Help Narrow my Top 4 Baby Girl Names?

[tara3056]

Hi everyone! I'm 20 weeks pregnant with a baby girl, but I've known she was a girl since 12 weeks thanks to the brand new MaterniT21 test, so I've been mulling over names for the last couple of months. I like classic, feminine, sometimes even old-fashioned names as long as they don't go too-Grandmotherly. DH and I have a top 4 list but can't narrow it beyond that (and we'd love to have another option or two to add to the list, so feel free to throw out suggestions based on our taste/current list!). My 2.5 year old son's name is Will (William).

I'd love some honest opinions on these names... potential middle names are in () and they're in no particular order:

1. Ava - too popular these days?
2. Leah (Katherine)
3. Ada (Elisabeth) - too Grandmotherly? Pronounced A-duh.
4. Lily (Catherine)

Anyone?

 

[missy]

My personal favorite is Lily. I have always loved this name.

 

[qtiekiki]

Ada is not Grandmother-ly. I am a pretty hip 33 years old mom of 2. LOL.

 

[vc10um]

My favorite out of those is Ada Elisabeth, but I really don't think you can go wrong!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I love Lily!!!

 

[mia1181]

Ada is not Grandmother-ly. I am a pretty hip 33 years old mom of 2. LOL.

Haha!


Ada is my fave of the four!

I know some people don't care but I prefer less popular names. If you are the same, I just checked the nameberry site and here are the rankings of your top names:

Ava- #5
Leah- #29
Ada- #494
Lily- #15

Good luck! They are all very pretty names you can't go wrong with any of them!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I really like Ada!

 

[megumic]

What about Addy, Mae, or Libby?

I think my fave of your list is Leah, but I don't particularly love any of the others. (Sorry!) I do love Elisabeth and Catherine though, so there's that. We really liked Grandma girl names too -- like Margaret, Eleanor, Margaux, Sadie, Georgia, Claire, etc. but had a boy instead.

Our fave girl name was Lenna. It's short for Helena, but we were thinking of going with Eleanor and calling her Lenna. (Pronounced Len-na, not Leee-nah.) We will see what happens and if we do end up with a girl on round two!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Lily was on my short list and we were thisclose to naming our girl Catherine Lily (she's Catherine Grace). I think Lily Catherine is beautiful.

I also love the name William and if we have a boy next, it would have been on my short list. But there's no way we can name a boy William when we already have a Catherine. Bummer!

 

[Enerchi]

I love both Ava and Lily ... and Catherine.

I am done with babies but I have 2 labs now and they are ...Ava! and Lily!! Catherine is my daughters middle name! Wow - you & I have amazing taste in baby names

 

[tara3056]

Thank you everyone! I've really enjoyed reading your thoughts! Keep them coming!

I don't think Ada is too old-fashioned, but my Mom and DH seem to think so. Ada was the name of one of the first female computer programmers and apparently the name of a programming language, too, and since that's my husband's field, I thought it might appeal to him. He doesn't love it, but it's still a possibility.

ROFL Enerchi - yes, we clearly share great taste! Also, NewEnglandLady, Catherine is HIGH on my list of faves, but I have the opposite problem from you and can't name our daughter that since we already have a Will! So it will have to be used as a middle name, if at all.

 

[packrat]

I like Ada best. I, too, like the less common/popular names. The only thing that would give me pause is when saying Ada Elizabeth, it might sound like Ada Lizabeth. My kids are looking at me funny now b/c I've been sitting here saying the name out loud about 20 times in different ways. Might come in handy tho when she's in trouble. You could yell Ada *E*Lizabeth-really yell that E and boy she'd know she was in trouble haha!

I don't think it sounds grandma-ish at all. It sounds feminine and summery to me.

 

[partgypsy]

I like all of the names. If if helps at all, the only Ada I knew was a tall athletic kick butt type woman, so that's my (positive association) with that name. Even though it is a popular name, I think Lily is my favorite of them.

Are any of them family names? To me that would tip the scales (my first and middle names are my great grandmother and grandmother's names respectively on mother's side, while my sister's first and middle name is our granmother and great grandmother on father's side).

 

[Octavia]

If my DH and I have a daughter, we plan to name her Ada (but pronounced with both short "a" sounds, like ah-dah). So I'm biased toward it, haha. I agree with packrat that when you put names that end and start with vowels together, the beginning of the second name gets a bit lost, but I still think it sounds pretty and looks beautiful written out! All the names you've listed are so pretty, though, I don't think you can go wrong -- but maybe wait to make your final decision until you meet your baby? You might get a strong feeling toward one name in particular at that point.

 

[Niel]

It was really important to me to pick a name that wasn't very popular. Also, I'm very in to old lady names (my daughters name is Mabel ). So ada is by far my favorite.

 

[packrat]

Having a couple names and waiting until she comes to see which name fits her best is a good idea, so I second that. We had Ayla and London and as soon as we saw her it was an immediate "London".

 

[arkieb1]

Hi,

Ava, Eva, Eve are all really popular these days, I had a dog called Lilly, I love the name Lilly, I also like Isla, if you are after something a bit more unique and there was a Lilah and a Lyla at my son's preschool. I agree probably best to wait and see her and see which one fits!!! Goodluck.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

All of those are nice names, but I would avoid the ones on the most common names list. I probably like Lily the best of those, but it is pretty high up on the list! I know some Ava's and an Eva. A new baby we know is named Elise, which I think is beautiful and not overused. Oh, and I know one child named Eden, which I also love!

 

[momhappy]

I had Ava & Lily on my list too.
Based on your choices, I like Ada.

 

[Harpertoo]

I love Ada. (Unusual, but traditional.)
It's also the only one I don't have a personal association with.

 

[LAJennifer]

Hi everyone! I'm 20 weeks pregnant with a baby girl, but I've known she was a girl since 12 weeks thanks to the brand new MaterniT21 test, so I've been mulling over names for the last couple of months. I like classic, feminine, sometimes even old-fashioned names as long as they don't go too-Grandmotherly. DH and I have a top 4 list but can't narrow it beyond that (and we'd love to have another option or two to add to the list, so feel free to throw out suggestions based on our taste/current list!). My 2.5 year old son's name is Will (William).

I'd love some honest opinions on these names... potential middle names are in () and they're in no particular order:

1. Ava - too popular these days? Yes, too popular
2. Leah (Katherine) I like it but kind of reminds me of Teen Mom
3. Ada (Elisabeth) - too Grandmotherly? Pronounced A-duh.How about Aida?
4. Lily (Catherine) I love Lily. It is my mother's name

Anyone?

I had 2 girl baby names picked out, but we aren't having children, so have at them: Guinevere and Jemima