Questioning a Few Choices

In an attempt to be more Victorian in my naming tastes, there are some names I’m finding a bit questionable. I don’t know if I like or dislike any of these yet, but I feel like maybe some feedback will help sway me.

I love nicknames as first names, so being too cutesy doesn’t phase me

[name_f]Marie[/name_f]
[name_f]Bessie[/name_f]
[name_f]Jennie[/name_f]
[name_f]Viola[/name_f]
[name_f]Dora[/name_f]
[name_f]Nettie[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucille[/name_f]
[name_f]Loretta[/name_f]
[name_f]Essie[/name_f]
[name_f]Nell[/name_f]
[name_f]Delia[/name_f]
[name_u]Vivian[/name_u]
[name_f]Claribel[/name_f]/[name_f]Claribelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Charity[/name_f]

Thanks!

[name_f]Marie[/name_f] - I think this is stuck as a dated and dull middle name for the moment. Maybe [name_f]Mara[/name_f]? [name_f]Mireille[/name_f]? [name_f]Mairi[/name_f]?
[name_f]Bessie[/name_f] - [name_f]Lovely[/name_f].
[name_f]Jennie[/name_f] - Eh, I think [name_f]Ginny[/name_f] is prettier.
[name_f]Viola[/name_f] - lovely, I adore the [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] connection, Twelfth [name_m]Night[/name_m] is one of my favourites and [name_f]Viola[/name_f] is a wonderful character
[name_f]Dora[/name_f] - I know a little [name_f]Dora[/name_f] (her sister is [name_f]Edie[/name_f]) and she’s made me really love it. The [name_f]Dora[/name_f] the [name_u]Explorer[/name_u] thing never bothered her.
[name_f]Nettie[/name_f] - still a toilet to me. I’d use [name_f]Henrietta[/name_f] more readily.
[name_f]Lucille[/name_f] - [name_u]Love[/name_u] this, very 1950s film star to me which I love.
[name_f]Loretta[/name_f] - not my style but nice.
[name_f]Essie[/name_f] - Isn’t that a petrol company or something?
[name_f]Nell[/name_f] - this is growing on me a lot recently. I still like [name_f]Nigella[/name_f] and [name_f]Fenella[/name_f] a lot as longer forms.
[name_f]Delia[/name_f] - this is 100% [name_f]Delia[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] to me but I do like it. Much prettier than [name_f]Dahlia[/name_f] imo.
[name_u]Vivian[/name_u] - Nice. I don’t like [name_f]Vivienne[/name_f] but [name_u]Vivian[/name_u] is really quite cool… I also like the Cornish spelling [name_u]Vyvyan[/name_u] but I think that’s quite unusable.
[name_f]Claribel[/name_f]/[name_f]Claribelle[/name_f] - don’t really like this, but adore [name_f]Christabel[/name_f]. I know a [name_f]Clara[/name_f] who’s dad called her [name_f]Clarabelle[/name_f] when she was little which is cute.
[name_f]Charity[/name_f] - eh, there’s nothing about this I like either. It’s one of those very pressuring virtue names that I could never give to a human. Of course it’s a wonderful trait but it’s very intense as a name.

Bolded indicaties favouring, italicization indicates I strongly dislike it or I’d nix it.

[name_f]Marie[/name_f]
[name_f]Bessie[/name_f]
[name_f]Jennie[/name_f]
[name_f]Viola[/name_f]
[name_f]Dora[/name_f]
[name_f]Nettie[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucille[/name_f]
[name_f]Loretta[/name_f]
[name_f]Essie[/name_f]
[name_f]Nell[/name_f]
[name_f]Delia[/name_f]
[name_u]Vivian[/name_u]
[name_f]Claribel[/name_f]/[name_f]Claribelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Charity[/name_f]

@oliviasarah - you’re thinking of Esso :wink: [name_f]Essie[/name_f] is a nail polish company, owned and created by a woman named [name_f]Essie[/name_f] :stuck_out_tongue: I can’t really use [name_f]Ginny[/name_f], as it’s my aunty’s name ([name_f]Virginia[/name_f] nn [name_f]Ginny[/name_f]), and I didn’t know about the toilet connections, I don’t think we use that term here, haha. I do love [name_f]Christabel[/name_f], thank you :slight_smile:

@bibliophile - I am thinking about dropping [name_f]Charity[/name_f] and [name_f]Nell[/name_f], not sure on [name_f]Loretta[/name_f] though (although [name_f]Loretta[/name_f] [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] may not be the best connection).

Since there weren’t any replies to this yet, the more I looked at it, the more I ended up deciding;

I think I’m keeping [name_f]Marie[/name_f], [name_f]Bessie[/name_f], [name_f]Viola[/name_f], [name_f]Dora[/name_f], [name_f]Nettie[/name_f], [name_f]Lucille[/name_f], [name_f]Essie[/name_f], [name_f]Delia[/name_f] and [name_u]Vivian[/name_u] :slight_smile: I may change [name_u]Vivian[/name_u] to [name_u]Vivien[/name_u] like [name_u]Vivien[/name_u] [name_u]Leigh[/name_u] (even though she was born [name_u]Vivian[/name_u]).

Thank you both!