I’m new here and would love your opinions on our top three names (we’re expecting a girl in [name]April[/name]).
We have a three-syllable, tough-to-spell last name that starts with S. The baby’s brother’s name is [name]Joe[/name].
Any other name suggestions would be welcomed, too!
I absolutely love the name [name]Julia[/name], so that would be my choice. [name]Anna[/name] is really popular and getting a little boring to me, and [name]Nora[/name] is nice but better as a nickname for [name]Eleanor[/name]. Here are some suggestions:
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Mabel[/name]
[name]Leah[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name]
[name]Mina[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Louisa[/name]
[name]Lena[/name]
[name]Mara[/name]
[name]Stella[/name]
With a short middle name, a longer first name ([name]Julia[/name]) is perfect with a longer last name. If you choose a shorter first name, pair it with a longer middle name with your last name.
I personally don’t care for [name]Nora[/name] - it seems boring and plain (and reminds me of this, well, slutty girl from high school) - and [name]Anna[/name] and its variants are so very popular. I have always adored [name]Julia[/name] and its equally cute and spunky nickname, [name]Jules[/name]. The question is, do you want another J name with [name]Joe[/name] (is this short for [name]Joseph[/name])?
You could do [name]Julia[/name] [name]Rose[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Hope[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Grace[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Cate[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Clare[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Faith[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Paige[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]May[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Nell[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Pearl[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Sage[/name], [name]Julia[/name] [name]Meg[/name], or [name]Julia[/name] [name]Reese[/name] with a long last name!
You may like [name]Alice[/name], [name]Audrey[/name], [name]Evie[/name], [name]Hazel[/name], [name]Laurel[/name], [name]Lily[/name], or [name]Lucy[/name]. I might also recommend [name]Hannah[/name], [name]Leah[/name], [name]Rachel[/name], or [name]Sarah[/name].
I like [name]Nora[/name].
What about:
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Vera[/name]
[name]Krista[/name]
[name]Brenna[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Ruby[/name]
[name]Hi[/name]! I personally don’t mind longer first names with longer last names, and think that all three of your favorites are beautiful. (I think that [name]Joe[/name] is a great name, too!) 
[name]Nora[/name]: I think it’s such a sweet, simple, elegant name, and I also love it as a nickname for [name]Eleanor[/name].
You may also like:
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Flora[/name]
[name]Laura[/name]
[name]Julia[/name]: I think this is beautiful, although I think it may be good to use a non-J name with [name]Joe[/name].
[name]Diana[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]: I think this is very pretty and timeless, too, and can definitely see it with [name]Joe[/name] and your last name.
[name]Willa[/name] comes to mind…
From your list, I’ll vote for [name]Nora[/name], because its used less often (a lot less often) than [name]Anna[/name], although I love [name]Anna[/name], too. (I didn’t choose [name]Julia[/name] because of the J theme with [name]Joe[/name], but that may not be an issue for you.)
In all honesty, I love all three of your favorites!
Good luck!
My vote is for [name]Nora[/name]…I really like it!
I agree, though, with the others that say a longer first name isn’t a big deal with a long last name. I grew up with a long, VERY Italian name and my first name has 3 syllables. I never had an issue. I never had a shorter nn either…
So, then I would vote for
[name]Juliana[/name] nn [name]Julia[/name] or [name]Jules[/name]
Thanks so much for your thoughtful replies and suggestions! I really like [name]Georgia[/name], [name]Willa[/name], [name]Miranda[/name], [name]Audrey[/name], [name]Ruby[/name], and [name]Annabel[/name].
My first name is relatively long ([name]Stephanie[/name]) and often gets truncated to “[name]Stephan[/name]” on forms, etc. because our last name is so long - hence my interest in a shorter first name for the baby. Also, as I get older, I begin to regret that my own name seems so decade-specific - anyone can guess just by knowing my name how old I am, which can be a real disadvantage sometimes. So I don’t want anything too trendy that will seem dated later.
I do hesitate about [name]Julia[/name] because of the “J” issue, with our son being named [name]Joe[/name] (what if we have a third child - we’d be stuck with finding another J name!). Still, [name]Julia[/name] [name]Rose[/name] or [name]Julia[/name] [name]Clair[/name] (a family name) would be sweet.
[name]Eleanor[/name] is also a family name, so we could go with that, using [name]Nora[/name] as a nickname. I’m glad at least some of you like [name]Nora[/name].
I think [name]Anna[/name] has moved down on our list, partly because so many people seem to find it boring and too common (though I still really like it).
Maybe I should imagine one of my pregnant friends name-napping - which name would I be most upset about losing? 
Thanks again for your help!
[name]Julia[/name] [name]Rose[/name] and [name]Julia[/name] [name]Clair[/name] are beautiful! I do think that [name]Julia[/name] is the kind of name that you can’t pinpoint how old the person is. It has been “popular” for a very, very long time! [name]Nora[/name], on the other hand, seems to be resurfacing now.
About the J issue, while I generally recommend against it, if you love the name you should go for it! Four of my cousins (one family) are named [name]Caitlin[/name], [name]Spenser[/name], [name]Sydney[/name], and [name]Ross[/name], and it is never weird that two have S names and the others don’t. It is slightly better to use a different letter, in my opinion, but it isn’t an all-or-nothing situation!
I love the name [name]Julia[/name]!
It’s good to hear that maybe the two Js wouldn’t be such a problem. Honestly, I still really like all three names, and we might just wait to decide until we see what she looks like. With [name]Joe[/name], we had his name picked out years in advance, so there was no last-minute indecision. I suppose we might manage to make up our minds sometime before [name]April[/name]. Thanks again for everyone’s help!
[name]Nora[/name] has really been growing on me lately! That’s my pick!
I’m starting to wonder if [name]Nora[/name] might become too popular in the next few years. I would hate to look back and regret having picked the next “[name]Abigail[/name]” (a name I love, but would never choose now due to overuse). Who would have ever predicted that that name would become so popular?
I’m starting to wonder if [name]Nora[/name] might become too popular in the next few years. I would hate to look back and regret having picked the next “[name]Abigail[/name]” (a name I love, but would never choose now due to overuse). Who would have ever predicted that that name would become so popular?[/quote]
If popularity is an issue for you, I thought I’d mention that [name]Julia[/name] is already very popular, at #40. I know of 7 young [name]Julias[/name] and 1 young-ish [name]Nora[/name]. [name]Nora[/name] is presently #216, was #242 last year, and #245 the year before that. [name]Julia[/name] has been falling in popularity (it was recently in the 30s), while [name]Nora[/name] has been steadily climbing the charts.
[name]Both[/name] are classics, and I think they’re beautiful. 
Good luck!
[name]Love[/name] all three of these names and think any would work great. Probably my favorites, in order, would be:
[name]Nora[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Julia[/name]
I love [name]Nora[/name]! It feels fresh, yet not trendy.
I think [name]Anna[/name] is classic, yet with the name [name]Joe[/name] sounds too much like “[name]JoAnna[/name]” if you were to call for them at the same time.
Good luck! I must say, I love your idea of imagining a friend “name-napping” in order to find your favorite.GREAT IDEA!
All three names are beautiful. My personal favorite is [name]Anna[/name], but it seems like most people just love [name]Julia[/name]. I have mixed feelings about the name [name]Julia[/name] because of someone I know. So I am biased. [name]Nora[/name] is so gorgeous, too. I love it as a nn for [name]Eleanor[/name].
I like the three of them… Instead of [name]Julia[/name] you could write [name]Giulia[/name] (same name but without J"
Other short names:
[name]Zoey[/name]
[name]Malin[/name]
[name]Aliah[/name]
[name]Lia[/name]
I like [name]Anna[/name] and [name]Julia[/name] better than [name]Nora[/name]… but all three are nice. I love [name]Julia[/name] with [name]Joe[/name]. I think the J’s are cute and it works. Also, if you name her [name]Anna[/name], then you will have [name]Joe[/name] and [name]Anna[/name]… get it “[name]Joanna[/name]”. Not a big deal really.
Update - we named our daughter [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Karen[/name] (both family names). She is a pretty baby (though I’m very biased), with large blue eyes and medium brown hair. I’m happy with our name choice, but still think she needs a short nickname to go with our long, three-syllable surname.
My husband doesn’t like my idea of calling her [name]Nora[/name] as a nickname - he thinks it seems too contrived (he claims it would only work with [name]Eleanora[/name]). He prefers [name]Ella[/name] or [name]Elle[/name]. I dislike [name]Ella[/name] - always makes me think of [name]Ella[/name] Funt, an elephant character from a children’s book I once read - although she might enjoy having such a popular nickname, as kids often do. [name]Elle[/name] looks nice in print, but doesn’t sound like a name to me - it always makes me think of the Spanish definite article (as in, “el libro”).
Any thoughts on the best nickname for [name]Eleanor[/name]?
[name]Ellie[/name]