Bold and Refreshing or Strange and Pretentious?

Girl Names
1

I’ve been looking into girls names and have come up with some combos I like. Girls names are easier than boys for me. In fact a lot of the boy names I like have very similar sounds, so my boys list won’t be nearly as elaborate.

I tried to come up with names that were secular that didn’t scream witch, but still sort of whispered it (because they might decide they’re Buddhist). I ended up with names that were lacy and princessy, but that’s okay.

The problem is that I’ve been a name nerd for a while and don’t know which of the following are useable. I tried pairing up more recognizable middle names. I named off the first names to my mom and I’ll post her reactions to them. I’m interested in what you guys think.

[name]Melisande[/name] (Meh-leh-sahnd) [name]Clarisse[/name] ([name]Clarice[/name]) [name]Patterson[/name] (my last name isn’t this but rather similar)
If I was suddenly pregnant this would be the main top contender. I don’t like that [name]Mel[/name] rhymes with smell but I could prepare a girl for that. Nicknames are a bit tough with this name (I don’t care for [name]Mel[/name] or [name]Sandy[/name]) and I think it’s more wearable as an older child and up than a young two year old.
Got no response from mom.

[name]Lavinia[/name] (Lah-vinnie-uh) [name]Fleur[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
A bit more wearable with various nicknames for a little girl before she can say her full name. I can see a tomboy named [name]Vinnie[/name] or a teenager who goes by [name]Liv[/name]. I’m aware of the [name]Shakespeare[/name] story, but it’s a bit obscure and people aren’t afraid to name their daughters [name]Ophelia[/name], [name]Juliet[/name], or [name]Delilah[/name]. She probably won’t see that connection until she’s a teenager. I see the Lav as in lavatory but I’m not British and don’t plan to move there.
Mom seemed to like this one.

[name]Coralie[/name] ([name]Cora[/name]-lee) [name]Margot[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
The least witchy of my names and probably the one I like the least, but it’s the most approachable. It’s sort of similar to my beloved cat [name]Cody[/name], which I didn’t quite notice until now. I worry she would get lost in the sea of Kaylas, Kylies, and Carlys along with Coras, Noras, and Doras.
No response from mom.

The next two are a little more out there.

Virelai ([name]Veer[/name]-uh-lie) [name]Daphne[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
It’s from Old French for “to turn” and is a term for an obscure subsection of music and poetry popular in the middle ages. I like it because it’s like [name]Lorelei[/name] without the baggage (she lured sailors to their death) and the fact that she could go by [name]Vera[/name] as a young child. This is really more of a word than a name, but seeing all the words and surnames as given names this one doesn’t stick out that much. It can also be pronounced [name]Veer[/name]-uh-lay.
Another one mom seemed to like.

[name]Amaryllis[/name] ([name]Ah[/name]-mah-rel-lis) [name]Adele[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
Ilikenames89 isn’t the only one who likes this name. Another name that works better on an adult than a child, then again hopefully she will live to be an old lady and thus spend most of her life as an adult. She could go by [name]Ami[/name] (ah-mee) or [name]Ellis[/name] as a little girl. I don’t like that I’m staring at [name]Mary[/name]. Oh, I could spell it differently, but this is the proper spelling and I don’t want to deal with some other spelling even if it’s more phonetically correct. I love the way it sounds but I’m not sure I can get over how it looks.
I was expecting mom to look at me like I’m nuts, but she immediately went “oh like the flower.” She seemed to kind of like this one.

So I’m not completely feeling [name]Coralie[/name] or [name]Amaryllis[/name], but I’m still interested in your thoughts. I’m flexible regarding swapping the middle names except for [name]Adele[/name] as I would have MAP, LAP, [name]CAP[/name], or VAP. So if you think [name]Lavina[/name] [name]Margot[/name] feels better let me know. I know [name]Coralie[/name] and [name]Lavina[/name] are wearable, but I’m not sure of the others. Are the others incredibly out there or overly pretentious? All of the names I like seem to have complicated spelling and unintuitive pronunciation, which makes me worry about how that may cause problems.

It should be noted that I’m not pregnant and don’t plan to be for some time, but I’ve grown rather fond of some of these names and have liked them for some time.

2

My favorite from your list is [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Margot[/name] [name]Patterson[/name] ([name]Fleur[/name] is just nms) followed by: [name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name] [name]Patterson[/name] and [name]Amaryllis[/name] [name]Adele[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]. I don’t think [name]Coralie[/name] or [name]Amaryllis[/name] are too “out there” and they have lots of good nns. I also really like Virelai [name]Daphne[/name], but I think the spelling of the fn would mean that it was always mispronounced. Maybe you could use Veralie or Veraly? While I like the name [name]Melisande[/name], the other names you have sound better with your last name.

Some other names you might like: [name]Rosalie[/name], [name]Millicent[/name], [name]Ursula[/name], [name]Vera[/name], [name]Verity[/name], [name]Amity[/name], [name]Adelaide[/name], [name]Delphine[/name], [name]Margot[/name] (as a fn), [name]Dorothea[/name], [name]Esme[/name]

3

[name]Melisande[/name] (Meh-leh-sahnd) [name]Clarisse[/name] ([name]Clarice[/name]) [name]Patterson[/name]
I don’t think mel-rhymes-with-smell would be a huge issue, as there are quite a few Melanies and Melissas out there. I want to like this, but just don’t quite. I think it’s because I prefer [name]Melisandre[/name]. A little hard for a young girl to wear, but not impossible. Likely to be linked to the [name]Melisandre[/name] from Game of Thrones either way, now that that’s so popular. Incidentally, the actress who plays her is Carice van Houten. Slightly different to [name]Clarisse[/name], but with both names so familiar it could be hard to shake the association to her.

[name]Lavinia[/name] (Lah-vinnie-uh) [name]Fleur[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
I like [name]Lavinia[/name] and love [name]Fleur[/name]. There’s a weather girl here is Aus named [name]Lavinia[/name], so totally useable.

[name]Coralie[/name] ([name]Cora[/name]-lee) [name]Margot[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
Not a huge fan, the combo sounds like a great aunt name to me.

Virelai ([name]Veer[/name]-uh-lie) [name]Daphne[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
Also not a huge fan of this, it instantly makes me think of virally and virus, and hence disease. Really like the name [name]Daphne[/name] though.

[name]Amaryllis[/name] ([name]Ah[/name]-mah-rel-lis) [name]Adele[/name] [name]Patterson[/name]
I actually really like this, I think [name]Amaryllis[/name] is pretty and not over used. I can see it working on a real person.

4

I love [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name]! I think [name]Mel[/name] would end up happening quite a bit with [name]Melisande[/name] so if you’re not into it you might need to let it go. I like [name]Vinia[/name], Vinca or even [name]Vin[/name] loads better than [name]Mel[/name] or [name]Sandy[/name].

[name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Melisande[/name] is pretty.
[name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name] is cute, but it seems like you want something more out-there.

5

Ahaha, I know what you mean. I feel like i have no concept of what’s usable and what isn’t anymore just from how long I’ve been researching names, and my life experiences. I may not be any help, lol.

[name]Melisande[/name] [name]Clarisse[/name]- this seems dated to me, to be honest. I think it’s usable, though, but then again, it may depend where you live. My hometown is about 15 minutes away from Québec, and I live 20 minutes from [name]France[/name] so [name]Melisande[/name] is not out of the norm for me.

[name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name]- I think [name]Lavinia[/name] is definitely usable. I really, really, really dislike [name]Fleur[/name], though. I think [name]Flore[/name] is a ton more appealing, and more of a name, in my opinion.

[name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name]- 100% usable, without a shadow of a doubt. This is my favourite for sure! I think most of the Kaylas, Kylies and Carlys have gotten older now that [name]Coralie[/name] wouldn’t get mixed up in those. And if you don’t shorten it to [name]Cora[/name], then I think it’ll stand its ground against [name]Nora[/name] and [name]Dora[/name], too. Neither name is a favourite of mine, but this is a really nice combo.

Virelai [name]Daphne[/name]- the sound of the combo is lovely, but good luck to a kid named Virelai. I think she’d survive, but it’d be rough having to explain that one. My best friend is named [name]Kailie[/name] (kayl-ee) and she has a heck of a time. Got her name mispronounced at graduation, it’s never spelled correctly ever, and it’s not like [name]Kaylee[/name] spelling variations are uncommon. I think Virelai would be tough. Would you flip it? I think using it would be really cool, but it’d be much easier to live with as a middle name, I think. The more I think about it, though, the more I’m like, “Go for it!” People are fine with names like [name]Saoirse[/name], I’m sure people in a Virelai’s life would adapt. I really prefer it with the -lie pronunciation.

[name]Amaryllis[/name] [name]Adele[/name]- I don’t get the appeal of [name]Amaryllis[/name] at all, sorry. It’s one of those names that, if it were my name, I’d pretend that it wasn’t and I’d hide my driver’s license from people. [name]Adele[/name] is gorgeous, though. This might not be ‘out there’ enough for you, but what about [name]Eilish[/name]/ Eilís or [name]Ailish[/name]/ Ailís? [name]Amaryllis[/name] is the only one I’d classify as pretentious.

All in all, I did find this list refreshing, though :slight_smile:
Hopefully my comments weren’t too harsh. I had a lot of fun with your list!

6

I think the most usable would be…

1 [name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name] - This is very pretty and feminine
2 [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name] - vintage and sweet
3 [name]Melisande[/name] [name]Clarisse[/name] - a little heavy on the French names and the “is” sound
4 Virelai [name]Daphne[/name] - this may be better if the two names were switched to [name]Daphne[/name] Virelai.
5 [name]Amaryllis[/name] [name]Adele[/name] - this flower name always reminds me of amardillo for some reason. I do love [name]Adele[/name].

7

These names are gorgeous! My favorite (and perhaps the most wearable) is [name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name]. [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name] and [name]Amaryllis[/name] [name]Adele[/name] are nearly tied for second place. The others just don’t strike me as particularly wearable.

[name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Margot[/name] is lovely; I like it even more than [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name].

8

[name]Love[/name] [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Margot[/name] and the nn of [name]Vin[/name]. My great aunt [name]Vin[/name] was a very spunky lady.

rollo

9

So [name]Amaryllis[/name] just might be usable? That’s interesting, I was sure I was breaking out the crazy sauce there. The dated sound -is doesn’t appeal to some, but my first preschool teacher who I loved was [name]Phyllis[/name]. I do see how others see armadillo, but that isn’t a deal breaker for me. I deliberately put [name]Adele[/name] behind it, just in case.

The plan for these girls is that they would be called by their whole names. If she had a younger sister, the sister could call her by a nickname. Also as a little girl I could introduce her as say, “This is [name]Lavinia[/name]. You can call her [name]Lavinia[/name] or [name]Liv[/name],” so that a young child can decide whether to take on four syllables or just one. I’m not around kids so I’d like to be flexible, but I would call them by their whole first name.

I live in [name]California[/name], so while my first and middle name are French, and my mom’s middle name is French, Spanish is more common (though names considered British Victorian are probably much more trendy). French names are kind of considered passe, but I’m fond of them and consider them part of my odd lineage (my mom studied French in high school intensely thinking she would move to [name]Quebec[/name]). All of the middle names, while not all French in origin do have use in [name]France[/name] and [name]Quebec[/name] from my understanding. So, [name]Melisande[/name] and [name]Coralie[/name] are pretty much unheard of around here.

I’m not familiar with Game of Thrones. I really don’t watch much movies or T.V. or keep up with pop culture that much. I wasn’t aware of the connection. That’s rather interesting.

I can see virus with Virelai, I’m more concerned with the constant pronunciation and spelling issues and having to say, “It’s a form of medieval poetry,” when asked about it. [name]Amaryllis[/name] when asked can just say, “It’s a flower.” Virelai might love her unusual name, but she may find those issues rather crippling.

[name]Coralie[/name] is extremely popular in [name]France[/name] and [name]Quebec[/name] but unheard of in the states. I like the imagery of coral and pearls, but am not 100% sold. Sadly, even [name]Coralie[/name] would have issues with her name because I’ve seen some people try to push a [name]Coraline[/name] pronunciation despite there being absolutely no history with that pronunciation.

[name]Lavinia[/name] is that name I keep coming back to. It’s always 2 or 3 on my mental list. I prefer to stay away from names ending in -a or an -ee sound because most of all the girls I went to school with had names with that sound, but it seems rather hard to avoid. While I’ve seen A [name]Little[/name] [name]Princess[/name], the first time I remember seeing [name]Lavinia[/name] on a character was [name]Jane[/name] and the Dragon, probably because I liked the name already. [name]Lavinia[/name] is a six year old girl, with a tooth missing, speaks with a lisp, and wears fake dragon wings attached to her back. Certainly makes the name more approachable.

I prefer the rhythm of [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Margot[/name], but prefer the imagery of [name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name]. [name]Both[/name] my middle name and my mom’s start with M so it would be nice for my hypothetical daughter to have an M middle name as well. My grandmother loved her mother [name]Clara[/name].

Being a [name]Renee[/name], I can’t use [name]Rosalie[/name] or [name]Esme[/name] up in front, at least for now. Too Twilight. [name]Adelaide[/name] and [name]Vera[/name] are a little too popular. I’m not big on virtue names, but [name]Verity[/name] has a nice meaning that isn’t restrictive. [name]Amity[/name] is all Amityville Horror to me. I like [name]Ursula[/name], but I worry about the [name]Little[/name] Mermaid movie and wonder if [name]Orsola[/name] is different enough. That could be harder to live with than Virelai or [name]Amaryllis[/name]. I do however like [name]Millicent[/name], [name]Delphine[/name], [name]Margot[/name], and [name]Dorothea[/name]. [name]Delphine[/name] would be higher on my list if it didn’t end in an -n sound. Though being a single woman, this might not be a problem in the future. I also like [name]Marguerite[/name], but it would be kind of strange to have a (first name) [name]Margot[/name] and a [name]Marguerite[/name] since [name]Marguerite[/name] means both daisies and pearls.

Thanks for all of the opinions! I’ll be sure to keep them in mind.

10

They’re actually all pretty names, and usable, although i’m not sure about Virelai. They’re sort of elaborate, but you’re allowed to have that style.

[name]Melisande[/name] [name]Clarisse[/name] seems a little too sibilant to me, i’d consider a different mn with no s. I’m also not sure how i like the flow of [name]Amaryllis[/name] [name]Adele[/name], i’d maybe work on another mn there too. [name]Lavinia[/name] and [name]Coralie[/name] are great, and work nicely with the mn’s you’ve chosen.

11

I happen to love “witchy” names. I love [name]Melisande[/name], but dislike [name]Clarisse[/name]. NN could be [name]Lissa[/name]. [name]Melisande[/name] [name]Fleur[/name] would be pretty. [name]Love[/name] [name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name], dislike [name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name]. Perhaps [name]Coralie[/name] [name]Lavinia[/name]? I’m not a fan of the rest of the names. I am taking a wild guess on what your real last name is and I’d say, if I’m right, [name]Melisande[/name] and [name]Coralie[/name] go best.

12

[name]Melisande[/name] [name]Clarisse[/name] - [name]Melisande[/name] is lovely, [name]Clarisse[/name] I dont like. Not helped by the fact I met an awful girl named that recently.

[name]Lavinia[/name] [name]Fleur[/name] - again, nice. Lav is not a great NN though.

[name]Coralie[/name] [name]Margot[/name] - love this! Would love [name]Cora[/name] or [name]Coral[/name] more than [name]Coralie[/name], but overall I think its a great combo.

Virelai [name]Daphne[/name] - [name]Daphne[/name] is one of my favourites, but I can’t warm to Virelai. Sorry. What about Vynka?

[name]Amaryllis[/name] [name]Adele[/name] - I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Amaryllis[/name] and I’m also a fan of alliteration so this one is hands down the winner for me. I would love to see [name]Amaryllis[/name] [name]Daphne[/name], but some people might think you gave birth in a florist - so it’s probably a bit too much. I also like [name]Amarantha[/name] which is similar.

13

[name]Melisande[/name] and Virelai are just too hard to pronounce but I like the rest! Especially [name]Coralie[/name] and [name]Lavinia[/name].