I come from a large family, and 2 of my cousins welcomed daughters in the past month. Although they aren’t part of my immediate family, I spend a lot of time with these cousins especially, and don’t want to use the names they used.
Problem: their daughters’ names are [name_f]Nora[/name_f] and [name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. [name_f]Nora[/name_f] (though we would use the spelling [name_f]Norah[/name_f]) and [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] were both strong contenders for our little one (due late Dec 2015).
This has caused us to rethink our entire list. Most of the names we like are more common, and I fear we’ll keep running into this issue with several other family & friends having children before us.
That being said, we’ve been looking for names that are less popular, but still classic with nickname possibilities. Here’s a short list we’ve compiled:
[name_f]Cecilia[/name_f]/[name_f]Cecelia[/name_f]
[name_u]Nicola[/name_u] (nod to [name_f]Tesla[/name_f])
[name_f]Scarlett[/name_f]
[name_f]Allegra[/name_f]
[name_f]Rowena[/name_f]
[name_f]Wendy[/name_f] (the hubs’ favorite right now)
[name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] (hubs hates it, but may go for [name_f]Mina[/name_f])
Any suggestions would be great, because we feel quite all over the place right now.
[name_f]TIA[/name_f]
I love Cecilia and Wilhelmina <3
Nicola seems a bit dated, and the others are just not my style, though there is nothing objectively wrong with any of them.
Some suggestions:
Eloise (nns Lola, Lulu, Lilo)
Louisa
Clara
Genevieve (Evie, Viv)
Vivian/Vivienne
Elodie
Romilly
Josephine
Lydia
Philippa
Matilda
Georgia/Georgina
Marina
Miriam
Amelia
Phoebe
Marguerite
Margot
Alice
Rosemary
Livia
Annabel
Beatrix
Hazel
Cora/Coraline
Lucy
Penelope
Aurora
Adelaide
Isobel
Mabel
Olive
[name_f]Cecily[/name_f]
[name_f]Cora[/name_f]
[name_f]Coral[/name_f]
[name_f]Hallie[/name_f]
[name_f]Millicent[/name_f]
[name_f]Melissande[/name_f]
[name_f]Ramona[/name_f]
[name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]
[name_f]Davina[/name_f]
[name_f]Delilah[/name_f]
[name_f]Rebekah[/name_f]
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Wendy[/name_f] is adorable and unique!
[name_f]Cecilia[/name_f]/[name_f]Cecelia[/name_f] - I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] this name, especially with the nickname [name_f]Cece[/name_f]! I still struggle myself to decide which spelling I like the best, since I go back and forth on it. Right now I’m thinking the [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f] spelling.
[name_u]Nicola[/name_u] - this is too boring and outdated imo. I did know a young [name_f]Nicole[/name_f] which was cute though.
[name_f]Scarlett[/name_f] - my favourite! I love [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f]. Its fresh, new and striking.
[name_f]Allegra[/name_f] - I love the musical feel to this, but I dont like hard G’s in names!
[name_f]Rowena[/name_f] - I have bad associations with a [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], so I really dont like this name. I can see the appeal though.
[name_f]Wendy[/name_f] (the hubs’ favorite right now) - I’m sorry but I really cant think of anything more horrible on a child 
[name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] (hubs hates it, but may go for [name_f]Mina[/name_f]) - I hate this too, but [name_f]Willa[/name_f] would be nice.
[name_f]Cecelia[/name_f] and [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f] are my favorites! I also like [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] and [name_f]Wendy[/name_f]. Other names similar to [name_f]Nora[/name_f] and [name_f]Hannah[/name_f]:
[name_f]Leona[/name_f]
[name_f]Susannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Cora[/name_f]
[name_f]Harriet[/name_f]
[name_f]Anne[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvia[/name_f]
[name_f]Willa[/name_f]
[name_f]Cecelia[/name_f]/[name_f]Cecilia[/name_f] is great, and so are [name_u]Nicola[/name_u] and [name_f]Wendy[/name_f] (so underused but gorgeous names!)
I really like [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f] and [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f] from your list. I also love the name [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] but am personally never sure if it is just too much–it would be nice with the nickname [name_f]Willa[/name_f] as another poster suggested.
I love [name_f]Wendy[/name_f].
[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_f]Susannah[/name_f]? Classic and way underused