Help to Narrow Down

Girl Names
1

I’m trying to narrow my list, which is seriously all over the place. My dh thinks my odd lists are cute, but he is as bad as I am. He will go for almost anything. For example, he once suggested [name_m]Callaghan[/name_m] for a girl (not totally unusable, as it has the nn [name_f]Calla[/name_f]) and Spektor for a boy (just no). I’m not pregnant, yet, but I’m a habitual planner and visualizer. :slight_smile:

[name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Annora[/name_f] - too vintage/weird?

[name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f] - too normal/pedestrian?

[name_f]Yara[/name_f] Parascheva - family name on Romanian side. Too many 'A’s? Not supposed to rhyme, but does it seem too rhyme-y? [name_f]Yara[/name_f] is YAW-ruh. Parascheva is pair-ah-SHEE-vuh

[name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] [name_f]Audrina[/name_f] Margeurite - too long? Too fancy?

[name_m]Wilder[/name_m] [name_f]Joy[/name_f] [name_f]Lilac[/name_f] - too word-y?

[name_f]Violetta[/name_f] Irène - too pretentious-sounding?

Please feel free to change things or add names from my signature!

Thanks! I hope I can begin to reign it in soon.

2

There are lots of switches I’d make within your list that I feel would balance things out. I’m agreeing with a lot of your assessments of the combos you have, but I think they’d all be usable with some tweaking. For example:

I can’t see [name_f]Janet[/name_f] objectively because I have a family member named [name_f]Janet[/name_f] (born in the 80s) and she’s told me many times how much she hates her name because it’s from kind of an anachronistic era - it’s always felt dated to her compared with her peers, who were often named [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f], [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], and [name_f]Jessica[/name_f], for example. I don’t have a good sense of whether it’s come back around and would be considered vintage and cool for a child born now. Personally I’d be inclined to use [name_f]Jane[/name_f] as a first name or [name_f]Janet[/name_f] as a middle name. [name_f]Jane[/name_f] Parascheva would be amazing, now that I think of it!

If [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f] is feeling too pedestrian, you might like [name_f]Annora[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], or [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_m]Jos[/name_m]ée, [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Joelle[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f] Irène, [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Audrina[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f]; or [name_f]Aviva[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], [name_f]Amina[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], [name_f]Anya[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], [name_f]Annika[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], [name_f]Aria[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f].

With the [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] combo, you could shorten at least [name_f]Audrina[/name_f] to [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] or [name_f]Audra[/name_f] and [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f] to [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] or [name_f]Margot[/name_f]. [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] [name_f]Margot[/name_f] [name_f]Audrina[/name_f]? [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f] [name_f]Audrey[/name_f]; [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f] [name_f]Audra[/name_f]?

I do find [name_m]Wilder[/name_m] [name_f]Joy[/name_f] [name_f]Lilac[/name_f] too word-y. [name_m]Even[/name_m] switching one of them out for a non-English word would help [name_f]IMO[/name_f]:

[name_f]Willa[/name_f] [name_f]Joy[/name_f] [name_f]Lilac[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Joy[/name_f] [name_f]Lilac[/name_f]
[name_m]Wilder[/name_m] [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] [name_f]Joy[/name_f]
[name_m]Wilder[/name_m] [name_f]Letitia[/name_f] [name_f]Joy[/name_f]

Or veering a little further, maybe [name_m]Wilder[/name_m] [name_f]Lorelei[/name_f]?

[name_f]Violetta[/name_f] Irène does feel pretentious-sounding - I’d put either [name_f]Violetta[/name_f] or Irène in a combo, but not both. [name_f]Violet[/name_f] Irène or [name_f]Violetta[/name_f] [name_f]Irene[/name_f]. (I’m assuming you’re using the [name_m]French[/name_m] ee-[name_u]REN[/name_u] pronunciation for Irène?)

And: I love [name_f]Yara[/name_f] Parascheva. It doesn’t feel too rhyme-y to me. I think [name_f]Yara[/name_f] strikes a good balance between familiar and unusual, since [name_f]Sara[/name_f], [name_f]Cara[/name_f], [name_f]Tara[/name_f] and to lesser extents [name_f]Zara[/name_f], [name_u]Dara[/name_u] and [name_f]Mara[/name_f] are all used out in the world. If you think the combo is too rhyme-y, you could break it up - [name_f]Anna[/name_f] Parascheva, [name_f]Laura[/name_f] Parascheva, or [name_f]Janet[/name_f] Parascheva; [name_f]Yara[/name_f] [name_f]Annora[/name_f], [name_f]Yara[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f], [name_f]Yara[/name_f] [name_f]Maribel[/name_f], [name_f]Yara[/name_f] [name_f]Diantha[/name_f], or [name_f]Yara[/name_f] [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f]?

3

Thank you so much, that’s immensely helpful and thoughtful of you.

[name_f]Yara[/name_f] Parascheva means a lot to me, I’m so glad you like it.

I’m altering the others on my list to:

[name_f]Annora[/name_f] Irène (yes, I have a [name_m]French[/name_m] accent)
[name_f]Anya[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f]
[name_f]Laura[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Violetta[/name_f]
[name_f]Yara[/name_f] [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f]
[name_f]Letitia[/name_f] [name_m]Wilder[/name_m] [name_f]Joy[/name_f]
[name_f]Audrina[/name_f] [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f]
[name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] [name_f]Diantha[/name_f]