I love classic girls’ names. I have an 11-month old son named [name]Henry[/name] and would like to come up with a girl’s name to match in case the (planned but not yet expected) baby #2 is a girl… I absolutely love the name [name]Katherine[/name] nn [name]Kate[/name] but can’t really deal with how incredibley popular it is, especially once you factor in all the [name]Katelyn[/name]/[name]Kathleen[/name]/[name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katrina[/name] “Kates.” I also like [name]Margaret[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Anna[/name], and [name]Sophie[/name]. Any ideas for a less wildly popular name with the same classic feel?
OK! I hear your dilemma; let’s see if we can come up with anything.
First suggestion: what about a double name? [name]Anna[/name] [name]Kate[/name] would work in two names you really like; [name]Maggie[/name] [name]Kate[/name] & [name]Eliza[/name] [name]Kate[/name] would be less familiar but [name]IMO[/name] equally cute double name options.
Other options:
- [name]Mary[/name]
- [name]Caroline[/name]
- [name]Rebecca[/name]
- [name]Sarah[/name] (also could double name, [name]Sarah[/name] [name]Kate[/name])
- [name]Alice[/name]
- [name]Rose[/name]
- [name]Hannah[/name]
- [name]Claudia[/name]
- [name]Jane[/name]
- [name]Hope[/name]
- [name]Lydia[/name]
- [name]Eleanor[/name]
- [name]Laura[/name]
- [name]Clara[/name]
- [name]Allison[/name]
Any of these doing anything for you?
First off: [name]Katherine[/name] is lovely! I’m not too keen on [name]Kate[/name], but it is pretty enough. [name]Katherine[/name] is a classic, and thus never goes out of style!
[name]Margaret[/name] is lovely, btw. I think it’s gorgeous, and has a lot of endearing nickname options. It would be a nice option, and fits very well with [name]Henry[/name].
As for my suggestions:
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Iris[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Lilibet[/name]
[name]Cecily[/name]/ [name]Cecilia[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name]
[name]Penina[/name]
[name]Ruth[/name]
[name]Magdalene[/name]
[name]Theodosia[/name]
[name]Helene[/name]/ [name]Helena[/name]/ [name]Helen[/name]
[name]Georgina[/name]/ [name]Georgia[/name]/ [name]Georgiana[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Jane[/name]
[name]Vivian[/name]/ [name]Vivienne[/name]
[name]Lucasta[/name]
[name]Wilhelmina[/name]/ [name]Wilhelmine[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name]
[name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Hester[/name].
Try going to the U.S. social security baby names site. They have the top 1,000 baby names in U.S. going back to the late 1800’s. You can do specific searches by decades. Go back to the decades [name]Henry[/name] was popular in and look at the 1,000 names that were also popular that decade.
It’s really a fun site.
Some lovely ideas - thanks! I forgot to mention that the middle name would be [name]June[/name] - it’s my mom’s middle name and I’d really like to use it. I would use it as a first name but don’t really want to have [name]Henry[/name] & [name]June[/name] - way to [name]Henry[/name] [name]Miller[/name] for my liking! I like [name]Jane[/name], but can’t use it for obvious reasons lol. [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Eliza[/name], but my partner’s name is [name]Liz[/name] so that won’t work 
I like [name]Claudia[/name] a lot, but she hates it. SIGH. Maybe we’ll have a boy? 
Thanks for the decade search idea - it’s a good one. I’ll try that.
I love [name]Henry[/name] and think [name]Josephine[/name] is a great classic match.
other ideas-
[name]Amelia[/name]
[name]Esther[/name]
[name]Ruth[/name]
[name]Louise[/name] or [name]Louisa[/name]
[name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Virginia[/name]
[name]Edith[/name]
[name]Audra[/name]
[name]Bethany[/name]
[name]Irene[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name]
[name]Adele[/name]
[name]Ellen[/name]
[name]Eve[/name]
[name]Agatha[/name]
[name]Frances[/name]
[name]Elise[/name]
[name]Meredith[/name]
[name]Gwendolyn[/name]
[name]Susannah[/name]
I don’t think underused classics is an oxymoron! I think the key is “underused”, not unheard of. There are plenty of names considered “classic” that have been around forever but aren’t used to the extent of [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name] today, and certainly not to the extent of [name]Olivia[/name] and [name]Ava[/name]!
I love [name]Claudia[/name] btw, it’s a shame your partner isn’t on board! And instead of [name]Eliza[/name], what about [name]Elise[/name]? No [name]Liz[/name] connection then.
Also, [name]Henry[/name] is at number 71 on the most popular baby names list so it’s of equal popularity to something like [name]Charlotte[/name], which I think is lovely and very classic. [name]Do[/name] you like that? I’d say if you stick to names outside of the top 50 and without lots of spelling variations to factor in, you should be ok.
You have some great suggestions above, some of my favourite “classics” are:
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Martha[/name] ([name]Martha[/name] and [name]Henry[/name] would be beyond cute!)
[name]Alexandra[/name]
[name]Harriet[/name]
[name]Lara[/name]
[name]Elsa[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Naomi[/name]
[name]Natasha[/name]
[name]Faye[/name]
[name]Felicity[/name]
[name]Lana[/name]
[name]Nina[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]
[name]Verity[/name]
[name]Joanna[/name]
[name]May[/name]/[name]Mae[/name]
[name]Philippa[/name]
[name]Tess[/name]/[name]Tessa[/name]
[name]Mabel[/name]
[name]Fiona[/name]
[name]Veronica[/name]
[name]Claire[/name]/[name]Clare[/name]
[name]Rosemary[/name]
[name]Rosanna[/name]
[name]Camilla[/name]
[name]Bridget[/name]
[name]Diana[/name]
[name]Nora[/name]
[name]Sadie[/name]
[name]Elspeth[/name]
[name]Sylvia[/name]
[name]Cassandra[/name]
[name]Celeste[/name]
[name]Theresa[/name]
[name]Lavinia[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Blythe[/name]
[name]Jacqueline[/name]
Best of luck! 
[name]Hi[/name]!
[name]Henry[/name]'s wonderful - my favorite - and my favorite girl names are [name]Lydia[/name], [name]Emmeline[/name], [name]Charlotte[/name], and [name]Alice[/name]. Any of those would be great with [name]Henry[/name]!
Here are some quirky classics and vintage gems for you and [name]Liz[/name] to consider:
[name]Amelia[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Annora[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Adelaide[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Bryony[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Cecilia[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Celia[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Cecily[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Camilla[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Christiana[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Dorothy[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Diana[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Eleanor[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Estella[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Elena[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Frances[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Flora[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Gwendolen[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Helena[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Harriet[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Isabel[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Iris[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Ingrid[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Julia[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Laura[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Lucy[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Lillian[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Millicent[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Ramona[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Rebecca[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Sarah[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Sylvia[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Susannah[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Theresa[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Tallulah[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Violet[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Victoria[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Veronica[/name] [name]June[/name]
[name]Willa[/name] [name]June[/name]
Yes, not all of these sound wonderful with [name]June[/name] in the middle, but I’ve marked my favorites with [name]Henry[/name] and with [name]June[/name] as a middle name in bold.
[name]Lemon[/name]
[name]Henry[/name] and sister…
[name]Agatha[/name]
[name]Edith[/name]
[name]Ruth[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Ada[/name]
[name]Esther[/name]
[name]Celeste[/name]
[name]Hazel[/name]
[name]Mabel[/name]
[name]Eugenia[/name]
[name]Winifred[/name]
[name]Muriel[/name]
[name]Rosalind[/name]
[name]Constance[/name]
[name]Irene[/name]
[name]Martha[/name]
[name]Laetitia[/name]
[name]Isadora[/name]
[name]Amabel[/name]
[name]Millicent[/name]
[name]Adelaide[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name]
[name]Augusta[/name]
[name]Dorothea[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Louisa[/name]
[name]Viola[/name]
[name]Blanche[/name]
[name]Agnes[/name]
[name]Miriam[/name]
[name]Susannah[/name]
[name]Hi[/name]… My baby is [name]Catherine[/name] and I worried a bit that it would be too popular… But I loved it enough to use it anyway, and am glad I did. For what it’s worth my older girl goes to a k-8 school where there is only one other [name]Katherine[/name] ( by any spelling) in the whole school. It may depend where you live. There are a slew of isabellas, lauren’s, and natalies at dd’s school and we are in new jersey. [name]Catherine[/name] is being used less than it used to be 20 years ago. But if you’re still too worried about popularity I do like [name]Margaret[/name] a lot as a pp suggested! [name]Kat[/name] is a nice nn alternative if it’s [name]Kate[/name] you want to avoid, too. Good luck! Btw my sis has an [name]Elisabeth[/name] and there are far fewer of these around than you’d think, what with the increase in the variety of names being given today. Timeless is a good way to go I think… I’d rather my child encounter a few others with her name than end up with a dated name in 20 years. And as much as I love many vintage names I do fear they will date as part of ‘that vintage trend’ in 20 years.
One more thought, I love the name laura. It’s a beautiful classic as well, and though there are many in my age group, it’s rarely given to babies today ( seems [name]Lauren[/name] is more commonly used). Also, depending on where you I’ve you may find more carolines than katherines… There are 2 at dd’s school, one [name]Jane[/name], one [name]Lydia[/name], one [name]Elizabeth[/name], etc. Not very different from katherine at the end of the day so sometimes it just makes sense to use the name you really love rather than one slightly less popular.
[name]Clara[/name] was the first name that came to mind! Also (sorry for any repeats):
[name]Lila[/name]
[name]Emma[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Ada[/name]
[name]Sarah[/name]
[name]Margo[/name]
[name]Julia[/name]