[name_m]Hi[/name_m] again! We are currently expecting our second little one and recently found out she’ll be our second girl. Naturally we’re thrilled but our girls list is a little long, and we have a few name questions we’d love others opinions on! Big sister’s name is [name_f]Flora[/name_f] [name_u]Camille[/name_u] and our surname begins with a P!
The list:
[name_f]Adele[/name_f]
[name_f]Eloise[/name_f]
[name_f]Claire[/name_f]
[name_f]Olive[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_u]Esme[/name_u]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f]
[name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]
[name_f]Opal[/name_f]
[name_f]Georgia[/name_f]
[name_f]Willa[/name_f]
[name_f]Renee[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f]
[name_u]Louise[/name_u]
[name_f]Helena[/name_f]
[name_u]Blythe[/name_u]
The questions:
• Are [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] and [name_u]Esme[/name_u] repetitive for cousins (essentially just the same syllables reversed)? They would have the same last name, only be ~6 months different in age, and live in the same city (these are why I personally think maybe, my husband disagrees and so does his brother, Maisie’s father)
• Does differing popularity in siblings names matter? Anyone have a sibling with a name way more common/uncommon than your own? Feelings on that?
• How do you pronounce [name_f]Lena[/name_f] / [name_f]Helena[/name_f]? We dislike LEE-nah and heh-LAYN-uh, and are trying to gauge how common those are. Please leave your general location if you feel comfortable doing so!!
• Are [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] and [name_u]Esme[/name_u] repetitive for cousins (essentially just the same syllables reversed)?
Fine for me - I’ve known sibs with closer names 
they have quite different vibes and stand their own ground. Still, if you don’t feel comfortable, I think you’ve got plenty of other good options
• Does differing popularity in siblings names matter? Anyone have a sibling with a name way more common/uncommon than your own? Feelings on that?
For me, it does bother me, and, as someone with two very common names and a brother with a slightly less common first and a very rare middle, I do feel envious Still, objectively, I think it depends on how much disparity there is in popularity. One kid being [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] and the other being [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] would bother me more than say, [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] and [name_f]Violet[/name_f] as a set
• How do you pronounce [name_f]Lena[/name_f] / [name_f]Helena[/name_f]?
[name_f]My[/name_f] instinct is:
[name_f]Lena[/name_f] = Lay-nuh
[name_f]Helena[/name_f] = Hel-uh-nuh
However, I’ve encountered Leh-nuh and lee-nuh and wouldn’t be surprised by either. I’ve also met a huh-lay-nuh and a huh-lee-nuh, so they wouldn’t surprise me either.
I’m in the UK btw.
[name_f]Flora[/name_f] [name_u]Camille[/name_u] is stunning btw, and [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Eloise[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f] [name_f]Estelle[/name_f], [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f], [name_f]Opal[/name_f] and [name_f]Renee[/name_f] are wonderful choices 
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorites from your list with [name_f]Flora[/name_f] are [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_f]Opal[/name_f] and [name_u]Esme[/name_u]. I don’t see anything wrong with having cousins named [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] and [name_u]Esme[/name_u]. Yes, the sounds are similar, but reversed and they feel very different. I wouldn’t overthink that too much. If you love [name_u]Esme[/name_u], by all means use it. It’s a lovely name.
As for popularity, I think degree of popularity matters. For instance my oldest daughter is [name_f]Arwen[/name_f] which isn’t in the top 1000. [name_f]My[/name_f] youngest is [name_u]Raven[/name_u] which is in the 400s. 400s is still far enough away from the top 100 that we haven’t ran into another child with the name [name_u]Raven[/name_u], so their experience there is the same. If I had chosen [name_f]Luna[/name_f] for [name_u]Raven[/name_u] instead like I had considered at the time their experience would be very different from one another.
I forgot Lena/Helena. I pronounce [name_f]Lena[/name_f] like lee-na, but that was my granny’s name and that’s how she pronounced it. I wouldn’t have a hard time switching to lay-na. [name_f]Helena[/name_f] I pronounce like [name_f]Helen[/name_f] with an A on the end. I’m in the southeast US
I love [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], and [name_u]Esme[/name_u] for you!
[name_u]Will[/name_u] the girls being going to the same schools? Because I think the names are far enough apart to not get mixed up by family or on official government paperwork, but having [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] and [name_u]Esme[/name_u] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] in the same class or even a grade apart has the potential to get very confusing for teachers/classmates/front office staff/etc.
I don’t love it when siblings’ popularity are wildly far apart where the will be a large difference in the kids’ experiences, like one kid has a name no one’s ever heard of and one has three others in their class, but at first glace I don’t think any of your list will have that issue.
I default to LEE-nuh and heh-LAYN-uh, [name_u]West[/name_u] US.
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorites with [name_f]Flora[/name_f] are [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Eloise[/name_f], [name_f]Estelle[/name_f], [name_f]Renee[/name_f], and [name_u]Louise[/name_u].
Congrats 
Firstly [name_f]Flora[/name_f] [name_u]Camille[/name_u] is beautiful 
-
Personally I do find [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] + [name_u]Esme[/name_u] similar at all they different vibes stylistically and look visually very different. So I think for cousins [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] + [name_u]Esme[/name_u] is totally fine. [name_m]Just[/name_m] to reassure my daughter is [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] her cousin is [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] they sound similar can get a bit muddled but do work.
-
So for me popularity shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to naming a child. Naming a child is such a privilege and I think it’s so sad not to choose a name you truly love because it’s too popular. In relation to sibling set I don’t think popularity matters really I think you should just choose names you love. However I understand a lot of people like cohesiveness with sibling sets. So I think for cohesion it’s not popularity it’s the style of the name for example [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] + [name_u]Vesper[/name_u] feel very stylistically different almost clashing but [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] + [name_f]Paloma[/name_f] work despite to my [name_f]British[/name_f] ears [name_f]Paloma[/name_f] feels rare. [name_f]My[/name_f] sister is [name_f]Helen[/name_f] her name is soooo rare for her age (shes 27) honestly all Helen’s are 50 plus whereas I’m [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] which is hella popular for my age group (I’m 29) the names work because they are classics despite [name_f]Helen[/name_f] being on the rarer side.
-
Intuitively I pronounce [name_f]Lena[/name_f] ‘Lee-NA’ and [name_f]Helena[/name_f] like [name_f]Helen[/name_f] with an A on the end
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps
[name_f]Flora[/name_f] [name_u]Camille[/name_u] and
[name_f]Iris[/name_f] [name_f]Adele[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f] [name_u]Louise[/name_u]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f] [name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f] → LEH-nah or leh-NAH
[name_f]Helena[/name_f] → eh-LEH-nah or heh-LEH-nah
I am from [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_f]Italy[/name_f]
Congratulations! [name_f]Flora[/name_f] [name_u]Camille[/name_u] is such a gorgeous name!
With [name_f]Flora[/name_f] my favorites are–
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]
[name_f]Opal[/name_f]
- I think [name_u]Esme[/name_u] and [name_f]Maisie[/name_f] are totally fine for cousins.
- I don’t think difference in popularity is a big deal as long it’s not something that’s going to bother you or husband.
- I say LEE-nah and HEH-len-ah. In my area I’ve never heard any pronunciation other than LEE-nah. [name_f]Helena[/name_f] is more of a mixed bag as I’ve heard all three pronunciations. I’m in the Southeast U.S.
Hello! Messaging from Australia:
- I don’t think these names are too close, not for cousins anyway. Names have trends as we know - so for eg half my nieces and nephews and my own child fall in the”Elle” and/or “L” moment names (with an Isabel “Issy” and a Belle for eg). Once a name is attached to a person, no one (besides name nerds) notices their similarity unless it’s more or less the same name (eg Kate and Katie). But I think Maisie and Esme would get past most name nerds - they are both vintage names but still have different vibes, with Esme being more “old lady” (in best sense) and Maisie being more nickname cute. Another possibility is Inès - which I love though the nicknames aren’t quite as good as those for Esmé.
- As someone from a big family where for some reason the girls were given safe/fairly popular names (for the time) and the (five) boys, very adventurous and uncommon, I do think some equity matters for goodwill in the family. I say this too when it comes to names that would affect life outcomes - eg calling one daughter Rosalind and the other daughter, Happy-gal (just as an extreme eg to make the point). Actually, one of my brothers’ names is probably too out there (past the others) and has negatively affected him for sure. Anyway, I stray, but the point is I think names should be in the realms of each other - style-wise/genre more than technical popularity count (though this often overlaps). But you should also go for the name that is the most beautiful to you for that individual child not go for the “perfect”sibset in any aesthetic sense.
- I would intuitively say “Lee-nah” or “Lane-uh” but be OK if someone corrected me to “Lenna”.
Generally, Helena is “HeLAYnah” here, but the Brit version Helen-UH is not unheard of. I really like Leni for Helena - Laynie pronunciation for the Australian Helena and Lennie for the Brit (but you could interchange). I really like Helena!
My fave names on your list for Flora are Eloise, Esme, Helena, Sylvie and Estelle. I do like Iris too, if you want to stay on the noun/nature names, but I think Olive might sound too much like a cafe name (Flora and Olive) or something you serve together (maybe just too stylised for me). Love Willa but maybe too similar to Flora in vibe? Louise is due for a comeback but possibly too classic compared to vintage Flora? But would keep on the list! Other names I like with Flora are Bronte, Sybilla, Daphne, Edith, Martha, Mabel, Imogen & Verity.
Hope that helps! 
The cousin’s names wouldn’t bother me.
Id have to keep away from names that could be mispronounced because it would drive me potty!
I love [name_f]Flora[/name_f]!
I’m loving [name_f]Vera[/name_f] & [name_f]Opal[/name_f] for you.
I’m thinking [name_f]Vera[/name_f] [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f] or [name_f]Opal[/name_f] [name_f]Vivienne[/name_f],
The cousins names wouldn’t bother me at all! I don’t see them as being too similar. I love [name_u]Esme[/name_u] with [name_f]Flora[/name_f]!
A huge difference in popularity would bother me a bit.
I’m in the midwestern US and everyone I know would pronounce [name_f]Lena[/name_f] as Lee-na.
Good luck, you have a great list!