Help deciding baby girl name

Oldnproud
Candida has been a girl’s name for quite a while and I once met a doctor’s daughter unaccountably named Retina.

I love Liora Mae! It sounds beautiful, soft, and elegant. I wouldn’t worry too much about using Liora respectfully just because you aren’t Jewish. You might also like Elora Mae, Lyra Mae, or Thea Mae if you want something with a similar feel

Oh dear,
I thought

Fran P Zi thought ‘Princess’ and similar names were banned in UK as misleading.

I think more people associate the name with Daisy May Cooper, now, a very talented, successful writer and actor?

MayBee70

Daisy May was the granny in The Beverly Hillbillies…

She was also a famous ventriloquist’s dummy

I like both and both go with Mae nicely. Look at your family name name and make sure that the three together and the initials are not something rude of nicknameable.

Try to pick something starting with A-E as these are the ones higher up the list written out, and this can be a lifelong advantage.

Never associated Twyla with Jews; my Catholic Philippino friend is Twyla. Liora is a new one on me, but she will spend her life being called Laura and having to spell it.

No reason why not having 3 or four names, she can choose what to be called as a teen then. Or how about your mum/gran/sister or his mum/gran/sister's names? Or even feminised versions of brothers/fathers? Do you have a middle name that would work?

Older biblical names like Ruth, Naomi, Elizabeth, Mary, are becoming fashionable again.

Lots of Katherines in the UK and Charlottes and even the odd Camilla. The pledge of Crown Princess Leonor has brought that name into the public eye, so watch this space for a few of them.

Or how about Princess or Lady (Princess Elizabeth Mae has quite a ring to it)

Molly Mae
Anna Mae
Andie Ma
Billie Mae
Cara Mae
Dolly Mae
Diedre Mae
Ella Mae
Enola Mae
Fenella Mae
Georgia Mae
Helena Mae
Julia Mae
Lily Mae
Maura Mae
Natalie Mae
Orla Mae
I do like Penelope, so how about Penny Mae
Patricia is nice so Patsy Mae, or Tricia Mae
Rosanna Mae
Susanna Mae
Teresa Mae
Tilly Mae (or Matilda)
Ursula Mae
Victoria (a perennial) Mae (Vikki, or Tori)
Yolanda Mae
Zinnia Mae

(I must admit to liking Ophelia)

Margs

Steer clear of Agatha - it will be converted and contorted into 'Aggie'. I had an aunt who suffered such a fate. It didn't help that she was born a hunchback in the days when nothing could be done about it.

Ghastly name and ghastly appearance to match. Looking at her terrified the life out of me.

Poor woman!

Miriam Mae… after my grandmother ❤️

Nansypansy

My granddaughters have lovely names … Genevieve and Anastasia

Those are gorgeous.

Where did the spelling Mae come from? If I used the name I would spell it May.

I don’t think the fact that a name is hard to spell should put parents off interesting names. My maiden name was very difficult, and I had to spell it for people all the time. It wasn’t a problem for me. I liked having an unusual name. Moreover, some very ordinary names can be hard to spell. One of my names is Katherine. That can be spelt in numerous ways - Catherine, Cathryn, Kathryn, Katharine. It’s an unremarkable name, but I still have to tell people how to spell my version.

Steer clear of Agatha - it will be converted and contorted into 'Aggie'. I had an aunt who suffered such a fate. It didn't help that she was born a hunchback in the days when nothing could be done about it.

Ghastly name and ghastly appearance to match. Looking at her terrified the life out of me.

This thread has suddenly reminded me of past jokes about suggestions of names such as Chlamydia for girls.
I think it might have started when celebrities (allegedly- I am not into this culture enough to know if it was true) started naming their daughters names like Chardonnay).

OldFrill

Lilibet is quite nice

Lilibert for a boy

Oh come on --- you're being mischievous, right?
But, just in the unlikely event that you're not, which grown woman in her right mind is going to want a baby's mispronunciation for a name? Might just as well go the whole hog and call her Bubbadubbadubbaboopikins...

My granddaughters have lovely names … Genevieve and Anastasia

Butterandjam I think Theo - from Theodore and Finn - famous in Irish mythology (Fionn Mac Cumhaill) are both traditional.
And D'Arcy- from D'Arcy is old - 16th century in the UK.

Kai (Cai) is from Scandinavia and Wales. I think (from memory, also ancient Persia?).
Leif is also old Scandinavian- and Leaf presumably comes from Middle English "Lef".

I expect the others are 19th Century.
I haven't researched them.

Unless you’re Irish don’t use their names as nobody will ever know how to pronounce or spell them.
Look up the meaning - Chiara is a bad dog disease.
Look on Mumsnet for the absurd, the ghastly, the cringingly awful names in current use.

Elrel 😀

I think I first heard Grainne pronounced correctly when Eamonn Andrews was famous as his wife was called Gráinne.

JenniRen New to a huge secondary school, I was occasionally asked take the register for a class I had not met before. I did my best with unfamiliar names. One morning I paused half way, probably looking uncertain, a thoughtful 15 year old quietly said ‘ It’s Gronya, Miss’. Thank you, Grainne!
In another school a year 7 was named Basharat, when asked he told me it was pronounced ‘B’shaarut’. I think every child deserves to have their name correctly used.

Once she is in school Liora will get used to being miscalled ‘Laura’ and Twyla will soon answer to ‘Tyler’. Lots of us with easily pronounced and quite popular names find ourselves known to neighbours and others by a slightly similar name. For weeks I thought a colleague’s daughter was Yvonne, the first Siobhan I ever met! After her first day in reception a child told me she had made friends with a lovely little girl called ‘Tarzan’. She was a lovely little girl, actually called Charlotte!

A good old Celtic name; that should confuse everyone.

Aisling
Saoirse
Ffion
Grainne
Iseulde
Caoimhe

My grandmother's name was Eva.

Magenta8

I have a bit of a thing about people who call their children by names they pronounce wrongly. For example Caitlin is pronounced Katchleen not Kayt-lin.

Kaytlin is the fairly standard pronunciation everywhere except in Ireland now. I have known it spelt Kaytlin too.
Niamh is often spelt as it sounds to, Neeve or Neave.

Anne as in Anne of Green Gables? Or Ann without an 'e'?
The variations of most names can be interesting!

Loveto paint037, those are the downsides but there are upsides too. My children always had a conversation starter which broke the ice when meeting new people, they were quickly identifiable because there was rarely another person named the same, etc. Neither one has ever had a problem getting jobs nor has it hampered their career trajectory. Both of them said they had had moments when they were growing up when they wished they'd had a normal name but both felt entirely comfortable about it on the whole. Both of them had traditional middle names they could have adopted if they desired.
I have a perfectly normal Hebrew name but people still pronounce it wrongly or misspell it. It used to bother me as a young person but there are so many real issues to worry about in life, I just shrug my shoulders and respond regardlessly. It's called patience, a great skill to learn.

Agree with Franski. Please don’t saddle your little darling with a name that will be forever questioned as to how to spell,pronounce etc. When choosing a name consider the application for a job, writing their name at school,