Help! I had my perfect girl name but now I can't use it! :(

Girl Names
1

I made the mistake of telling it to a friend (who just happens to have the same last name as me!) before either of us was pregnant. 9 months later (no, I am not kidding) she had a daughter and gave her the very name that I had told her I wanted to name a daughter. Now, I realize that you can’t call dibs on a name - especially when you’re not even pregnant yet. I’d never say anything to our friend but it still stung, because now the name that I had chosen and had pretty much set in stone in my mind is off limits to me. We have too many mutual friends AND the same last name, so no, I cannot just use the name anyway. People have told me to, but I just don’t feel comfortable doing it.

So here I am in this dilemma, because now I am pregnant and my favorite girl name was claimed by someone else. The name is [name]Elle[/name]. Not trendy [name]Ella[/name], or [name]Eleanore[/name] shortened to [name]Ellie[/name]. [name]Just[/name] plain and simple (and not even in the top 400) [name]Elle[/name]. I love it and I am absolutely heartbroken that I can’t use it now - especially after reading the description of [name]Elle[/name] on here, basically calling it a perfect name. Please help me come up with another name that I will love just as much. The other girl name that I like is [name]Lila[/name], but I’m worried that it is becoming too popular. I don’t know anyone with that name yet, though, so I am considering it, but I need other ideas - HELP! I like girl names that are short, sweet, classic, pretty and ultra-feminine.

2

[name]How[/name] about
[name]Rose[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Jane[/name]
[name]Leni[/name]
[name]Lauren[/name]
[name]May[/name]
[name]Joy[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Claire[/name]
[name]Clara[/name]
[name]Lilly[/name]
[name]Lilith[/name]
[name]Hannah[/name]
[name]Grace[/name]
[name]Leah[/name]
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Stella[/name]
[name]Ruby[/name]
[name]Sarah[/name]

Good luck!

3

Maybe you would like: [name]Etta[/name], [name]Emme[/name], [name]Estrella[/name], [name]Estella[/name], [name]Estelle[/name], [name]Esme[/name], [name]Estee[/name], [name]Ingrid[/name], [name]Isla[/name], [name]Ida[/name], [name]Ada[/name], [name]Addie[/name], [name]Amy[/name], [name]Aimee[/name], [name]Astra[/name], [name]Astrid[/name], [name]Anya[/name], [name]Anja[/name], [name]Anna[/name], [name]Oona[/name], [name]May[/name], [name]June[/name], [name]Jane[/name], [name]Jeanne[/name], [name]Maizie[/name], [name]Marina[/name], [name]Marin[/name], [name]Marielle[/name], [name]Bea[/name], [name]Dinah[/name], [name]Freya[/name], [name]Frances[/name], [name]Gioia[/name], [name]Joy[/name], [name]Gemma[/name], [name]Hannah[/name], [name]Hanna[/name], [name]Helena[/name], [name]Helene[/name], [name]Adele[/name], [name]Lana[/name], [name]Lena[/name], [name]Laura[/name], [name]Leah[/name], [name]Nell[/name], [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Selma[/name], [name]Tess[/name], [name]Tessa[/name], [name]Theresa[/name], [name]Willa[/name]?

4

i had a name stolen too- i feel your pain!! good luck. when i had my daughter i realized that the name i originally wanted to use wasn’t very ‘her’ anyway! the name we did pick (that throughout my pregnancy i didn’t feel 100% sure of and didn’t think i would ever love as much as the stolen name) is so perfect for my beautiful daughter- so now it’s my favorite name in the world.

5

I think you should stick with [name]Elle[/name]. You love the name and its beautiful!

6

How about:

Claire
Clara
Paige
Eve**
Esme
Mae
Maeve
Brooke

7

What about [name]Eve[/name]? I absolutely love it and feel it has the same beautiful simplicity that [name]Elle[/name] does. Other ideas-

[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Brynn[/name]
[name]Clara[/name]
[name]Daisy[/name]
[name]Faye[/name]
[name]Gemma[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]
[name]June[/name]
[name]Mae[/name]
[name]Margo[/name]
[name]Vera[/name]
[name]Willa[/name]

8

That’s horrible! I’m sorry she did that! :frowning: I like other people’s suggestion of [name]Eve[/name]. It has the sort of vibe as [name]Elle[/name] does. I also think [name]Lila[/name] is a beautiful name :slight_smile: Maybe…
[name]Eleni[/name]
[name]Livy[/name]/[name]Liv[/name]
[name]Blythe[/name]
[name]Claire[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Maisie[/name]
[name]Laura[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Nora[/name]
[name]Edie[/name]
[name]Leah[/name]
[name]Willa[/name]
[name]Jenna[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Emma[/name]
[name]Elise[/name]
[name]Lena[/name]
[name]Aria[/name]
[name]Sadie[/name]

9

Aww I’m so sorry, that really sucks. I think she should have at least spoken to you about it first. I had a similar experience, my partner and I don’t have children yet but we were set on the name [name]Annelie[/name] for a girl and really loved it. It felt like our secret name, until my pregnant friend (who had no idea I liked the name) announced that she was going to name her daughter to be [name]Annelie[/name]. I remember my heart just sinking as I smiled and told her I thought it was a lovely choice. Ultimately, she didn’t end up using it, but during the time I thought she was going to, we found [name]Claudie[/name], and that is now our absolute favourite name, we love it way more than we ever loved [name]Annelie[/name], and hopefully you’ll feel that way about a new name eventually.

I totally understand your love of [name]Elle[/name]. It is a “perfect” name. It has a popular sound, although the name itself is underused, simple, chic, elegant, feminine. It’s just lovely! But there are other great names with the same qualities.

[name]Elle[/name] would be on my own list if our second favourite name wasn’t [name]Penelope[/name] nn [name]Nell[/name]. So my first suggestion for you is sweet, simple, vintage [name]Nell[/name]. Definitely underused, pretty, familiar and stylish. I’ve considered using “just” [name]Nell[/name] myself but my partner adores [name]Penelope[/name].

I second the previous great suggestions of [name]Mae[/name]/[name]May[/name], [name]Ivy[/name], [name]June[/name], [name]Eve[/name], [name]Anna[/name], [name]Fae[/name], [name]Maeve[/name], [name]Claire[/name], [name]Blythe[/name], [name]Esme[/name], [name]Jane[/name], [name]Freya[/name], [name]Adele[/name], [name]Tess[/name] and [name]Rose[/name].

I’d also suggest: [name]Wren[/name], [name]Calla[/name] (flower name like [name]Lila[/name] but less trendy), [name]Lilac[/name], [name]Lake[/name], [name]Lark[/name], [name]Baye[/name], [name]Thea[/name], [name]Sanna[/name], [name]Yara[/name], [name]Molly[/name], [name]Lyra[/name], [name]Lana[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Cleo[/name], [name]Jean[/name], [name]Celeste[/name], [name]Elise[/name] (has a very similar feel to [name]Elle[/name] in my mind), [name]Eloise[/name], [name]Louise[/name], [name]Alma[/name], [name]Ciel[/name], [name]Colette[/name], [name]Cosette[/name], [name]Etta[/name], [name]Giselle[/name] (has the ballerina like quality of [name]Elle[/name]), [name]Mireille[/name], [name]Noelle[/name], [name]Honour[/name], [name]Mira[/name], [name]Meline[/name], [name]Elsie[/name], [name]Selene[/name], [name]Primrose[/name], [name]Milla[/name], [name]Nola[/name], [name]Evenie[/name], [name]Phoebe[/name], [name]Clemency[/name] and [name]Linnea[/name].

I hope some of this helps. Perhaps you could use [name]Elle[/name] as her middle name? And incorporate it into her nn e.g. [name]Sophie[/name] [name]Elle[/name] nn [name]Sophie[/name]-[name]Elle[/name] or [name]Fifi[/name]-[name]Elle[/name]. It’s just a thought!

Best of luck and keep us updated! :slight_smile:

10

Kmw1975 - I am very sorry that this happened to you but have you ever considered that she didn’t say something or stayed neutral because the name was already on her list and she was keeping it to herself? If you specifically said “when I have a daughter THIS will be her name” VS “I really love this name for a girl, I would love to have a girl named this” then unfortunately I think there is a difference.

Personally I think your friend should have told you and again I’m sorry this happened to you

11

[name]Ellery[/name]
[name]Maeve[/name]
[name]June[/name]
[name]Isla[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]

12

eleni, brynn, wren, maeve

13

ava…

14

That is exactly how it came up in the conversation: “If I have a daughter, this [name]WILL[/name] be her name.” It wasn’t simply, oh, I like this name. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t already on her list, because I remember her reaction when I said it and I had a hard time reading into it. I told it to her, she said the name out loud - first and last, “[name]Elle[/name] _____, hmmm…” She looked like she was thinking about it for a minute and then she said simply, “Its nice.” As in, that will be a nice name for YOUR kid. It really looked to me like she was indifferent about it - just telling me it was a nice name to be polite, so it completely shocked me when she announced her daughter’s name.

Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now anyway. I could either use the name anyway and risk people talking about me and thinking I copied her, OR I can find a new name. I love the name [name]Elle[/name] so much that I am still considering it, but I also still really like [name]Lila[/name] - even though I know its gotten trendy. I don’t know ANY [name]Lila[/name]'s at all. I’ve never even heard of a baby being named [name]Lila[/name] around here, so I don’t think the trend has quite caught on where we live, yet. Maybe I’ll just have to see the baby first and see who she looks like.

15

I always love [name]Elle[/name]. And yes, I think you should keep it, maybe for middle name or a part of name (like elle from [name]Gabrielle[/name], [name]Danielle[/name], etc) if it can’t be the fn.
Short and feminine?
What about :
[name]Millie[/name]
[name]Clara[/name]
[name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Julie[/name]
[name]Hana[/name]
[name]Fiona[/name]
[name]Anne[/name]
[name]Annette[/name]
[name]Esme[/name]
and [name]Luna[/name]. have you consider it? It’s a part of my own name and usually I never suggest mine to others, but I think it really fits your criteria. short, sweet, classic, pretty and ultra-feminine.

16

Elliette? It is my family members name and we called her [name]Elly[/name] or [name]Elle[/name].

It’s a cute twist on a boy name made feminine. Everyone loves it.

17

I’m so sorry! That’s absolutely horrible. You’ve gotten a lot of great suggestions and I can’t really think of anything to add… except for one name. [name]Eliza[/name] keeps coming back to me. It has the same spunk as [name]Elle[/name], imo, and is just as ultra-feminine, while being different enough. I don’t know if it’s been suggested yet, but I figured I’d share anyway.

Good luck to you, and I hope you find your perfect name! For what it’s worth, I adore [name]Lila[/name] and the only one I know is a very distant cousin’s daughter. She spells it [name]Lyla[/name], though.

18

[name]Ava[/name] was actually going to be my son’s name if he was a girl, but that was 12 years ago - before it got so popular. Then my cousin named her daughter [name]Ava[/name] about 6 years ago, knowing full well that it had been my girl choice. I was slightly annoyed, but by that time I didn’t care very much. It had gotten too popular. I do still like the name [name]Ava[/name], though, so I guess I am a little irked that I can’t even consider it now. Part of my problem with naming this baby is I feel like all of the good names have been taken!

19

I would [name]LOVE[/name] to still use [name]Elle[/name] for a middle name - if I could find the right first name to go with it! Someone mentioned [name]Sophie[/name] [name]Elle[/name]. I think that sounds pretty…except my niece’s name is [name]Sophie[/name]! For [name]Elle[/name] to be a middle name, the first name would have to be at least 2 syllables, and it doesnt work with [name]Lila[/name]. There HAVE been lots of great suggestions here, though. I do sort of like the name [name]Lucy[/name], but if I named my child [name]Lucy[/name], I’d be doing the exact same thing to another friend that the [name]Elle[/name] friend did to me. That friend has all boys and wants a daughter named [name]Lucy[/name] someday. I know she may never get her, but I also how hard that was for me, and I care about this friend a lot so I am not going to do that to her. Plus, I only LIKE [name]Lucy[/name]…not sure I [name]LOVE[/name] it. [name]Anne[/name] is pretty, but it’s my sister’s name. I’d definitely consider it for a middle name.

20

Maybe this will happen to me and she will look more like [name]Lila[/name] (or another name if I can find one) than [name]Elle[/name]. I hope so, because I am having a really hard time letting go of [name]Elle[/name].