Big this or that game with similar names.

   How do you people feel about a this or that name game? This one will be just generally about names that are similar in any way, either they’re variants of each other, or different spellings, or one is the full form and the other a nickname of it, or they sound similar or just have a kind of similar vibe. You tell me which one you prefer for each of the pairs below and feel free to expand on that and say why if you want. 

•    Elin or Helen? 
• Nils or Lars? 
• Ella or Bella? 
• Jake or Jack?
• Emily or Emma? 
• James or Michael? 
• Ava or Eva? 
• David or Isaac? 
• Christina or Kristin? 
• Kevin or Kieran? 
• Elisabeth or ELizabeth?
• John or Peter? 
• Christine or Justine? 
• Erik or Elias? 
• Frances or Francine? 
• William or George? 
• Maria or Mary? 
• Luc or Michel? 
• Wilhelmina or Wilma? 
• Matti or Antti? 
• Eugenia or Euphemia? 
• Basil or Cecil? 
• Noelle or Natalie? 
• Nathaniel or Nathan? 
• Felicia or Felicity? 
• Felix or Phoenix? 
• Natalia or Julia? 
• Nicholas or Noel? 
• Petronella or Dulcibella? 
• Jasper or Casper? 
• Rachel or Ruth? 
• Leonard or Bernard? 
•  Xenia or Sonia? 
• Serge or Ivan? 
• Sofia or Sophia? 
• Joseph or Jacob? 
• Tiffany or Brittany? 
• Jeremy or Zachary? 
• Amber or Crystal? 
• Tyler or Dylan? 
• Sofie or Sophie? 
• Harry or Charlie? 
• Kirsty or Kirsten? 
• Christopher or Christian? 
•  Jayne or Rayne? 
• Andrew or Thomas? 
• Melanie or Stephanie? 
• Stefan or Stephen? 
• Anna or Anne? 
• Adam or Alexander? 
• Evie or Stevie? 
• Taylor or Jayden? 
• Ann or Nan? 
• Edward or Henry? 
• Margareta or Margherita? 
• Timothy or Anthony? 
• Erika or Ulrika? 
• Fredrik or Sven? 

   Mine: 

• Elin or Helen? – Elin for sure! I love both, but Elin has more of a personality, plus it’s both Swedish and Scandinavian. If I had to choose between Elin or Helena, I would probably have more of a problem. 
• Nils or Lars? – Both are kind of nice but at the same time feel rather bland and boring to me. I think I very slightly prefer Lars though, obviously pronounced the Scandinavian way LAHSH. 
• Ella or Bella? – Both are super popular in America and I prefer them as nicknames, yet I still do like them both as standalone names as well. I think I choose Ella though because I know a lot of dogs called Bella, plus I don’t like the association with Bella Swan and the  “beautiful” meaning is slightly cliche. 
• Jake or Jack? – Duh! 
• Emily or Emma? – Both are boring and overused but I think I like Emily slightly more. 
• James or Michael? – Michael. 
• Ava or Eva? – I dislike Ava slightly less than Eva I guess. 
• David or Isaac? – David, I think, though I feel pretty neutral about both. 
• Christina or Kristin? – Kristin all the way, but mostly just because I’ve seen it a bit less in my life than I have Christina so it’s not as boring, and because of Kristin Lavransdatter whom I really love. I’m rather neutral about all Christine-related names. 
• Kevin or Kieran? – Most definitely Kevin. I actually quite like Kevin or even more so its original Irish form Caoimhín, but I really dislike Kieran, and Ciaran (the Irish form) as well, for that matter. 
• Elisabeth or ELizabeth? – Both are amazing but I prefer Elisabeth ‘cause it’s more aesthetically pleasing to my brain as is the Scandinavian pronunciation. 
• John or Peter? – That’s a hard one, I think I pretty much like them equally… Huh, I can’t make up my mind! 😀 Well okay, let’s say Peter ‘cause I like the sound better I think. 
• Christine or Justine? – Christine I guess? 
• Erik or Elias? – Elias, and again I prefer the Scandinavian pronunciation compared to the English, i.e. with the “ee” rather than “I” sound in the middle, but even with the English one I still prefer Elias. 
• Frances or Francine? – Francine, but mostly because I once wrote a short story where there was a Francine. She was supposed to be a very narrow-minded, unlikeable character but I ended up really liking her ‘cause she turned out totally different than I planned. 😀 Talk about not having control over your characters. 
• William or George? – Absolutely William! I love William and the vast majority of its forms and I dislike George and the majority of its forms. 
• Maria or Mary? – Maria. I see both everywhere since Maria is so common in Poland and Scandinavia and Mary in the Anglosphere but I think Maria is more… I don’t know how to put it… colourful or something? Kind of more flexible because it fits better in all types of name combos. Not that Mary doesn’t, but Maria does it better. 
• Luc or Michel – Michel, it sounds and looks nicer, and it has the Mish sound in it. 
• Wilhelmina or Wilma? – Wilhelmina hands down. I love Wilhelmina but Wilma is meh. 
• Matti or Antti? – Matti! Antti is okay, but Matti’s even better. This Finnish form is my favourite variant of Matthew. 
• Eugenia or Euphemia? – Definitely Euphemia. I used to really dislike Eugenia but it’s been slowly growing on me. Still, I like Euphemia a lot more. 
• Basil or Cecil? – I don’t like Basil and feel rather neutral about Cecil, so Cecil. 
• Noelle or Natalie? – Noelle, it’s lovely. 
• Nathaniel or Nathan? – Nathaniel. 
• Felicia or Felicity? – This is really difficult, because I would generally say Felicia, because I love it slightly more than Felicity, but only pronounced fe-LEE-see-uh. If Felicia was to be pronounced the standard English way fe-LEE-shuh, I think I’d vote for Felicity. 
• Felix or Phoenix? – I love Felix, so it’s Felix, but Phoenix is fairly nice too and surprisingly I quite like it for both genders. 
• Natalia or Julia? – Hmmmm… This is complicated, because both of these names are super popular here in Poland for babies and also among gen Z, so I’m really quite fed up with them, but at the same time I do think these are nice names and before I discovered Emily of New Moon and before Julia became super popular I had a brief moment when I wanted to be a Julia. I think Julia is more popular than Natalia now though and Sofi had like five Julias in her class, so Natalia feels more refreshing, hence I choose Natalia. 
• Nicholas or Noel? – Noel, though they are both cool. 
• Petronella or Dulcibella? – Dulcibella’s been my guilty pleasure for a few years now, why don’t people call their kids this anymore when -ella names are so popular? I wish I could see at least one birth announcement of a Dulcibella. And nn Dulcie is so literally sweet. 
• Jasper or Casper? – Jasper, ‘cause it’s like the stone, and jaspers are one my favourite stones. In fact, you regular folks on here know that I give my stones human names, and I’m so creative and original that I have one cute little reddish jasper stone called Jasper. 😀 
• Rachel or Ruth? – Rachel. Ruth is more unexpected these days and has more of a defined personality as a name, but I feel a little ambivalent about it whereas Rachel is very unequivocally warm and kind of cosy imo. 
• Leonard or Bernard? – Leonard, but both are meh. 
•  Xenia or Sonia? – Xenia I suppose, but to my Polish ear they both feel nicknamey. 
• Serge or Ivan? – Serge, just because I don’t like Ivan. 
• Sofia or Sophia? – Sofia but both are lovely. 
• Joseph or Jacob? – Jacob, not a fan of Joseph really. 
• Tiffany or Brittany? – Uhm, no idea… They’re so similar I always mix them up anyway. I guess Tiffany sounds a bit nicer though. 
• Jeremy or Zachary? – Zachary I think. 
• Amber or Crystal? – Crystal. 
• Tyler or Dylan? – Dylan, but don’t care for either really. 
• Sofie or Sophie? – This is an impossible choice! I can never make my mind up about it. I guess I’m the same with Sophie and Sofie as I am with my languages – the one I like more is the one I’m seeing/thinking about at a particular moment. 
• Harry or Charlie? – Charlie, not crazy at all about Harry. 
• Kirsty or Kirsten? – Kirsty looks better. 
• Christopher or Christian? – Christopher! I like it a lot, Christian not so much. 
•  Jayne or Rayne? 
• Andrew or Thomas? – Andrew. 
• Melanie or Stephanie? – I like Melanie a lot more. 
• Stefan or Stephen? – If it was Steven and Stephen, I’d choose Steven, but as it is, I think I choose Stephen. 
• Anna or Anne? – Anna, of course, though I really like both. 
• Adam or Alexander? – Alexander for sure, not a fan of Adam. 
• Evie or Stevie? – Evie is a lot fresher, though I’d much prefer something longer like Evelyn or Evangeline, it’s really childish imo as a standalone option. 
• Taylor or Jayden? – Taylor, though don’t like either. 
• Ann or Nan? – Actually, I guess Nan. Ann is really underwhelming compared to Anne/Anna, and Nan at least feels more dynamic and has something bright and zippy about it. 
• Edward or Henry? – That’s difficult because I just don’t like either… but… perhaps I dislike Edward a bit less. Not sure here really. 
• Margareta or Margherita? – Margareta, but both are super clunky imo. 
• Timothy or Anthony? – Timothy because I like Tim and because I don’t like Anthony. 
• Erika or Ulrika? – Erika. 
• Fredrik or Sven? – Both are kind of boring but I choose Fredrik solely because it reminds me of Cornelis Vreeswijk’s Fredrik Åkare character which generally I’d say is a positive association. 
•    Over to you, guys. Which ones do you prefer? 

This or that (name game with different spellings).

I thought we could do a little name game today, to have a bit of fun. In case the post title isn’t self-explanatory enough, below there are pairs of names, which are essentially spelling variants of one name, and I’m curious which of these spellings you prefer. Are you more traditional, or more creative, or a bit of both? Feel free to just list your preferred spellings, or comment on your choice as shortly or extensively as you wish. Here are the names:

Violet or Violette?

Juliet or Juliette?

Katelyn or Caitlin?

Adeline or Adalyn?

Amelia or Amilia?

Louisa or Luiza?

Isla or Ayla (EYE-luh)?

Evelyn or Evalyn?

Cecilia or Cecelia?

Maisie or Maisy?

Mae or May?

Aria or Ariyah?

Wren or Ren?

Emmeline or Emmalyn?

Lucy or Lucie?

Lily or Lillie?

Claire or Clare?

Jane or Jayne?

Lila or Lyla?

Elizabeth or Elisabeth?

Amelie or Amalie?

Seraphina or Serafina?

Sofie or Sophie?

Ariel or Arielle?

Caroline or Carolyn?

Sophia or Sofia?

Zoe or Zoey?

Finn or Fionn (FINN)?

Felix or Feliks?

Greyson or Grayson?

Lucas or Lukas?

Martin or Martyn?

Oscar or Oskar?

Phillip or Filip?

Michael or Mychael?

Emmanuel or Emanuel?

Callum or Calum?

Alasdair or Alistair?

Eric or Erik?

Paul or Pól?

Glen or Glyn?

Tommy or Tomi?

Stephen or Steven?

Mine:

Violet or Violette? – I don’t care for this name either way, even though I like a lot of floral names and most people with more or less similar tastes to me tend to love it. But I think Violette makes this name look more sophisticated and I much prefer the French pronunciation over the English one.

Juliet or Juliette? – Again, don’t care for it either way but Juliette looks more complete.

Katelyn or Caitlin? – Actually, I have a little bit of a dilemma here. I tend to favour traditional spellings because they’re… well, traditional, they usually have more history to it and often just are more aesthetically pleasing. In this case, Caitlin is the original, Irish Gaelic spelling of this name and yes, I really like it, especially when pronounced the Gaelic way. Katelyn, on the other hand, looks very modern and, I’d say, seasonal, which is to say I don’t think it’ll ever be trendy again. And I tend to dislike names that are seasonal like that and look modernised. But I actually like a lot of names with the -lyn ending, despite my classic/traditional leanings, and while Caitlin has more history and sounds better, Katelyn looks better imo. Caitlin is just not impressive in the way it looks in writing. Plus, I like the nickname Katie, and it’s much more obvious for Katelyn than Caitlin. At least I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Caitlin that would go by Katie, it seems to be Cait most often, which I don’t like at all in this spelling. So yeah, I think I’m voting Katelyn.

Adeline or Adalyn? – Adeline for sure! Adalyn’s not too bad, but Adeline has a lot more character and looks beautiful and refined. I like the frilly Adelina even more.

Amelia or Amilia? – Amelia. I don’t dislike Amilia but it looks a bit like someone couldn’t quite decide whether it should be Amelia or Emilia. 😀

Louisa or Luiza? – That’s super difficult, I really like both. Luiza is the Polish (and apparently also Portuguese) variant and is pronounced pretty much the same. I think I choose Louisa though, it looks a little bit nicer.

Isla or Ayla (EYE-luh)?- Definitely Isla. It’s lovely, even if very popular right now. Ayla meanwhile… I never know how to pronounce it. It can be EYE-luh but it could just as well be AY-luh I guess.

Evelyn or Evalyn? – Evelyn! It looks nicer, is more vintage, plus I don’t really like Eva. I don’t like Eve either, but Eva- feels a lot more prominent in Evalyn than Eve- does in Evelyn. To me Evalyn looks like you deliberately want it to be a combination of Eva + Lyn, rather than a variant spelling of Evelyn whose etymology is totally different from Eve/Eva.

Cecilia or Cecelia? – Cecilia, I think. It’s a lot more graceful. I don’t mind Cecelia but if I wanted to go the -celia route I’d rather use Celia alone than Cecelia.

Maisie or Maisy? – Absolutely Maisie. Maisy is very unattractive aesthetically imo.

Mae or May? – May. It looks a lot fresher and more natural, as in, it makes me think of the month of May, of the plant may, of nature in general. Mae feels bland and boring and rather dated and just like a filler middle name.

Aria or Ariyah? – It feels like I’m seeing Aria in all birth announcements from the English-speaking world these days and I’m a bit tired of it. Ariyah’s not really my thing but you don’t see it everywhere, plus lately I’m liking a lot of -iya(h) names for girls very much.

Wren or Ren? – Wren. Ren looks like a nickname to me and is so short that it doesn’t feel very interesting. I don’t like Wren enough to use it myself or anything, but it looks lovely as a middle name with something longer and frilly haha.

Emmeline or Emmalyn? – I like both but Emmeline looks better, and here it’s a bit the same as what I was talking about regarding Evelyn vs Evalyn – Emmalyn looks like Emma + Lyn and Emma is SO popular for babies right now in SO many places and I’m quite fed up with it.

Lucy or Lucie? – It’s nice to see Lucie because it’s less common and always draws attention, or that’s at least how it is in my case, but I guess I’m more attached to Lucy.

Lily or Lillie? – I like Lily, but I also see Lily everywhere in the English-speaking world where newborn babies or people’s future naming plans are concerned, I guess especially in the UK, and it probably feels even more so to me because in Poland we’ve been having a bit of a Lil-
names epidemic (Lilianna is particularly popular). So neither feels particularly breathtaking at the moment, but Lillie stands out a bit more so I’m gonna pick Lillie.

Claire or Clare? – I think Claire looks fuller, but I much prefer Klara from either of these.

Jane or Jayne? – 100% Jane! Jane may be plain and boring but to me it’s actually a lot more interesting than Jayne.

Lila or Lyla? – A lot of girls with Lil- names in Poland are nicknamed Lila so it’s also everywhere, but I’m still choosing Lila over Lyla because it looks better. Also, even though it’s so popular here, I much prefer the LEE-lah pronounciation over the LIE-la one, and Lyla isn’t so flexible where pronunciation is concerned.

Elizabeth or Elisabeth? – I love both, but because Elizabeth is so common in the English-speaking world, I always appreciate seeing Elisabeth more. It also looks more elegant to me and has a strongly Scandinavian air.

Amelie or Amalie? – Amelie. I also prefer Amelia over Amalia, for no specific reason I guess.

Seraphina or Serafina? – Serafina. – I almost always will prefer a name spelled with an F rather than Ph. Also Serafina lends itself a bit easier to the nickname Fina that I find adorable.

Sofie or Sophie? – Well, today I feel like I’m more inclined to say Sophie but ask me tomorrow and the answer might be different. I can just never decide which one is better!

Ariel or Arielle? – Arielle. Here in Poland Ariel is viewed as pretty much exclusively masculine (and very rare) name and while I myself don’t see it as either exclusively feminine or exclusively masculine, I prefer Arielle or Ariela for a girl. Also I don’t know where it’s produced, sold and wherever else it might be known under the same name but here I think Ariel is more commonly known as the name of a type of detergent than actual people.

Caroline or Carolyn? – The Carolyn as such is a lot less interesting than the Caroline spelling, but I much prefer the -lyn pronunciation over the -line, so I pick Carolyn.

Sophia or Sofia? – Sofia, I think. Sophia is too popular. Not that Sofia is not, but in the English-speaking world it’s slightly less than Sophia, and I am less exposed to the naming trends of the countries where Sofia is currently in like top 10. For me Sofia is very distinctively Swedish.

Zoe or Zoey? Undisputably Zoe.

Finn or Fionn (FINN)? – Maybe some of you expected me to choose Fionn, because I’m a Celtophile and Fionn is the original, Irish version of the anglicised Finn, but in this case I think I prefer the look of Finn.

Felix or Feliks? – Felix has more character and is kinda zippier, I like it more. Feliks feels a lot more serious.

Greyson or Grayson? – Greyson, just because I’m more used to this spelling, but I don’t like the name either way.

Lucas or Lukas? – Lukas, I suppose, but I like both and my preference isn’t very big at all.

Martin or Martyn? – Martin. Martyn makes me think of the Polish feminine name Martyna, which I don’t like.

Oscar or Oskar- Definitely Oskar, although that doesn’t mean I don’t like Oscar.

Phillip or Filip? – I prefer the way Filip looks, I’m actually really fond of it, though I don’t like how popular it is here among children and teens. In the English-speaking world, it would be really cool and refreshing to see a Filip though, I think it could give Phillip a younger feel, although perhaps Phillip itself will be ready for a comeback in a while, I’m not sure.

Michael or Mychael? – Michael for sure.

Emmanuel or Emanuel? – I think it looks more full with the additional M but I don’t mind it with one M.

Callum or Calum? – I guess I’ve been exposed to Callum a lot more because Calum feels glaringly incomplete.

Alasdair or Alistair? – Alasdair, the properly Scottish way. –

Eric or Erik? Neither is interesting, but I think I have a very slight preference for Erik. –

Paul or Pól? – Pól is the Irish spelling and I really love it. I’m rather neutral about Paul. –

Glen or Glyn? – Glyn is amazing, Glen is meh. –

Tommy or Tomi? – Actually, I don’t care for Tommy, but I’ve seen Tomi used as a legit Cymricised (Welshified) version and when I first came across it I was like “Well, it’s actually quite nice”. So yeah, Tomi.

Stephen or Steven? – I don’t like either at all, but if I seriously had to choose, I’d choose Steven. I know the ph was the original spelling but it doesn’t make sense. 😀

Okay, now over to you, which spellings do you prefer? 🙂

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 Mikołaj.

Maria or Margarita?

Maria.

Miranda or Mariah?

Miranda.

Sarah or Samantha?

Sarah.

Come on guys, play along. 🙂

Another round of This Or That, still with girl names.

OK, so because as I mentioned today, we have a holiday in Poland, let’s have some fun with the new round of this or that I’ve just made up, as always, if you’re willing to participate, just leave me your choices in the comments, and feel free to add your opinions on names if you feel like it, you can also make a response to this post on your own blog if you wish so, and you’ll find my answers and opinions after the list of names.

Ailbhe or Alleyne?

Aine or Aoife?

Alva or Ava?

Amie or Jami?

Ann or Anne?

Beth or Bobbi?

Camille or Catharine? Catherine or Christina?

Cathy or Christie?

Chantal or Shantel?

Chelsea or Amelia?

Christel or Evelyn?

Dagny or Dagmar?

Elaine or Elsie?

Eva or Edna?

Hannah or Harper?

Hattie or Nettie?

Heather or Holly?

Helene or Elvira?

Hilde or Hilma?

Hildur or Hermine?

Hope or Honey?

Ingrid or Sigrid? Lleucu or Leeah?

Marte or Milzie?

Molly or Kelly?

Nia or Nyah?

Sally or Polly?

Tiana or Tiara?

My choices:

Ailbhe or Alleyne?

Ailbhe. It’s pronounced like Alva. It’s certainly ot one of my favourite Irish names, but I just prefer it over Alleyne, as for Alleyne I actually think it’s pretty masculine-sounding.

Aine or Aoife?

Aoife.

Alva or Ava?

Alva, not a fan of either but I really dislike Ava.

Amie or Jami?

Both are cute, but I like Jamie for both genders, and the spelling Jami is nice too for a girl. Ann or Anne?

Anne sounds moe elegant and complete.

Beth or Bobbi?

Beth, Bobi was my dog’s name, I don’t think about it as a serious name for a child, or maybe it can be OK for a child, but not so much for an adult person in all kinds of circumstances and life situations.

Camille or Catharine?

I love love love Camille.

Catherine or Christina?

Catherine.

Cathy or Christie?

Cathy, though both are nice as nicknames.

Chantal or Shantel?

Shantel, but not very enthusiastically.
Chelsea or Amelia?

Um, both are lovely but also have their downsides to me… I guess Amelia, it’s more classy.

Christel or Evelyn?

I love both, but Evelyn much more.

Dagny or Dagmar?

Dagmar, but not a big fan of either.

Elaine or Elsie?

Elaine, because of Celtic and Arthurian connotations, though ELsie’s cute.

Eva or Edna?

Uh, I guess Edna, but I dislike both.
Hannah or Harper?

Harper, because of the harp.

Hattie or Nettie?

Both are cute, but I much prefer Hattie.

Heather or Holly?

Holly.

Helene or Elvira?

I guess Helene, but I love both so it’s a hard choice.

Hilde or Hilma?

Hilma. That Finnish charm.

Hildur or Hermine?

I love Hermine. Would prefer Herminia, but Hermine’s awesome too.

Hope or Honey?

Hope.
Ingrid or Sigrid?
Hm, I can’t say I love them, but I like them both a lot because of lots of great Nordic associations, and they’re certainly beautiful. I guess I like Sigrid slightly more. Lleucu or Leeah?

Lleucu, yeah, I know it’s tricky, it’s a Welsh name, the ll at the beginning is a bit lispy, it sounds a bit like hl, or at least that’s how it’s usually described phonetically in English. And u sounds similarly to ee, so it’s like HLAY-kee, but it’s a very rough description, you’d just have to hear it. As for Leeah, I am not a big fan of Leah (with one e), with two ee’s it looks kinda more whimsical to me, even though I’m generally not a fun of such spelling creativity, so I like Leeah a bit more than Leah, but still, Lleucu’s better. Oh and I forgot to add that Lleucu is a form of Lucy. Doesn’t look (and definitely doesn’t sound) like Lucy, does it?

Marte or Milzie?

I must admit I haven’t heard of Milzie at all before preparing this list, I was using a few different list as an inspiration and got the names of very different places. I couldn’t find where it derives from, but I just love it. I certainly wouldn’t use it for a child in any circumstances, but it is such a playful nickname, and from now on, definitely a guilty pleasure name of mine. I like to think about it as a fanciful nickname for Melissa or names like Amelia, Camilla, Emily, Matilda, or Emilia. Yeah, I wouldn’t mind to be called Milzie at times hahaha. Marte is very dynamic, youthful and energetic and ages well, but also suits a little girl, but it’s not much my style.

Molly or Kelly?

I love Kelly.

Nia or Nyah?

For those of you who are confused, Nia is pronounced NEE-ah. I prefer Nia. A lot.

Sally or Polly?

I guess Sally, but both are nice and vintage.

Tiana or Tiara?

Neither is my style, I guess Tiana’s a bit more usable. Tiara sounds actually very weird for me as a name. Which of these would you choose? 🙂

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More girl names, this or that?

Feel free to let me know which ones you prefer, keep your answers as short or long as you want.

Anna or Anya?

Becky or Nancy?

Carmen or Clare?

Catrin or Catreen?

Ela or Rafaela?

Elin or Else?

Frances or Flora?

Frida or Freda?

Greta or Meta?

Gretchen or Christa?

Helene or Elaine?

Linda or Lana?

Mairead or MCKinney?

Meinir or Marylee?

Melanie or Angelique?

Mell or Mel?

Octavia or Oona?

Salóme or Joelle?

Sarah or Deborah?

Sophie or Sofie?

Verena or Victoria?

My choices:

Anna or Anya?

Definitely Anna. I love Anna. It’s my Mum’s name, it’s also my middle name, and I know so many great women named Anna, it’s just a beautiful name full of personality, still being very universal at the same time.

Becky or Nancy?

Rather Nancy, but I’m not crazy about either.

Carmen or Clare?

Hm, maybe Clare? I much prefer Clara or actually Klara, or Clarissa, and am rather neutral as for both Carmen and Clare, but OK, let’s go with Clare.

Catrin or Catreen?

Catrin, Catrin, and once again Catrin. Catreen looks slightly weird and too creative to me, whilst Catrin is one of my favourite forms of Katherine. Ela or Rafaela?

I like both, but i have a sort of love hate relationship with Ela. It’s a cute, a bit magical sounding nickname, or even a full name if you want, but it’s so badly overussed in Poland as a nickname for only ELżbieta – Elizabeth. There are so many names here with the -el sound, or ending with -ela, or starting with -el, but no, only Elżbietas are called Elas. Elżbieta is still quite a granny name, so it’s the nickname almost only used amongst women 50+. Nothing wrong with that, but just, it’s such a cool nickname, and could be really used more widely and creatively, and this way it’s becoming so prosaic. So as a form of rebellion, 😀 I’m going to pick Rafaela. It can be shortened to Ela as well, and Rafaela, although it could be perfectly usable in Poland, is hardly ever used. Rafaela is really cool, so energetic and full of temperament.

Elin or Else?

Elin, I love Elin. Else is cool too, but I prefer Elsa much much more, so I’ll stick with Elin. It’s both Swedish and Welsh name, so a sort of culture compromise of two of my favourite countries, and I know a few absolutely fabulous Elins from both countries and from Faroe Islands, and I have so many other brilliant associations with the name.

Frances or Flora?

Flora. Frances has some nice, classic, feminine charm, and I mostly like it because of Frances Hodgson Burnett, but Flora is just so beautiful and I like it much more.

Frida or Freda?

Frida. Not a big fan of both, but Frida is so very Scandinavian and I like its crispy -ri sound.

Greta or Meta?

Dislike both, but will pick Greta, because meta means finishing line in Polish, so quite weird for my Polish brain. Gretchen or Christa?

Rather Christa. I dislike both, but Christa a bit less.

Helene or Elaine?

Love both, but Elaine is more usable for me, and the Arthurian connections…

Linda or Lana?

Linda, definitely Linda. Maybe for many of you Linda sounds dated or something, as it was so extremely popular in the 40’s in the US and also pretty popular in the UK around the same time, but for me Linda still sounds rather unique. I had a friend at school named Linda and she is the only one Linda in Poland I know personally, it’s an extremely rare name here, and usually liked by people. Oh and one of my favourite groups of names are names ending in -linda, so if you know it, my choice isn’t a surprise for you. Also for me the name Linda has a bit of a Swedish twist, because Swedes seem to like this name as well, there are lots of LIndas there born around 1970 as far as I know.

Mairead or MCKinney?

Mairead. I quite like it. There are lots of Irish names I love, Mairead isn’t among those of my most favourite Irish names, but I still like it. NOt a fan of MCKinney, I’m not that crazy about surname names usually.

Meinir or Marylee?

Meinir.
Melanie or Angelique?

Both are so lovely… Really tricky. OK, I guess Angelique.

Mell or Mel?

Well not much difference haha, I think Mel, it looks more natural for some reason.

Octavia or Oona?

Oona, for the Irish connection, but Octavia is also very cool and elegant.

Salóme or Joelle?

Joelle, I love Joelle to pieces.

Sarah or Deborah?

Sarah, it might be boring and overlooked, but it’s a classic, I just like it.

Sophie or Sofie?

Ugh, awfully hard… … Sofie, I guess?
Verena or Victoria?

Victoria, but Verena is nice too, so fresh youthful. But then so is Victoria for me.

I’m curious about your picks. 🙂

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. 😀 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? 🙂

This or that? A little q&A for my readers.

I’ve got a very spontaneous idea. I am curious about your name tastes, my dear readers, and so I’ve made a little q&a for you all, in the form of this or that, and you can answer in the comments – or make a separate post on your blog and pingback, if you prefer. I’m curious about which names you prefer. The names have either similar feel, or sound, or something else, some can sound a bit foreign, there are some Polish ones, some Scandinavian ones and some Celtic ones among the ENglish names, I tried to make it possibly diverse, and if you feel like it, you can also tell me why do you prefer certain name over the other and express your opinion about these names as I will do. Write as many or few details as you wish. If there is anyone who has one of the names I included, please don’t take neither my or any of others’ opinions too seriously, if someone has written something negative about their name or that they don’t like it, it doesn’t mean they don’t like you, there are tons of names and everyone has the right to like some and dislike others, and it isn’t related to the people bearing these names, so it’s absolutely not about name bashing or anything, just for fun. Just wanted to clarify, since so many people tend to feel indignant or hurt because of someone not liking their name or the same names they do. Though obviously we need to express our opinions politely, but that’s not a big news I guess. For now all the names are girl names, I can do a boy names post in future. You can find my answers at the bottom of the post. So here we go:
Annika or Anya?
Aoife or Grainne?
Catrin or Caitriona?
Chelsea or Michaela?
Diana or Lana?
Elan or Elle?
Ellie or Nelle?
Elsie or Ella?
Elvira or Elva?
Eva or Evie?
Gwenllian or Gwendoline?
Heidi or Heidy?
Heledd or Elen?
Helen or Cordelia?
Helena or Lucia?
Helene or Adeline.
Hellie or Hazeline?
Hollie or Annie?
Ingrid or Inga?
Louise or Isabella?
Maia or Kaia?
Margrete or Margrita?
Maria or Marina?
Marie or Marion?
Mine:
Annika or Anya?
I think Annika. Anya is cool, and similar to Enya, which I like, and also my Mum’s nickname is Anja, so I have quite nice associations, but I prefer the sound of Annika, and I have a very nice Swedish friend called Annika. Aoife or Grainne?
Hmm, I think Aoife is cute, it’s pronounced EE-fa and I like the way it sounds and how complicated its spelling is hahaha. Grainne is cool too, but AOife’s better. Chelsea or Michaela?
Both lovely, each in a different way for me… I’m gonna go with Michaela, but the way I pronounce it – mee-hah-E-lah – or mee-kah-E-lah, like in Scandinavia. I don’t like it pronounced the ENglish way like Makayla. I also like Michaela because it has so many great nicknames – including Misha.
Diana or Lana?
Not a big fan of either. I really dislike Diana pronounced in ENglish, don’t know why actually, but I do, Polish DYAH-nah is a bit snobbish imo, and we had a neighbour who had a dog named Diana, it’s not particularly popular for people here. I have the weird linguistical associations with lana… And also I associate it with Lana Weinberger from that Meg Cabot series “Princess Diary” or how was it called, she wasn’t the nicest person. Hmm, OK, I’ll choose Diana. Elan or Elle?
I don’t speak French, but I guess everyone knows Elle means “she” in French. I find it weird to call your girl “she”. I mean, I like the sound of the name Elle, but I’d rather use it as a diminutive of something longer. So I’m gonna go with Elan. It’s a Welsh name and it is the name of one of the sisters of my crush. Ellie or Nelle?
Both sooooo cute, but I’d rather use them as diminutives for Helena. Um, really tricky one… I guess Ellie… But I’m not sure. 😀 Elsie or Ella?
I guess Elsie is pretty much outdated, at least in US, isn’t it? But Ella is soooo popular. I like them both, but if something is so overused as Ella, it loses some charm for me, and this name could be really very charming, it has something magical to it. So I pick Elsie. I suppose that with all these E and El- names being more and more popular, and with so many vintage nicknames lovers Elsie will become more popular sooner or later. And I guess it already has quite a few fans in the UK. Elvira or Elva?
ELvira! Definitely Elvira! It’s lovely and unique, and so much my style. And Elva means eleven in Swedish. With my hatred for figures, numbers and all related I definitely can’t pick Elva, and I don’t know how Swedish parents can give this name to their kids, it’s like labelling your kids with numbers, isn’t it? I’ve heard Elva can also be derived from elves, but still Elvira’s way better for me. Eva or Evie?
Not a fan of either, but Evie’s slightly better.
Gwenllian or Gwendoline?
Gwenlian, ha, ha, ha. If it was Gwendolyn, not Gwendoline, I could think more, because I have a kinda soft spot for -lyn names, but in this case I’m all for Gwenllian. Heidi or Heidy?
Heidi. Heidy looks weirdly and unnecessarily anglicised to me. And Heidi is so quirky, so Scandinavian, so girly but strong, and I associate it with the Heidi from the Johanna Spyri book, like many people, I suppose. Heledd or Elen?
I love both, but Elen is a bit more girly and more accessible anywhere outside of Wales, where they both originate. Helen or Cordelia?
I love both, but Cordelia mainly because of Anne Of Green Gables associations, and that it can be nicknamed to Delia, which I like. I have many more reasons to love Helen, so I’m going with Helen. Helena or Lucia?
Love both, but Helena is my all time favourite and I just have to be loyal! Helene or Adeline?
I’m always a bit confused as for how to read Helene, should it be he-LEN or he-LE-ne or he-LE-nuh, or maybe e-LEN, and in which language, so Adeline is safer, and so sweet and lovely. And I love both. But I wouldn’t pronounce it with the -lien, rather -leen or -lin in the end. Hellie or Hazeline?
Both sound very hipster and so lovely and brave and quirky. But I’ll choose Hellie, it’s beautiful. Hollie or Annie?
Hollie.
Ingrid or Inga?
Inga.
Louise or Isabella.
Both are beautiful and classy, and in my opinion they have such a similar feel. I don’t think Louise is boring, although I realise how popular it is as a middle name in English-speaking countries. I think it’s sad people tend to overuse it so much as a middle name and don’t think about it as a first name option, it’s such a great first name, not just a filler without its own personality, so that’s unfair. But I think I’m going to choose Isabella, just because I like it that little little bit more. It’s very charming. Maia or Kaia?
I like Maia, and I’ll pick it, even though I have very awful associations with the related Maja. I’m rather neutral about Kaia, and Maia sounds really nice. Margrete or Margrita?
Hate both. Uh. OK, Margrete.
Maria or Marina?
Maria is a kind of stereotypical old lady name in Poland, coming back recently, and it’s just too popular for me, but Marina is completely not my style, so let’s go with Maria, it’s still a pretty and classic, traditional name and I know lots and lots of brilliant people with this name. Marie or Marion?
To me both sound very dated, and Marie is kinda boring because of how often it’s used as a middle name in many countries. But it still has some regal, French charm, and something classic and elegant about it, while Marion doesn’t say much to me, except it looks like Marian, which may be vintage and associated with Robin Hood in other countries, but in Poland it is a male name derived from Marianus, and sound very, very dated, sort of older uncle/grandpa name, definitely not ready for a come back, and isn’t quite liked, rather laughed at. so I pick Marie.
Looking forward to read your answers and learn more about your name tastes. 🙂