My boyfriend is having such a hard time finding girl names he truly loves, so we’ve been looking through baby books and art books and history books and you name it to see what we find, but keep on getting back to the same ones. The trouble is every time we narrow it down to a top five, we look back at the ones we tossed out and we put them back in.
We did pick out a top five consisting of [name]Fiammetta[/name], Gwenllian, Hespera, Illyria and [name]Morgana[/name], but boyfriend has slight issues with two of them. The ones we keep getting back to are [name]Alcyone[/name], [name]Arcadia[/name], [name]Calypso[/name], [name]Circe[/name] and Niniane.
So which five would you pick as a top 5 for us? We don’t care about names starting with the same letter.
We also have [name]Ceridwen[/name] hidden away if we ever have a snow girl.
I love your style so much and a lot of that stems from the fact that I know I wouldn’t be brave enough to use these wonderful names. I’m glad you’re saving [name]Ceridwen[/name], so I won’t list it. I know its perfect for a little winter lady. As your list stands, I think it feels right. I do love [name]Arcadia[/name] and Niniane almost as much as the others, though. [name]One[/name] thing to note, if you get a chance to use all of these, F, G, H, I would make for a very alphabetical set of girls. If I could go from favorite down, my list for you would be:
Illyria
Hespera
[name]Fiammetta[/name]
Gwenllian
[name]Morgana[/name]
([name]Ceridwen[/name] would be 2nd if you weren’t saving it)
Hmm… [name]Arcadia[/name], [name]Calypso[/name], and Niniane are also very tempting!
[name]Arcadia[/name] may shine more as a middle name? Niniane is so… you. [name]Calypso[/name] is divine, but maybe I’m just responding to the way [name]Ian[/name] McKellen says it in his recording of The Odyssey.
[name]Morgana[/name] is one from your current top five that I’m mixed on, but [name]Morgana[/name] Belphoebe [name]Alair[/name] is perfection.
It’s interesting that your boyfriend is open to some very wild boy-names but more cautious about the girls. Maybe he just can’t envision himself (as a girl) being comfortable with an intricate name. In general, I think long, obscure names are more acceptable to girls. I know I wouldn’t mind being named Gwenllian or Hespera! Is he afraid his daughter won’t be taken seriously?
I would absolutely DIE if you used [name]Calypso[/name], I am not brave enough myself to use it, but Oh how I have loved it for years upon years.
I would keep—
[name]Fiammetta[/name],
[name]Morgana[/name],
[name]Calypso[/name],
[name]Circe[/name],
& Illyria
I love love [name]Ceridwen[/name] also, I hope you get a chance to use it!
Thanks everyone, I was wishing everyone would pick the same five so it would be clear which ones to keep… I know I can use some of them as middles.
I don’t think he’s less open minded to the girl names, I just think he has a harder time connecting to them (we have some trouble with the boys as well). He’s a bit of a restless, wild type with a mind that works all the time, he’s also very sensitive and people (family) have said some harsh stuff about the names (Hespera in particular). He loves Gwenllian though, and Illyria. I think it’s just there are so many options out there, and it’s difficult to settle on just a few. I’d love to have one of these names as well. I love how [name]Ian[/name] McKellen says [name]Calypso[/name] as well…
They’re all so beautiful, I can definitely see how you’re having trouble with this. Perhaps the fact that [name]Alcyone[/name], [name]Arcadia[/name], [name]Calypso[/name], [name]Circe[/name], and Niniane keep going on and off the list mean that they are best suited for the middle place? I personally like your current top five the way they are (although I did falter a bit at the mention of [name]Alcyone[/name], Niniane, and [name]Arcadia[/name]).
[name]Circe[/name] is my favourite, it is one of my favourite names and bordering top 3 on my own list.
[name]Ceridwen[/name] is the name of one of my close friends and I have loved it since she told me her name but I couldn’t personally use it because for me it is her name, she spells it Ceiridwen though.
For a top 5 for you I would pick: [name]Circe[/name], [name]Ceridwen[/name], [name]Morgana[/name], Illyria & [name]Fiammetta[/name]
[name]Love[/name] Fiametta! That would be #1. Fiametta, #2. [name]Arcadia[/name], #3. [name]Circe[/name], #4. [name]Calypso[/name], #5. Alcyone1 All very beautiful! Good [name]Luck[/name]!
Hespera…one of the standouts for me since your earlier lists. I love the balance of down-to-earth ease of pronunciation with a rare almost mystical feel. I just love this choice for you.
1: Niniane
2: [name]Alcyone[/name]
3: [name]Fiammetta[/name]
4: Illyria
5: [name]Arcadia[/name] (but [name]Calypso[/name] and Hespera are also gorgeous, I had a hard time landing on just one!)
Gwenllian is too complicated, [name]Circe[/name] has a little too much baggage and I’m just not fond of the emphasized GA sound of [name]Morgana[/name], and it seems a little plain next to your other choices.
raptreverie: Hmm, the reasons they’ve been in and out are mostly comments on pronunciation issues… [name]Alcyone[/name] is one of my biggest loves, I get such a strong sensation of what this girl would be like. Also one of my favourite paintings and stories.
lineska: I agree about Hespera, I absolutely love it. My sister said so many horrible things about this at christmas, it’s good to hear nice things!
malk: The combo is [name]Ceridwen[/name] Chione [name]Solenne[/name], feels like a frosty pale sunny twinkling snow day.
dearest: I think I agree with you. Also, how do you think these names would work in Norwegian? Need to think about that as well…
I love Hespera. Its beautiful. I hope you don’t let your sister’s comments ruin the name or prevent you from using it.
I imagine your daughter would be a voracious reader, strong and beautiful…
Names in order - with the imagery I think each evokes:
Hespera (a perfumy garden lit only by the moon and stars)
Illyria (bright blue water, cliffs)
[name]Alcyone[/name] (sunshine and serenity, still seas)
[name]Morgana[/name] (magic and medieval woods)
[name]Circe[/name] (middle of the ocean, waves and dark rocks cropping up)
I think the one that sounds best in Norwegian is Illyria, but they would all seem very foreign to a Norwegian. [name]Morgana[/name], [name]Fiammetta[/name] and [name]Calypso[/name] are also easy to pronounce without sounding too different from the correct/English pronunciation.
Gwenllian would be tough to say, W’s are pronounced like V’s and that double L is very confusing since vowels always come before double consonants in Norwegian, and
Hespera reminds me of horse (hest) and Hespetre, which is both a swear word and a contraption for balling up yarn, so I’m not sure it’s going to be a success.
[name]Alcyone[/name] sounds very contrived and feels foreign in my mouth.
[name]Arcadia[/name] sounds kind of cool, but it loses the [name]KAY[/name] sound, it would be more like the sound in car. [name]Alcyone[/name] also loses the -nee at the end, it would be -neh.
[name]Circe[/name] is called [name]Kirke[/name] in Norwegian, which is the word for ‘church’ although the name is pronounced differently from the word. It sounds very lispy and sharp with the C’s as S’s. [name]Kirke[/name] the name would be [name]KEER[/name]-kuh, [name]Kirke[/name] the word for church is CHEER-kuh.
With Niniane, every vowel would be pronounced, ni-ni-[name]AH[/name]-neh making it sound somewhat 80’s for me for some reason. Trying to pronounce it correctly again feels very foreign.
[name]Emma[/name], yeah she has a very “themed” naming philosophy. All the names on her list are basically the same name. Hespera is so gorgeous, I can’t imagine not using it someday…
jyoti, thanks! Especially for those little words behind the name there… gorgeous! exactly my thoughts as well!
dearest, that’s what I thought. Now, my whole family will be able to pronounce the names, I just worry in case we move there someday (unlikely, but you never know).
