My recent girls list. Opinions?

General Name Discussion
1

[name]Hi[/name] there! [name]Long[/name] time name addict but new to Nameberry, so I hope I’m posting in the right place. I’m always changing around my list of favorites, but I’m hoping I could get some help and insight.

[name]Catharina[/name] *[name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] “Cata” (ka-ta-[name]REE[/name]-na, SER-ren)
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Claire[/name]
[name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] *[name]Emmeline[/name] (rose-eh-[name]LAY[/name]-na, [name]EM[/name]-ma-leen)
[name]Annabelle[/name] *[name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] “[name]Belle[/name]”
[name]Luciana[/name] *[name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name] “[name]Lux[/name], [name]Lucie[/name], [name]Luna[/name]”

  • are names that I have just thrown in the combo recently, and welcome to suggestions. In other words, a lot of my combos are up in the air, so feel free to bash them to bits if you wish.

Also, is it weird to use both [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] for middle names (my name is [name]Emily[/name] if that makes things better or worse)?

Other favorites:
[name]Aira[/name]
[name]Angeline[/name]
[name]Aurelia[/name]
[name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Felicity[/name]
[name]Fleur[/name]
[name]Georgiana[/name]
[name]Isla[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Liliana[/name]
Madalina
[name]Magdalena[/name]
[name]Mirabelle[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Rosalie[/name]
Roselia
[name]Seraphina[/name] / [name]Seraphine[/name]
[name]Sophia[/name]
[name]Valentina[/name]
[name]Verity[/name]

Thanks!

2

[name]Catharina[/name] will definitely be said ca-tha-ree-na. If you want the ka-ta-[name]REE[/name]-na pronounciation, nix the H. So [name]Catarina[/name]/[name]Caterina[/name]/[name]Katerina[/name]/[name]Katarina[/name].
[name]Seren[/name] and [name]Lily[/name] are lovely. Together they make me think of [name]Serenity[/name].

[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Claire[/name] - Is lovely together.
[name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] is beautiful, but I think with [name]Emmeline[/name] it’s just too much.

[name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] is too much to me. Same with [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name].
Some rearraiging/switching and they’ll be lovely.

Yeah, it’s a bit…eh to me to name your kids after yourself. But if you just seriously love the names [name]Emilia[/name]/[name]Emmeline[/name] and it’s just a coincidence, then it’s not an issue.

I like all of your other ideas except for:
[name]Mirabelle[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Verity[/name]
[name]Sophia[/name], it’s pretty but so over done for my liking.

3

[name]Catharina[/name] *[name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] “Cata” - Personally I prefer the spelling [name]Katerina[/name], but this is a pretty combo. I always sense a play on words with [name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name], but who knows what I could be relating that to??

[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Claire[/name] - I dislike the flow of this, but the individual names are all nice.

[name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] *[name]Emmeline[/name] - I prefer [name]Rose[/name], and [name]Elena[/name] as two individual names, not a double-barrel first name, again, all pretty names, but dislike the combo

[name]Annabelle[/name] *[name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] “[name]Belle[/name]” - [name]Love[/name] these names too! But combo doesn’t flow right for me

[name]Luciana[/name] *[name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name] “[name]Lux[/name], [name]Lucie[/name], [name]Luna[/name]” - Prefer just [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Alice[/name], or [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Josephine[/name], or [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name], but not all three together.

Also, is it weird to use both [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] for middle names (my name is [name]Emily[/name] if that makes things better or worse)?

Other favorites: (I left the ones I like the most)
[name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Felicity[/name]
[name]Fleur[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Rosalie[/name]
[name]Verity[/name]

Thoughts on combos:
I like [name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Felicity[/name], as it seems to accomplish [name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name], with the same feel and sounds, with only a single middle name.
[name]Elena[/name] [name]Rose[/name] [name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Verity[/name] [name]Rose[/name]
[name]Luciana[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name]
[name]Catharina[/name] [name]Verity[/name] [name]Claire[/name]
[name]Luciana[/name] [name]Lily[/name] [name]Alice[/name]
[name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Eloise[/name] [name]Claire[/name]

4

Fantastic taste! What a great list!
[name]Catharina[/name] *[name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] “Cata” (ka-ta-[name]REE[/name]-na, SER-ren)- I love [name]Catharina[/name]. I worry about pronunciation a little with that spelling (I like [name]Caterina[/name] myself) but it’s a great name either way. I’m not quite sure how to say Cata, though.
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Claire[/name]- Very pretty.
[name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] *[name]Emmeline[/name] (rose-eh-[name]LAY[/name]-na, [name]EM[/name]-ma-leen)- I don’t like [name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] as a double-barreled first. I wouldn’t be able to tell based on sound if it was [name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] or [name]Rosa[/name]-[name]Lena[/name] and I sincerely doubt that you’d be able to avoid [name]Rose[/name] as a nickname. In my experience, they’re very difficult to work with on paper and to not have shortened to the first name. For some reason, people get very confused by double-barreled names, and what’s the point of [name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] if she’ll just end up [name]Rose[/name] anyway? However, I love the combo if [name]Elena[/name] was a middle.
[name]Annabelle[/name] *[name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] “[name]Belle[/name]”- [name]Lovely[/name], but stylistically very similar. I’d swap out [name]Cecily[/name] for a less hipster-y name, like [name]Elena[/name] or [name]Lily[/name].
[name]Luciana[/name] *[name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name] “[name]Lux[/name], [name]Lucie[/name], [name]Luna[/name]”- I love this combo, but it is a little long. And I’d pick just one nickname- it’s more likely to stick if everyone agrees on it. [name]Luciana[/name] may have pronunciation problems, like [name]Catharina[/name]- I say the Italian loo-chee-[name]AH[/name]-na automatically because it my experience it’s more common among Italian families than Spanish, but I think most other people would go for the Spanish loo-see-[name]AH[/name]-na.

I wouldn’t use [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] for sisters, even as middle names. I like each individually, though.
I love the names on your list except these:
[name]Aira[/name]- it’s just unfamiliar to me, and I keep mixing it up with [name]Aria[/name].
[name]Angeline[/name]- No real reason, just not my favorite.
[name]Fleur[/name]- French is a beautiful language, but I think this is a very ugly sounding word. It reminds me of the “blegh” sound people make when they’re pretending to throw up. But that’s a bizarre and very random association, probably unique to me.
[name]Isla[/name]- No real reason for this either, I think I just have something against the long I sound in names.
[name]Liliana[/name]- Quite trendy and unnecessarily frilly in my opinion, and I think [name]Lily[/name] is more classic and [name]Luciana[/name] more beautiful. Either are better options to me.
[name]Pearl[/name]- Like [name]Fleur[/name], it just sounds ugly to my ears. [name]Both[/name] words represent such beautiful things, but for some reason they’re like nails on a chalkboard to me. All I can hear is the male name [name]Earl[/name]. Again, though, a personal bias. There’s nothing wrong with the name itself.
Roselia- Stick with the classic spelling, [name]Rosalia[/name].
[name]Seraphine[/name]- I much prefer [name]Seraphina[/name]

5

Thanks for all the replies so far! I really appreciate it. My taste has jump around a lot over the years, and lately I’ve just been stuck on a romantic track with frilly and flowy names. Always been a 2 middle name fan (even went through a 3 middle name phase, boy were those some long names), but I’m starting to consider 1 middle name for some and 2 for others.

  • For [name]Catharina[/name], I absolutely adore this spelling and am not as attached to [name]Catarina[/name] or [name]Caterina[/name], though I’m trying to appreciate them more. I realize the “h” is a bit misleading. I choose the nickname Cata (KAH-tah, not [name]KAY[/name]-ta), the first two syllables of the name. Not so much a fan of [name]Cate[/name] / [name]Kate[/name], [name]Rina[/name], [name]Nina[/name], etc. I’ve been stuck on [name]Catharina[/name] [name]Lily[/name] but been trying to place another middle name, and [name]Seren[/name] was the best I could come up with. Didn’t intend it to be a play on words, though I recognized it’s a bit similar to [name]Serenity[/name] (which I admit is a GP of mine). Is the play on words that cheesy/awful where it shouldn’t be considered?
  • For [name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name], I have little desire to call her just [name]Rose[/name], though I wouldn’t be against it. There’s something about the flowing combo that I’ve always really liked (and am quite tired of seeing [name]Rose[/name] as the second part of a double barrel). Honestly I wish there was a smushed name for it out there, and Rosalena / Roselena doesn’t look as appealing to me. [name]Rosalina[/name] / [name]Roselina[/name] is the next closest I can get, but prefer the [name]LAY[/name]-na sound over [name]LEE[/name]-na here. I think I’m the only one that likes this as a double barrel, but she’s so hard to let go for me =[
  • I pronounce things the Spanishy way versus Italian, simply because I’m more familiar with Spanish and have never learned a word of Italian. I didn’t even think to clarify how to pronounce [name]Luciana[/name] since the Italian way is rather unnatural to me.
  • For the record, I don’t mean to name my children after myself. Loving the names [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] is just a bonus I suppose (hell I wish I had one of those names instead!) I never considered using both until today, which is why I begin to wonder if it would be alright to use both, though secretly I knew the answer (no =/).

I had the idea of [name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Felicity[/name], but I’m not a fan of the rhyminess between -belle and Fel. I adore the nickname [name]Belle[/name] and would even consider using it as a full first name, so [name]Belle[/name] [name]Felicity[/name] just seems off to me. Does anyone else agree? Or am I just crazy =P
Loving [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] and [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Lily[/name] [name]Claire[/name], but I don’t think I have the courage to use the second (reminds me a bit of [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]'s [name]Lily[/name] [name]Luna[/name] combo).

Sorry if that was rather long. [name]Just[/name] wanted to make sure I got all my comments in and really appreciate everyone’s help =]

6

I would avoid using both [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] for siblings. It’s just a bit too much, especially if your name is [name]Emily[/name].

[name]Catharina[/name] [name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] - For that pronunciation, I’d spell the first name [name]Catarina[/name]. [name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] is okay but something feels a little off about it.
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Claire[/name] - I think this is my favorite combo. It’s gorgeous.
[name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] - I don’t like the hyphenated first name but [name]Rose[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] is lovely.
[name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] - I like [name]Annabelle[/name] but not with [name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name].
[name]Luciana[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name] - There’s something “off” about this combo but I can’t exactly place my finger on it. [name]Luciana[/name] is lovely and I love it with the nickname [name]Lux[/name].

From your other list, I like:
[name]Felicity[/name]
[name]Georgiana[/name]
[name]Isla[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Liliana[/name]
[name]Rosalie[/name]
[name]Sophia[/name]

I wouldn’t say that the end of [name]Annabelle[/name] and the beginning of [name]Felicity[/name] rhyme because when I say [name]Felicity[/name], it’s not fel-iss-uh-tee, it’s fih-LIS-ih-tee.

7

[name]Hi[/name]!

[name]Catharina[/name] *[name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] “Cata” (ka-ta-[name]REE[/name]-na, SER-ren)- You would have to change the spelling of this to [name]Catarina[/name] or [name]Caterina[/name] to get this pronunciation all the time. I almost always prefer a C- spelling, but here I do prefer [name]Katerina[/name]. I love the name. It’s a nice, distinctive, exotic choice to [name]Catherine[/name]. This combination is perfect to me. Very feminine, very melodic. Pretty.
[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Claire[/name]- I always hate [name]Claire[/name], but I like it here. Great combination, again. I’m so happy to see the [name]Emilia[/name] spelling, as I love it. Good flow. [name]Juliet[/name] is a lovely name. No bad things to say about this.
[name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] *[name]Emmeline[/name] (rose-eh-[name]LAY[/name]-na, [name]EM[/name]-ma-leen)- [name]Rose[/name] [name]Elena[/name] is a really nice combination. It’s just so pretty together, I’m surprised you don’t hear it more. I definitely think it’s a keeper. I really don’t like [name]Emmeline[/name] here, though. It seems cumbersome and just doesn’t sound right. I like a lot of your other names here though, so play around a bit to find a better combination, because [name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] is great. I personally like [name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] [name]Pearl[/name], [name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] [name]Seraphine[/name].
[name]Annabelle[/name] *[name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] “[name]Belle[/name]”- [name]Love[/name] [name]Annabelle[/name] nn [name]Belle[/name], and I like [name]Phaedra[/name], but I don’t like the [name]Cicily[/name]. I actually think [name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Phaedra[/name] is a perfect combination on its own, no need to add to it. If you need a third name though, I like [name]Annabelle[/name] [name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Rosalie[/name].
[name]Luciana[/name] *[name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name] “[name]Lux[/name], [name]Lucie[/name], [name]Luna[/name]”- I like this, it is definitely usable, but I would say I prefer [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Josephine[/name], without the [name]Alice[/name]. Maybe [name]Pearl[/name] here? I also like [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Rosalie[/name] [name]Josephine[/name], or [name]Luciana[/name] [name]Eloise[/name] [name]Josephine[/name]. I love all the nickname choices. [name]Luciana[/name] is just a great, strong, feminine name. All of your names are really great.

8

[name]Catharina[/name] *[name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] “Cata” (ka-ta-[name]REE[/name]-na, SER-ren)
I really can’t see anyone pronouncing this the way you want, people will see it and think [name]Catherine[/name] then notice the A on the end, if you change the spelling though i think [name]Catarina[/name]/[name]Caterina[/name]/[name]Katerina[/name]/[name]Katarina[/name] [name]Seren[/name] [name]Lily[/name] is a lovely name.

[name]Juliet[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Claire[/name] - not my style but pretty
[name]Rose[/name]-[name]Elena[/name] *[name]Emmeline[/name] (rose-eh-[name]LAY[/name]-na, [name]EM[/name]-ma-leen) - elena emmeline don’t work together [name]IMO[/name] too similar)
[name]Annabelle[/name] *[name]Phaedra[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] “[name]Belle[/name]” - bit of a mouthful, not sure they go together. I like [name]Anabelle[/name] [name]Phaedra[/name] together but [name]Cecily[/name] seems a bit redundant thrown on the end
[name]Luciana[/name] *[name]Josephine[/name] [name]Alice[/name] “[name]Lux[/name], [name]Lucie[/name], [name]Luna[/name]” Probably my favourite of your combos, like all the nn possibilities as well

Also, is it weird to use both [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] for middle names (my name is [name]Emily[/name] if that makes things better or worse)?

Frankly yes it’s weird to use both, far to similar for sisters even as midle names but i think it’s sweet to use them to carry your name on whilst not copying it exactly. So one of the other for me.

I’ve deleted the ones I’m really not fond of -
[name]Aira[/name] - pretty but think it needs a strong middle name
[name]Aurelia[/name] - very lovely
[name]Eloise[/name] - again pretty
[name]Fleur[/name] - i prefer [name]Flora[/name]
[name]Isla[/name] - [name]Lovely[/name] but really common where i live ([name]Scotland[/name])
[name]Liliana[/name] - like to say this
[name]Magdalena[/name] - i like it and think [name]Magda[/name] is a cool nn
[name]Mirabelle[/name] - i do like this although it makes me think Mirror Ball but that’s not so bad
[name]Pearl[/name] - I’m a fan of old lady names and this one is growing on me
[name]Rosalie[/name] - Propbably my favourite of [name]Rose[/name] names
[name]Seraphina[/name] / [name]Seraphine[/name] - really like
[name]Sophia[/name] - far too common for me
[name]Verity[/name] - [name]Love[/name] this!!