Girls' names
There are many more of these than boys' names.
Meris - I like different-sounding names; girls' names that don't end in -a are a good way to achieve this.
May - I have a great-aunt May; I like this spelling better than Mae, although it tends to make the full name sound like the beginning of a question.
Meryl (Merrill?)
Mariel
Marlo - Love the -o ending.
Mera - This was actually on the short list to be MY name, after Randi, which I think is horrific. As Spike says, "Why didn't you just name me 'Horny' or 'Desperate for a Shag'?"
Meren
Merritt/Maret/Marit?
Sylvie - Better than Sylvia.
Blythe - hard to pronounce with the -th
Louka - might be confused with the boys' name Luca, which is getting more popular
Harriet - old-fashioned but sweet. Issues with pronunciation in a Midwestern accent; I say "Harry" and "Hairy" the same.
Evelyn - if I named a girl this, I would always feel like she would be missing a sister.
Dale - My dad's name. I like it better on a girl than a boy.
Dove?
Love?
Bliss? Okay, I'm getting a bit too crunchy with these.
Jane? So simple.
Dilys/Carys?
Jeanne - Honoring two fantastic friends.
Gretl - So cute! Margaret would probably be preferable.
Elinor/Eleanor - I love, but there are so many Ellies out there.
Astrid - Again, I love, but the connotations of Ass and Ostrich make me cringe.
Adele
Adelaide - Addy is to common a nickname.
Isannah - From Johnny Tremain. Much better written than spoken - there are pronunciation issues.
Ilse - So close to Elsie, but so much classier.
Linden - I like the connection to my step-grandfather's name, Lyndon.
Lucy - too common?
Liesl
Dora - Was okay before the explorer popped up.
Nora - My hostmother's name. Could also be short for Eleanor.
Nina
Rosel - Okay, I made this up. Kind of like Laurel, but with a Rose.
Rocio - the prettiest name EVER in Spanish, but probably wouldn't work in English.
Anne - So simple, so pretty. So much better than Ann.
Willa - Like Willa Cather, and like my brother.
Thoughts?