Was wondering what nameberrites consider “stunning” names, the type of name when you hear it, you genuinely blurt out “that is such a pretty name.”
For me, it’s names like these:
[name]Adelaide[/name]
[name]Ariadne[/name]
[name]Tatiana[/name]
[name]Marielle[/name]
[name]Giovanna[/name] (pronounced jyo-VAH-na, three syllables)
[name]Mariana[/name]
[name]Laila[/name]
[name]Alessandra[/name]
[name]Anais[/name]
[name]Eliana[/name]
[name]Aziza[/name]
[name]Amalia[/name]
[name]Jessamine[/name]
[name]Aurelia[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]
[name]Indira[/name]
[name]Elodie[/name]
[name]Saskia[/name]
[name]Fiorella[/name]
[name]Melisande[/name]
[name]Anthea[/name]
[name]Linnea[/name]
[name]Rosalind[/name]
[name]Marielle[/name]
[name]Adela[/name]
[name]Marguerite[/name]
[name]Guinevere[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name]
[name]Gisela[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Genevieve[/name]
[name]Serafina[/name]
Hm, most seem to be frilly and/or exotic/foreign sounding.
For me, it tends to be long-ish, elaborate-sounding names:
[name]Genevieve[/name]
[name]Adelaide[/name]
[name]Rosalind[/name]
[name]Sabrina[/name]
[name]Calista[/name]
Serilda
[name]Xanthe[/name]
[name]Althea[/name]
[name]Marjolaine[/name]
[name]Clementine[/name]
[name]Artemisia[/name]
[name]Clelia[/name]
Alodia
I’m a little unconventional, so here are the names I go “oooh, gorgeous!” at:
[name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Maud[/name]
[name]Giselle[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Vera[/name]
[name]Bronwen[/name]
[name]Araminta[/name]
[name]Mina[/name]
[name]Gwendolen[/name]
[name]Cecilia[/name]/[name]Cecily[/name]
[name]Francesca[/name]/[name]Frances[/name]
[name]Helen[/name]
[name]Winifred[/name]
[name]Xanthe[/name]
[name]Cleo[/name]
[name]Paola[/name]
[name]Portia[/name]
[name]Plum[/name]
[name]Flora[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Katrina[/name]
and even a few boys names make me sigh:
[name]Remy[/name]
[name]Nicolas[/name] (only this spelling)
[name]Raphael[/name]/[name]Rafael[/name]
[name]Barnaby[/name]
[name]Malachy[/name] (mal-a-KEE)
[name]Galen[/name]
[name]Philip[/name] (only this spelling)
[name]George[/name]
[name]James[/name]
[name]Edgar[/name]
[name]Theo[/name] (just [name]Theo[/name], though)
[name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Lorcan[/name]
[name]Rhys[/name] (only this spelling)
and
[name]Kelly[/name]
Lysandra
Olivie
[name]Janvier[/name]
Calyph
[name]Emeraude[/name]
Vetiver
[name]Melisande[/name]
[name]Xaviera[/name]
Teralen
[name]Teagan[/name]
[name]Holland[/name]
[name]Willemina[/name]
Cyphre
Armeria
Narae
I guess very exotic names, tending to be longer. More unusual letters too like X.
I usually like classic (to some people boring) names like [name]Laura[/name] and [name]Katherine[/name] but there are those names that truly inspire me and give me a little thrill when I hear them:
[name]Arabella[/name]
[name]Christabelle[/name]
[name]Evangeline[/name]
[name]Gabrielle[/name]
[name]Emmaline[/name]
[name]Sabrina[/name]
[name]Noelle[/name]
[name]Jacqueline[/name]
[name]Isabeau[/name]
Definitely a trend here - lots of “elle” and “line” endings. I also love the name [name]Genevieve[/name] when it’s prounounced “[name]Jahn[/name]-Ve-[name]Eve[/name]”.
Definitely names of the Ancient World/Medieval [name]Romance[/name]/Renaissance [name]Princess[/name] type: [name]Isolde[/name], [name]Octavia[/name], [name]Lucretia[/name].
But I also tend to say stunning when there’s a string of gorgeous name - [name]Penelope[/name] [name]Viola[/name] Roswitha. It’s a LOT of name, more flowery than I would use personally, but stunning seems like the right word.
The addition of an oddball name in the string ups the chance that I’ll say “stunning” - [name]Sarah[/name] Cleophee [name]Alice[/name] probably would get that reaction, while [name]Sarah[/name] [name]Alice[/name] or [name]Sarah[/name] [name]Alice[/name] [name]Jane[/name] would just be “nice” or even a little bland.
Most names I consider stunning are names that are sort of guilty pleasures and would never actually use.
They’re pretty, but just not my style. I tend to go for the slightly “rougher” or boyish names for girls.
[name]Sephora[/name]
[name]Marina[/name]
[name]Lyra[/name]
[name]Cambria[/name]
[name]Astoria[/name]
[name]Elsa[/name]
[name]Selena[/name]
[name]Anneliese[/name]
[name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Adelaide[/name]
[name]Athena[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name] (so pretty but so tragic)
[name]Isolde[/name]
Those come to mind immediantly at the word “stunning.”
Narae
I guess very exotic names, tending to be longer. More unusual letters too like X.[/QUOTE]
My daughters name is [name]Maya[/name] Narae! we usually call her by her middle name as well. Its good to know another finds it as stunning as i!
I think a key component of ‘stunning’ is that it is unexpected when you hear it - that is, a name you rarely, or never have heard on a real person. At least that is the way it is for me. Almost thirty years ago I babysat a little girl named [name]Olivia[/name], and her name truly seemed stunning to me then, because I had never met or heard of any real person with that name other than the actress from Gone with the Wind. Nowadays, there are [name]Olivia[/name]'s everywhere, and so, while it is still a nice name, I would no longer hear it and think ‘stunning’. I met a little girl long ago named Seychelle, like the islands, and that was stunning when her mom said it. So unexpected and evocative! I named one of my own daughters Katriel, which I find stunning in its own way, although I don’t know if others agree. But it definitely is unheard of most of the time and out of all my children’s names gets the most visual and verbal reactions, ranging from the ‘stunned’ 'What did you say?" to the few that find it ‘stunning’.
marielle, bianca, serena, fiona, katerina/caterina
Stunning, to me, means it resonates beauty, timelessness and poise.
Here’s some suggestions of girls names that I think fit that criteria…
[name]Audrey[/name]
[name]Arielle[/name]
[name]Anise[/name]
[name]Clara[/name] / or [name]Claira[/name]
[name]Cerise[/name]
[name]Charlize[/name]
Everleigh
[name]Eden[/name]
[name]Emilia[/name]
[name]Freya[/name]
[name]Jade[/name]
[name]Lola[/name]
[name]Lucille[/name]
[name]Livia[/name]
[name]Matisse[/name]
Mietta
[name]Milla[/name]
[name]Neve[/name]
[name]Nisha[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Paige[/name]
[name]Ruby[/name]
[name]Scarlette[/name]
[name]Skyler[/name]
[name]Sierra[/name]
[name]Sasha[/name]
[name]Tessa[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Viola[/name]
[name]Vivienne[/name]
[name]Willow[/name]
[name]Zara[/name]
My styles a bit different but:
[name]Annabelle[/name]
[name]Arabella[/name]
[name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Jemima[/name]
[name]Katherina[/name] ([name]Kat[/name]-er-ina)- couldn’t use it though my niece is a [name]Catherine[/name] and my cousin lost her [name]Katrina[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name] nn [name]Tildy[/name]
[name]Cecily[/name]
[name]Annabeth[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name] nn [name]Corey[/name]
[name]Georgina[/name] nn [name]Georgy[/name]
[name]Clementine[/name] nn [name]Emmie[/name]
[name]Rosalind[/name] nn [name]Romy[/name]
I have the opposite problem, I would never use the names that I truly love the sound of because they are too popular:
- [name]Savannah[/name]
- [name]Madeline[/name]
- [name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name]
[name]Cosima[/name]
[name]Delphine[/name]
[name]Francesca[/name]
[name]Hermione[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]
And pretty much ALL French names.
These aren’t my top names. My tops are more traditional. But now you’ve got me thinking, why wouldn’t I consider names that I find ‘stunning’?
To me, stunning = strong. I’m really into norse S names for girls. I feel like they have that rock hard, steel center many names in the US do not. Also no nicknames.
I love [name]Sigrid[/name], Sigrun, [name]Solveig[/name], Svala, Svenja, [name]Ragna[/name], and Halldóra.
I also think these are stunning, though not quite as strong as those above: [name]Jane[/name], [name]Odessa[/name], [name]Winter[/name], [name]Finula[/name] (of the original Irish spelling), [name]Rosamund[/name], [name]Vesper[/name], [name]Margery[/name], [name]Marja[/name], [name]Petra[/name], [name]Cordelia[/name]…
I pretty much find all the names on my list stunning…which is why they’re on my list.
There are a mixture of classic names and long “princess” names that I find stunning:
[name]Anastasia[/name]
[name]Annabella[/name]
[name]Caroline[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Eve[/name]
[name]Maeve[/name]
[name]Victoria[/name]
These are the name I consider stunning myself:
[name]Aemilia[/name]
[name]Astoria[/name]
[name]Beata[/name]
[name]Charmian[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Lavinia[/name]
[name]Valentina[/name]
[name]Wisteria[/name]
We also get a lot of “oh, stunning” comments on my daughter’s name, [name]Cornelia[/name] and I get compliments on my name quite often, too.