We are seriously considering [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] for our daughter to be born in [name_u]December[/name_u]. I was wondering if those from across the pond could give their impressions – popularity, class, sounds too much like daft? Many thanks in advance!
I’ve only ever known one [name_f]Daphne[/name_f], and she just so happens to be my 80+ year old neighbour. Because of that, I struggle to picture it on a little girl. I don’t think it’s all that popular, but has the potential to rise like some of the other old-fashioned names - I’ve come across young young Floras, Florences and Hazels, all of which I associated as ‘older’ names several years ago.
I don’t think it sounds like ‘daft’ at all - [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] is pronounced with a short a - DAFF-nee - compared to daft with a long a - DARFT - in my accent, though I know some accents, especially northern ones, use short a’s for words like daft, bath, etc, so if you were to live in a community with that pronunciation I could see it as being a bit close, though not unusable close.
Like the previous poster the only [name_f]Daphne[/name_f]'s I have met have been older women, but I think it could be a sweet name for a little girl. There are plenty of nicknames that could be used too if you wanted to. I don’t think it is overly popular at the moment. It doesn’t sound like daft to me either.
I personally have never met anyone called [name_f]Daphne[/name_f], but it certainly has a classic charm to it. Certainly not ‘popular’ over here, but equally by no means unliked. I would put it in a middle/upper class bracket. I think it would be very sweet on a little girl, especially with the option of pet-name [name_u]Daffy[/name_u]. I think it’s about time we saw some more little girls with this name though!
Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. They are very helpful. As [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] is “seen by Americans as quintessentially British” according to Nameberry, I really wanted to get a sense of the name’s current status over there. I welcome others to chime in!
I really like [name_f]Daphne[/name_f]…can’t seem to get DH on board though. I also met a cute little [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] who was trick or treating last week 