So I’ve read a lot of [name]Shakespeare[/name] in school this year and I’ve been thinking about what beautiful names he chooses.
Pick your top 12 names from the list, and rank them 1-10. (Sorry if there’s already been a blog post about this, I’ve been out of the loop for awhile)
[name]Juliet[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Regan[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]
[name]Bianca[/name]
[name]Desdemona[/name]
[name]Claribel[/name]
[name]Arden[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]
[name]Nerissa[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Rosaline[/name]
Here are my Top 10 favorites from your list (ranked on a scale from 1 to 10 in [name]RED[/name])
[name]Cordelia[/name] 8
[name]Ophelia[/name] 7
[name]Bianca[/name] 5
[name]Claribel[/name] 9
[name]Arden[/name] 5
[name]Beatrice[/name] 10
[name]Miranda[/name] 7
[name]Nerissa[/name] 6
[name]Violet[/name] 8
[name]Rosaline[/name] 10
My favourites 1-10:
- [name]Rosaline[/name]
- [name]Cordelia[/name]
- [name]Bianca[/name]
- [name]Juliet[/name]
- [name]Beatrice[/name]
- [name]Arden[/name]
- [name]Violet[/name]
- [name]Nerissa[/name]
- [name]Miranda[/name]
- [name]Ophelia[/name]
To be honest I’m not really a fan of [name]Regan[/name], [name]Desdemona[/name], [name]Claribel[/name], [name]Ophelia[/name], [name]Miranda[/name] or [name]Nerissa[/name], and I’m so-so on [name]Violet[/name] and [name]Arden[/name]. [name]Love[/name] the top 5 names though! Some of my favs 
I was just thinking about [name]Shakespeare[/name] names!
- [name]Cordelia[/name]
- [name]Juliet[/name]
- [name]Beatrice[/name]
- [name]Rosaline[/name]
- [name]Violet[/name]
- [name]Ophelia[/name]
- [name]Bianca[/name]
- [name]Claribel[/name]
- [name]Arden[/name]
- [name]Miranda[/name]
But my number one [name]Shakespeare[/name] name isn’t on your list – [name]Viola[/name], from Twelfth [name]Night[/name] (especially when paired with her twin [name]Sebastian[/name]!)
From the ones you listed I’d choose these, in descending order
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Rosalin[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]
[name]Nerissa[/name]
The rest aren’t to my taste, especially [name]Bianca[/name], which for some reason sounds both trashy and pretentious to me (no offence to any [name]Bianca[/name]'s out there – if I met a nice one I’d probably change my mind!). But there are a lot of Shakespearean names you missed. 
Going by a list I just found on the internet, I’d have to add [name]Adriana[/name], [name]Audrey[/name], [name]Cassandra[/name], [name]Cressida[/name], [name]Celia[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Emilia[/name], [name]Francesca[/name], [name]Gertrude[/name], [name]Helena[/name], [name]Imogen[/name], [name]Isabel[/name], [name]Luciana[/name], [name]Nell[/name], [name]Paulina[/name], [name]Phebe[/name], [name]Portia[/name], [name]Titania[/name], and [name]Valaria[/name] to the list of Shakespearean names I would use, though not necessarily on a child (I include the trendy [name]Isabel[/name] only because I bestowed it on a character, for example). I don’t think I’d use [name]Ophelia[/name] on a child either, come to think of it – I love the character but it’s one hell of a history to bestow on a child!
1 - [name]Ophelia[/name]
2 - [name]Bianca[/name]
3 - [name]Miranda[/name]
4 - [name]Cordelia[/name]
5 - [name]Beatrice[/name]
6 - [name]Juliet[/name]
7 - [name]Violet[/name]
8 - [name]Rosaline[/name]
9 - [name]Regan[/name]
10 - [name]Arden[/name]
- [name]Beatrice[/name]
- [name]Bianca[/name]
- [name]Miranda[/name]
- [name]Claribel[/name]
- [name]Juliet[/name]
- [name]Ophelia[/name]
- [name]Cordelia[/name]
- [name]Violet[/name]
- [name]Nerissa[/name]
- [name]Desdemona[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name] and [name]Bianca[/name] are my favorites by FAR. Not a fan of [name]Regan[/name] due to former Pres. [name]Reagan[/name], [name]Arden[/name] because it’s a neighborhood in my city. [name]Violet[/name], [name]Nerissa[/name] and [name]Desdemona[/name] were all pretty equal for me and any of them could’ve been switched out for [name]Rosaline[/name].
1.[name]Rosaline[/name]
2.[name]Bianca[/name]
3.[name]Juliet[/name]
4.[name]Ophelia[/name]
5.[name]Desdemona[/name]
6.[name]Violet[/name]
7.[name]Miranda[/name]
8.[name]Claribel[/name]
9.[name]Cordelia[/name]
10.[name]Arden[/name]
- [name]Juliet[/name]
- [name]Violet[/name]
- [name]Ophelia[/name]
- [name]Arden[/name]
- [name]Rosaline[/name]
- [name]Beatrice[/name]
- [name]Miranda[/name]
- [name]Nerissa[/name]
- [name]Claribel[/name]
- [name]Cordelia[/name]
The first seven names on my list are absolutely beautiful and I have nothing to say about them!
The last three I don’t really like at all, but they are a far better choice than [name]Regan[/name] [name]Bianca[/name] and [name]Desdemona[/name].
I automatically refer to the former president [name]Reagan[/name] when I hear [name]Regan[/name]. [name]Bianca[/name] was the name of a cow in a story I liked as a child, so to me that is a cow’s name (no offence), and [name]Desdemona[/name] sounds so evil! Probably because it has the word “demon” in it.
Thanks for all the enthusiastic responses! I’m surprised that only one person picked [name]Cordelia[/name] as their favorite- it’s mine. It has a lovely meaning (heart in Latin) and it’s attached to a great character in [name]King[/name] Lear which is a good association at least for me.
Sorry I forgot about [name]Viola[/name]…
I like [name]Cordelia[/name], but I’ve seen a few people in addition to myself who immediately associate it with a less-than-favourite character from [name]Buffy[/name] the Vampire Slayer. 