

Not too obscure at all. And they all have some great nickname potential for lil girls should you want them. Spelling and pronounciation seem pretty standard to me, maybe a few typos along the way but that’s not the end of the world.

[name_f]Opal[/name_f] and [name_f]Marisol[/name_f] are unfamiliar to me but the other names are not too obscure.

I think all of them are perfectly fine. I would pronounce [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] without the a sound on the end unless it was spelt [name_f]Isolda[/name_f] though. [name_f]Odette[/name_f] is lovely and I adore [name_f]Esmerelda[/name_f]! (I prefer a third E in place of the first A). I love [name_f]Esmie[/name_f]/[name_f]Esme[/name_f] as a nickname!

Not at all in my opinion. I really like all of them, and think they would make brilliant, unusual yet recognisable names for a girl. I always love names with a good image. I’m not the biggest fan of the flow with the middles; there seem to be a few repeating/ similar sounds, but I really do love the firsts! [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] has so much mystery and beauty, as does [name_f]Odette[/name_f]. :slight_smile: And I love the [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] said the way you say it, although I wouldn’t simplify the spelling to [name_f]Isolda[/name_f], it just doesn’t look as pleasing to the eye in my opinion.

This could vary by region, but I think [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] would be a tough name for a lot of people to figure out, pronunciation-wise - partly there’s possible confusion as to whether the “e” is silent, and then there’s the question of which syllable to stress. [name_f]Odette[/name_f] feels very straightforward and sleek to me, and I think [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f], while it is a big, vast name, would be pretty recognizable to most people.

I don’t love the combos you have - as someone said earlier, they have a lot of repeating sounds within them, which is not what I strive for when I’m putting names together. I’d prefer, for example, [name_f]Odette[/name_f] [name_f]Louisa[/name_f], [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] [name_f]Blythe[/name_f], and [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f].

I think they’re lovely and a little obscure to non-name nerds but once people have heard you say it a few times I think they will get used to it.

[name_f]Isolde[/name_f] is my favourite of the three, and I also love [name_f]Marisol[/name_f], but I’m not sure about the combo of [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Marisol[/name_f], the ‘sol’ sound is a bit repetitive for me.
Looking at your sig, maybe [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Rosalind[/name_f], [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] or [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Magnolia[/name_f] would work better?

They are not too weird.

I love [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Marisol[/name_f]. [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] pronunciation might be tricky, but not overly difficult.

Agreed! I think they’re all perfectly fine, but [name_f]Odette[/name_f] is definitely my favorite! I love her. She’s so dainty and unusual. I like the idea of [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] nn [name_f]Esme/name_f, too, and I love the nn [name_u]Izzy[/name_u]/[name_u]Issy[/name_u], so I think [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] nn [name_u]Izzy[/name_u] is sweet. I personally prefer [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], but I don’t mind her popularity. I like the story of [name_u]Tristan[/name_u] and [name_f]Isolde[/name_f], sad as it is, but because it’s so sad, I’m not sure I’d want [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] as a namesake, but it is a breathtaking name, and [name_f]Juliet[/name_f]'s negative history hasn’t held her back! One would hope [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] could have the same trajectory. :slight_smile:

Good luck!

Oh, I love [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f]. The others are nice too, but I just love her. None of the names are too [name_m]OTT[/name_m] in my opinion.

I think [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] and [name_f]Odette[/name_f] are familiar enough to the general public to not cause too many problems. [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] is the only one that strikes me as obscure and might be tricky because the pronunciation is not intuitive. For the longest time I thought it was pronounced the same as “is old”.

I adore all three names - [name_f]Isolde[/name_f], [name_f]Odette[/name_f] & [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] :slight_smile:

I don’t think they’re obscure at all but rather “fairytale vintage”…they bring a smile to my face :)…it would be wonderful to see siblings called these three enchanting names.

Re:
[name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Marisol[/name_f] (Pronounced IZ-ol-da, and [name_u]Izzy[/name_u] for short) - love this combo!
[name_f]Odette[/name_f] [name_f]Opal[/name_f] - not sure about [name_f]Opal[/name_f]…however, a NameBerry poster suggested [name_f]Odette[/name_f] [name_f]Leda[/name_f] [name_f]Snow[/name_f] to me which I thought was beautiful & magical.
[name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] - A darling & musical sounding name - love it!

:slight_smile:

They are wonderful names. I’d use them in a heartbeat

They aren’t obscure!! Uncommon and different, but easily recognizable and spelled, which is what I’d look for in a name.

I would use [name_f]Esmerelda[/name_f] or [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] in a heartbeat, and I’d love to see [name_f]Odette[/name_f] on a baby girl.

I don’t think they are too obscure or over-the-top at all. Some people are naming their child [name_f]Khaleesi[/name_f] for goodness’ sake!

I love love love [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] [name_f]Marisol[/name_f] though. The others are pretty but this is my favourite. [name_f]Odette[/name_f] is great too - The [name_f]Swan[/name_f] [name_f]Princess[/name_f]!