Despite having a tween-aged sister who watches unbelievable amounts of both kids and teen shows with catchy earworm tunes, I myself live under the rock and neither of these sound particularly familiar to me. π Nevertheless, the names of the heroines are all very nice, yeah I must say I like all of them to some degree. My most favourite on this list is Luna, I love its cold and smooth sound, and I love the moon so how couldn’t I like this lovely name. Personally I wouldn’t use it, it seems to be more popular for pets than kids over here, and I’ve got a little fed up with hearing it over and over again from my sis who is a die hard fan of the “Soy Luna” series, but despite that, I still love this name. Oona has a lovely, Celtic feel, and Esme is very pretty, even though I dislike the fact that “Twilight” has made it so popular.
Which is your favourite among these? π
Tag: girls names
Little Old Lady Names
Many interesting names here…
As for my opinions, well I guess I can’t say for Americans and my view may be slightly different on these names.
I really really like Agnes. It has such an elegant, vintage charm to it, but if I didn’t know already that many people think it’s so very dated, I’d be really surprised to hear that, to me it sounds really girly and I just can’t comprehend why anyone can think it sounds elderly. π Maybe that’s because our Polish Agnieszka, although maybe not the freshest of baby names these days, had been overwhelmingly popular since 70’s all the way to 90’s, and although not as favoured now, is still rather liked by people and doesn’t feel dusted at all, and I’d be happy to see it coming back in the English-speaking countries, but maybe it’s just too cute.
Dorothea probably is a bit too cute.
I definitely can’t see Frances and Gertrude coming back, they do sound rather old to me, even though last year I read a book where the main character was named Gertrude and she was a young girl. I can’t imagine it on a real life child in 21st century.
Ida is liked by namenerds and other quirky individuals in Poland, though we pronounce it EE-dah here, it’s maybe not my style or anything that I would use, but I think it’s perfectly usable overall and as opposed to Meagan’s view, what I imagine first thinking about this name is a little, hyperactive and inquisitive girl.
I’ve become more convinced to Mildred in recent months or years, and grew to even like it a bit, but I guess too many people dislike it to make it successful again and it will stay among the geeky, quirky and evoking extreme emotions. Unless someone makes a bestseller with a protagonist named Mildred.
Opal could be indeed a nice alternative to Pearl.
And I actually love Selma! I primarily associate it with Selma LagerlΓΆf – Swedish writer – and I think it has both some youthful charm but also a lot of strength to it. Though with this -elma ending it probably won’t be the next Emma.
And what do you guys think about these names Meagan wrote about? DO you like any of them? π
The Top 19 Names in 1919
In this post Meagan writes about names that were popular 100 years ago.
If I lived in the US, I could happily name my daughter Helen, for me personally this one would be most usable, I think. Other than that, my opinions on the usability of these names are mostly covering with Meagan’s. Probably what I’m going to say will be more or less surprising for you, but one of my most favourite names in this set for girls is Mildred. Yes! I was hating it for years and used to call every elderly lady in my short stories Mildred if she wasn’t a likeable character, but I got convinced to it some time ago and I can see its speciffic charm now. Still though, I don’t think I’d use it on a child.
How do you imagine them?
Hi guys. π
Thought I’d do another round of this game, this time there will be only girls’ names in it, and most of them will be from one of the last rounds of this and that, I just didn’t have much of an invention for finding new names today, the more that my Internet is a bit sluggish today. π Come on, turn your imagination on and play along! As a quick reminder for those of you who are new to it – I give you a couple of names, and your task is to write how you imagine people with these names, keep it as long or short as you wish. You can find my descriptions under the list of names.
List of names:
Charlotta
Eeva
Elaine
Grace
Hannah
Hanne
Hedvig
Holly
Imelda
Mai
Maria
Miranda
Sarah
My descriptions:
Charlotta – I see her as a Swedish woman in her thirties. She’s tall, well-built, but in this case well-built isn’t an euphemism for “fat” or anything like that, she’s just a big, tall woman, whom you’ll easily see in the crowd and who makes an impression of a very responsible, down to earth person. She has long, brown hair, may be a little curly, and dark eyes, though I’m not sure what could be their exact colour. She is very feminine and has a strong personality. She’s very determined, definitely introverted. Loves being out in nature, is also very strong physically. She is rather a bit of a loner, but you wouldn’t call her shy, she just likes her own company. Sometimes may seem overly proud, but she definitely isn’t. She is very protective of her loved ones, and is fiercely enraged if someone tries to harm them in any way. Deep down, she’s a little romantic, but she hides it so well that even herself isn’t necesssarily aware of this side of her personality. She definitely though has a very rich imagination and a little sarcastic sense of humour, likes observing other people.
Eeva – Finnish, in her early twenties. Blonde hair, green eyes, short and slim, has a lot of charm, though her looks are rather average. She’s very girly. May be a little shy, but this shyness only gives her more charm, and shouldn’t be much of an obstacle in life, in fact, Eeva is a very sociable creature and likes to have fun. She is very bright, and has a generally cheerful, positive and likeable personality. She is very idealistic. I imagine her as a student, full of enthusiasm and zest for life, and having a lot of friends with whom she likes to party, but when it’s needed, she is very focused on her goals, her personal development and takes things very seriously.
Elaine – a woman in her late thirties, she’s an American. She has dark, always neatly combed, blonde hair, dark blue eyes and pale, oblong, freckled face. she’s very slim. I think that women named Elaine have to be always passionate about something. I see my Elaine as an English teacher for some reason. She tries to be serious in her job, which can make her a bit stiff sometimes, but generally she’s full of enthusiasm, a real language lover and a lover of words, for some reason I see her as an avid reader of Shakespeare, she generally loves to read, is full of expression, when she can be a little more laid back and doesn’t think about being perfect. She is very creative and emotional, it is easy to move her to tears. She loves helping people when she only can. Loves going to the cinema, theatre, art galleries, she just loves anything related to art, culture and language.
Grace – she’s an English woman in her early fourties. She’s tall, very feminine looking, has blonde hair and warm, blue eyes. She’s generally full of inner warmth, and makes for a great mother and wife. SHe has a strong personality, is mature, kind-hearted, likes to laugh and does it often, though may be a little impatient and stress easily. She likes to sing, and has a warm, low and a little husky voice. She values her freedom and independence, is always very honest and respects people who are honest to her, she has a great intuition. Tends to worry about her children much more than necessary.
Hannah – a woman in her early fifties, can be from anywhere in the English-speaking world. She’s short, a little fluffy, has rosy cheeks, grey-ish hair and brown eyes. She may look older than she is. She has a very fiery temper and is not the easiest and the most conciliatory person to live with. She actually quite likes to argue and can be a bit of a drama queen at times. Though she’s not a bad person and likes helping those in need, particularly if the help their need is of a practical nature. She loves her children and grandchildren if she has any, though may intervene in their lives and relationships between them a little too much. She likes cooking, gardening, taking care of her house and households, may also like sewing and other such things, she’s incredibly active and industrious and doesn’t like lazy people. She’s extroverted and energetic, never hides her feelings and is not particularly diplomatic.
Hanne – she is Norwegian, a bit younger than Hannah, looks a bit more majestically – she’s much taller and bigger, but quite skinny –
she’s rather phlegmatic than as fierce as Hannah, but other than that, they’re pretty similar. Both very strong personalities, very active and hardworking, and incredibly practical.
Hedvig – a lady in her seventies, either from Germany or Scandinavia. She may look a bit frail and vulnerable on the outside, mostly because of her age, but she has a fierce spirit. She knows it well that life isn’t easy, often quite the opposite, and had a lot of time to adapt to it. She isn’t very talkative, but very active just like Hannah and Hanne. Actually, one could think that she lacks imagination, and while it’s hard to say if it’s true, she certainly doesn’t have very much of it and doesn’t like to use it, she much prefers all that is visible, measurable and can be useful in any way. Her beliefs – be them moral, ethical or religious – are very important to her. She’s very loyal and faithful to her family, though she doesn’t like to talk about it, she’d rather show it by her actions.
Holly – she’s in her twenties, she’s British. She has ginger hair, hazel eyes and round face, is short and might have a few extra pounds, though you wouldn’t call her fat. She’s lively, very communicative and talkative, very dreamy, energetic, incredibly sociable, has a steely will and always knows what she wants and what’s the best way to get it. SHe rarely hesitates in anything. She may be very artistically talented, or even if not, she’s still very creative. She can be quite noisy and never makes a neutral impression on those she meets. She can be quite anxious though.
Imelda – I know that probably for most of you Imelda sounds like an old-lady-ish name, and I can understand it, though when I first heard that name, I imagined Imelda as a little girl and it’s still the first picture that comes to my mind when I hear it. Well maybe she’s not little, she’s in her early teens, and actually can be pretty tall. She likes to eat a lot, so can be fat too if she’s not controlled. I think she’s Italian, or maybe Spanish. She has black hair and dark eyes and dark, tanned skin. I think she is quite a pretty girl overall. She’s actually very hard to control, because she has an explosive personality and is just hard to bring up. Just like Holly, when she wants something, she’ll most probably get it. She’s very energetic, but when she doesn’t want to do something, she won’t, unless her parents are very determined and strong-willed too. She’s just spoiled to put it simply. She has a whole crew of friends, but not always any best friends. Likes to show off with al cool things she has. But she’s actually quite sensitive, not as empty as she might seem, and often all her tricks and troubles she makes are a sign of rebelling against something that is hard for her to cope with. She’s very intelligent, too, and can do well with subjects such as maths or science. When she has very determined and loving parents, she can be tamed with time.
May – a girl in her early twenties, I guess she’s British. SHe has blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, has rather subtle features, she’s rather skinny. May is an introvert, can struggle with close relationships because she simply doesn’t like herself or doesn’t think she’s good enough to be liked by others. She’s a perfectionist, and very nervous, fearful and anxious by nature. She’s quite quirky, has her own, unique style. She is often interested with everything extraordinary, things connected to spirituality, esotericism, psychology, things that are kind of abstractive by nature. She is very fragile emotionally. May is a very independent girl who loves having the consciousness that she’s free and no one can tell her what she should or has to do, though at the same time she’s not particularly assertive or self-confident. She may have issues with trusting others.
Maria – Maria is Polish. Generally, in Poland Maria is a name popular in older generations, but it’s also quite common among little girls. The one I’m imagining, is about 6 or 7 years old, has blonde hair and blue sapphire eyes. She’s a very obedient, almost angelic child, extremely good-natured, so that it seems almost unnatural and artificial, but definitely isn’t. She is very attached to her parents, particularly to her dad. Maria is calm, likes to take care of others because it makes her feel important, and she’s very responsible as for her age. She may seem a bit too serious though, and like she wasn’t actually a child. She’s very intelligent and bright, and has a lively imagination, but lacks spontaneity and some carefree attitude. She is an aesthete and likes things that are visually appealing and beautiful. I think she likes to draw and does it well. Likes to ask a lot of questions, is stressed easily.
Miranda – Miranda is American and in her late twenties. Has light brown, wavy, long hair, green or blue eyes, I think though that she can also be a redhead. She’s tall and slim and very charming. She is very self-confident and likes to flirt, or even if she’s not self-confident, flirting is her coping strategy and helps her feel more worthy. She’s a bit of an attention seeker. Sometimes her attitude might be a little artificial. When she’s not focusing on flirting though, she’s usually a nice person and often has lots of interesting things to say. She tends to live in a hurry, and I think she has a responsible job. She’s a perfectionist and indeed may seem to other people like everything in her life is perfect. It’s not always true though, as for all of us.
Sarah – an American elderly lady, short and skinny with grey hair and blue eyes. She has a very charming personality, is a very good listener and advisor, is warm and has a lot of wisdom. She’s very dedicated for those she loves. A bit scatty, she has still an imagination and creativity of a young girl, and is very sentimental and romantic. Loves to bake. Likes to be surrounded by beauty. Sometimes can be melancholic, but is not depressive or pessimistic.
And how do you imagine these women? π
A short round of this or that with girls names.
Here’s another, a bit shorter this time, round of this or that. Have fun, and let me know which ones you prefer, either in the comments or in your own blog posts. You can find my choices after all the names.
Charlotta or Carry?
Eeva or Ewa?
Elaine or Elizabeth?
Eline or Elyze?
Grace or Ginger?
Hannah or Anna?
Hanne or Hannia?
Harper or Molly?
Hedvig or Hyde?
Holly or Hope?
Honey or Heather?
Ida or Ivy?
Ila or Frida?
Ingrid or Isla?
Mai or Miki?
Maria or Margarita?
Miranda or Mariah?
Sarah or Samantha?
My choices?
Charlotta or Carry?
Charlotta.
Eeva or Ewa?
Eeva. I’m not a fan of either, I generally somehow dislike names from this family, but I particularly dislike Ewa. I don’t really know why, but the fact that it is quite overused here in Poland doesn’t make things better. Eeva is a bit better for me.
Elaine or Elizabeth?
Elizabeth, though both are lovable.
Eline or Elyze?
Eline. Elyze looks interesting, but is a little bit pretentious in my opinion.
Grace or Ginger?
Grace.
Hannah or Anna?
Definitely Anna. I love it so so much.
Hanne or Hannia?
Hannia looks nicely exotic so I’m going with it, but I’m rather neutral about both. Hanne is a bit too harsh imo.
Harper or Molly?
Harper.
Hedvig or Hyde?
Hyde is kinda odd. I saw it for the first time compiling this list, and at the begining I thought it was Hydee, you know, some anglicised form of Heidi. Hyde looks like hide, so despite I don’t like Hedvig at all, I choose Hedvig.
Holly or Hope?
Holly.
Honey or Heather?
Heather.
Ida or Ivy?
Ida, but I’d rather pronounce it in Polish – EE-dah. IE-dah sounds pretty weird to me.
Ila or Frida?
Ila, though again, I’d rather pronounce it with EE than IE like in Isla, because that’s more obvious to me and it sounds cute. Yes, I like Ila.
Ingrid or Isla?
Hm, I like both, but they have such a different feel to me so, I guess I like both similarly much but each in a completely different way. I guess Ingrid.
Mai or Miki?
Definitely Mai. I like this name because it’s a bit magical, and Mai means May in Welsh. While Miki is much more a male name in Poland, usually a diminutive of MikoΕaj.
Maria or Margarita?
Maria.
Miranda or Mariah?
Miranda.
Sarah or Samantha?
Sarah.
Come on guys, play along. π
Anyone else bored? Join me. More names, this or that.
Yes. I think I’m quite bored at the moment, and that’s not something I’m used to. So I thought I’d do more of that this or that stuff I did recently with other names, and give you my opinion on various names. There are only girls names as well this time, partly inspired by heroines of my own short stories and partly chosen at random from different places, including various name lists on Behind The Name, names of my favourite female musicians, particularly those recently featured in my song of the day series, literature heroines, nymbler.com, etc. many are quite similar to each other. used and derived from many different languages and cultures. So, if anyone else is bored, or likes names, or likes to share their opinions with the whole world, join in the fun and let me know in the comments which name of every set you prefer, and, if you want, why. Cori or Charla?
Elisa or Isabella?
Elli or Ele?
Ellinor or Ellenora?
Emiliana or Emilianna?
Erin or Eileen?
Gunnhild or Genoveve?
Gwyneth or Gladys?
Hadassah or Dinah?
Hana or Ivana?
Hanna or Hannah?
Hanne or Hadassa?
Hannelore or Liselotte?
Heather or Hope?
Jasmine or June?
Kristin or Kiersten?
Madilyn or Madelyn?
Mette or Marlanna?
Molly or Mollie?
Rae or Reva?
Victoria or Veronica?
Mine:
Cori or Charla?
Cori, but not a fan of either.
Elisa or Isabella?
Love both, but ELisa seems to be less popular now, Isabella is so trendy in many countries, so Elisa. Elli or Ele?
Elli. Ele sounds very weird and incomplete to me. Elli is lovely. Ellinor or Ellenora?
Ellenora sounds stately and elegant, and has something nice to it, but it also sounds a little bit overly creative to me, so I go with ELlinor, which is sweet and strong and sooo Swedish. Emiliana or Emilianna?
I like both. But I like how Emilianna is a combination of both of my names Emilia and Anna so I pick it, though I don’t think it’s usable as a real name to go by on a daily basis for a real person. Erin or Eileen?
I like the Irish connection to both of them, and they both have similar feel, but Eileen is more my style and is more sophisticated. Gunnhild or Genoveve?
Dislike both, but Genoveve’s worse, it looks like a misspelling to me. So I pick Gunnhild, plus you can always call her Gunilla, which is cute. Gwyneth or Gladys?
Gladys feels like a charming old lady name to me personally, but it’s at the same time something about this name that keeps me away from it. I think the main reason I like it nowadays is because years ago I decided to call one of my heroines this name and she was a lovely lady. So I choose Gwyneth. Gwyneth sounds like an essence of Welshness to me. π Maybe because my Welsh speech synthesiser is Gwyneth. Hadassah or Dinah?
Not my style both, but I choose Hadassah because of that Francine Rivers’ series of books, there was a girl named Hadassa, or Hadassah, I dunno, she was Hadassa in Polish version. Hana or Ivana?
Hana. I really dislike Ivana for some reason.
Hanna or Hannah?
Honestly they both have a similar feel to me, but, um, Hannah. Hanne or Hadassa?
Hadassa.
Hannelore or Liselotte?
Liselotte! Liselotte sounds so whimsical and princessy I love it. Hannelore is lovely as well, and has its own, completely different charm, but I like Liselotte much more. Heather or Hope?
Hmmm… quite neutral for both… maybe Heather?
Jasmine or June?
Jasmine! Love Jasmine.
Kristin or Kiersten?
Kristin, I don’t like how Kiersten looks written down.
Madilyn or Madelyn?
Both nice, but I prefer Madelyn, Madilyn looks a little bit too creative, or maybe I’m too sensitive for all those different spellings thing. Mette or Marlanna?
I feel tempted to say neither, just neither of them says anything speciffic to me and Marlanna looks like some mid-20th century invention and I’d never seen it before, Mette looks more familiar, as it’s a Scandinavian name, so Mette. Molly or Mollie?
Mollie. I like many -ie names and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s best friend was nicknamed Mollie. Rae or Reva?
Is Reva RE-vah or REE-vah? OK, maybe Reva? No strong feelings for either name. Victoria or Veronica?
This is the duo that I often tend to confuse, and with such a similar feel. Both Weronika and Wiktoria are trending baby names here in Poland now, so I’m a little bit fed up with both, Zofijka has two Wiktorias and three Weronikas in her class. But still, they are beautiful names, no matter how spelled. I think I’ll pick Veronica, because it’s the title of one of Cornelis Vreeswijk’s songs, and I really like it, the song, I mean, and it made me like this name more. What are your choices? π
My Inner MishMash 