Hi,

Two weeks to go and I still have no clue about a girl's name. Was so sure about DD1's name and still love it, but with this poor bub I seem to pick a name and then end up hating it by the end of the week!

I'm not a top ten name fan... but want something pretty and funky. Surname is a pain... ending in y and starting with a vowel.

What do you think of any of these.... Emery, Olive, Rosie, Skyla, Avalon, Leila, Finnlay, Rosa, Jewel, Stella, Jenna, Mae?

Any better suggestions?

Starting to stress about this more than labour!

I like Olive and Mae
Leila, Finnlay and Jenna would be next

Emery - dislike, reminds me or emery boards or even d*ck Emery!
Olive - dislike, reminds me of 'On The Buses'
Rosie - Rosalie is a lovelier name - would only use Rosie as a nn for Rosalie or Rose
Skyla - I've never liked it - sound hard to me.
Avalon - Sydney beach
Leila - lovely
Finnlay - dislike
Rosa - nope
Jewel - nope
Stella - too "A Streetcar Named Desire" for my liking
Jenna - too 1980's?
Mae - very nice

Stella is by far the best on the list.

From your list I like Rosie, Leila, Stella and Mae.

In Melbourne, Avalon is an airport so I would stay away from that one.

Top 5 picks in order
Stella
Mae
Rosa
Skyla
Olive

Leila, Jenna, Stella would be my top three by a long way, with Rosa (NNed to Rosie) as my last choice rounding out the bunch. And I would use Mae as a middle name regardless of which of these I picked, its classic and east and blends nicely with all of these. These are all really cute.

The others are NMS.

Another middle name that is bright and fun for any of those first names is Jade. I would stay away from Grace as a middle not that its not cute but it seems really standard if that makes sense.

Emery - dislike
Olive - ok
Rosie - agree with PP, prefer Rosalie or Rosemary with this as nn
Skyla - extremely dislike
Avalon - dislike
Leila - nice
Finnlay - extremely dislike, would prefer spelling Finlay but I see this as for a boy
Rosa - ok
Jewel - dislike
Stella - best here
Jenna - ok
Mae - more as a nn for me

That's a very diverse mix of names.

Emery sounds like it would duplicate the surname so I'd scrap that.

I'd lose Rosie (nicknamish), Avalon (car like) and Finnlay (looks a bit odd).

Edie first comes to mind when I think short, pretty and funky and looking at your list.

Rose fits the bill and you can work with it.
Leila and Mae are nice but none of the others really grow on me. I think you need to avoid the -ie sound on the end.

Others to consider:
Gwen or Quinn
Beatrix or Bethan
Juanita or Heather

Good luck finding some stand outs.

My pick is-
Stella
Mae

Good luck

Without hesitation my pick from your list is Jewel. I really like its level of funkiness. The names ending in a vowel sound are unlikely to go well with the surname as you describe it.

Other ideas:

Gem
Topaz
Tulip
Opal
Sage
Ciel
Fern
Fawn
Lark
Lyric
Diamond
Raven
Primrose
Jonquil
Amethyst
Emerald

I love Olive from your list.

From your list i like:

Stella
Leila


Other ideas:

Ruby
Violet
Luna
Mia
Audrey
Alexia
Alexa
Zoe
Maeve
Mabel

For me, I prefer Skyla. Nice meaning too from Dutch origins. Skyla means scholar or shield in dutch. Another one that's not bad is Leila. Sounds sweet to me. I think it's of Arabic origins and means night beauty. Doesn't it sounds nice?

Leila, pronounced Lay-lah is gorgeous and definitely the stand out on the list for me. The other one I really like is Stella. A few of the others are ok too.

A few suggestions:
Rosetta
Juliette/Julia/Juliana
Maeve
Ada
Jemma/Gemma
Jemima
Emmeline
Avery
Maisie
Estella/Estelle
Zara
Lara
Tess/Tessa
Lola
Susannah
Pippa
Eve/Eva
Xanthe/Xanthia
Pearl
Portia
Priya

The two standouts for me are Leila & Olive...
I think
Leila Mae
Olive Mae
Are very cute!!!
Would you consider Lola? I think it's gorgeous but still working on convincing DH!
Hmmmm Lola Mae terribly cute too!

Emery - No
Olive - Love it
Rosie -No
Skyla - Love it, very pretty
Avalon - Different but pretty
Leila - lovely
Finnlay - NO
Rosa - nope, reminds me of an old italian nonna rather then a little girl
Jewel - pretty
Stella - Reminds me of a brothel
Jenna - hmmm dunno, NMS but nothing against it
Mae - to old for my liking- I worked in a nursing home and looked after a lot of Mays

From your list I like

Skyla
Stella
Jenna

Jewel would be a better mn IMO...here are some more suggestions:

Bailey
Aurora
Allegra
Aurelia
Kaiya/Kyah
Aliya
Aaliyah
Celeste
Myah
Maya
Freyja
Sierra
Tiana

I love any of the ones you suggested with Mae as the middle name....or if you are brave enough, I love Jenna-Mae, Leila-Mae, Stella-Mae etc etc

Thanks everyone for your advice. I love being able to get anonymous opinions... even the ones that say 'yuck'!

Some good suggestions. Sadly the ones I like the most are a no-go with our surname (those starting with 'A'). I mentioned Leila to DH this morning and he didn't like it. But it takes a while for things to grow on him. Maybe I'll just get rid of him and get a new surname that's easier to work with!!!!

I was thinking the pronunciation for Leila would be LEE-LAH not LAYLAH. Is that what most people would think? (I know a few Laylas but no Leilas).

Paris and Ramona were also suggested, not sure if they are my style though.

I think if you want Lee-lah you should spell it Lila, not Leila.

I only like Stella and Olive

Don't really like any of them sorry, but if I had to choose I'd pick Leila spelled Lilah/Lila though. If you changed Olive to Olivia I would love it

I love Olive and much like you are not keen on top 10 names. I recently realised that Olivia is a top 10 name so have ruled Olive out as a result as I think it is too similar and there is a possibility that seeing as Olive is not popular people may initially mistake it for Olivia.

I also like Stella and Mae from your list.

I love Rose NN Rosie, Leila, Jenna and Mae.

I quite like Stella but feel it's a bit faddish at present.

Have you considered Summer? Seems to fit with your list.

Stella or SkylaR.

Avalon is absolutely gorgeous!!

I love both Olive and Mae.

Don't mind Stella, Leila and Rosa (better than Rosie).

Not such a fan of the others - I prefer Emerson to Emery, really dislike Skyla, only like Finlay for a boy, don't like Jewel or Jenna, and Avalon's not really my style.

Love Stella and Olive

Stella is the only name I love