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[Opinions] Susannah or Annabel
Susannah or Annabel? These are my top 2 girls' names for this baby (who might be a boy). Which do you like more and why? I love Annabel so much, but I'm afraid it's going to be really dated in the future.
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Susannah
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I love Annabel (I prefer Annabelle, but any spelling will do). It might sound dated in the future, but Susannah sounds dated now.
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Really? Susannah seems dated? This never occurred to me. I assumed Suzanne seems dated because it was somewhat popular, but Susannah, to me, seems like a classic that has never really been subject to trends. But it's good to know that it strikes some people as dated!
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Annabel, but only slightly. It sounds sweet, but not saccharine, while Susannah is a bit heavy.
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Annabel has been around for centuries! Not as many centuries as Susannah, OK, but it has classic status.Susannah has more nn possibilities, if that matters. If this matters, Susannah is also less likely to be used in full than Annabel. I'm as conflicted as you: I also prefer Annabel, or I think I do, but Susannah is a family name, though not on my side of the family. Does it matter? Should it? I think I'm coming down on the Annabel side. And feeling slightly naughty: what say you to Annabel Suzette?
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Not a huge fan of Annabel Suzette. Thanks for your response! :)
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I like Susannah better, Annabel is fine but a little too frilly.
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I love both, but Susannah sounds more lively to me.
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Susannah! It’s absolutely lovely. I like both Susie and Sukie as nicknames. Annabel is just okay. Sometime in the early days of animation somebody decided that all cartoon cows should have -bel names, and now that’s all I think of.
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I used to dislike Annabel, but it's starting to grow on me. (Only this spelling, though. Annabelle is too frilly.)However, I have never been able to warm up to any of the Sus- names. I don't like the Suze sound. I'm not big on Shoshannah much, either. Inglorious Basterds' Shosanna is marginally better, though that's the only time I've ever heard the name.

This message was edited 3/4/2020, 5:01 PM

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I like Susannah more because it's feminine and pretty, but more grounded and serious than Annabel. I like Annabel, but I find it a little too weak and flighty sounding. I like Annabelle enough to have it on my PNL, but I would never really use it.
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My first impression was that Susannah is more dated than Annabel. Sue/Suzie are dated in my opinion, whereas Anna, Annie, Bel etc. are timeless. My vote goes to Annabel. Are you going to find out the sex before birth?
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Yes, I have this sneak peek kit that I can use on Saturday and then I'll find out the sex 72 hours later, apparently? It's 99.1% accurate at 8 weeks. I guess I think of Susannah as outside of trends because it's never been popular.
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Wow at 8 weeks! That's exciting. I think I'd have names of both sexes ready though just in case, as even ultrasounds can get it wrong.
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Annabel. It's one of my top girls' names. I don't think it'll be that dated, honestly - if nothing else, Anna is pretty timeless.Susannah is nice, but not really my cup of tea.
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Susannah, definitely. It’s a beautiful classic name. Annabel is trendy and less distinctive.
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Annabel.
It may be dated, but no more so than Susannah, which is sweet, but like, I only know two. One is a very older lady, and the other is a little girl, and her name just is WEIRD for her, because... I don’t know, it doesn’t fit her at all imo.
But Annabel is sweet and spunky, and she can go by Anna, Belle, Bella, Bee, etc.
I’m a nickname person and all my kids have nicknames that we call them quite often, and they actual my don’t have anything to do with their actual names, so, there’s that.
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Annabel. I thought about it, and I would much rather be Annabel than Susannah, even though I like both.
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Susannah, such a lovely classic name. Annabel is ok too
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Well, Susannah is kinda dated now; it's not been anything like popular for forever. I don't believe I've ever met one. At least not that I know of.
Annabel is currently kinda popular. I have known of two of them who'd be maybe eight or ten now, and I knew an Annabelle growing up who was a good friend of my grandmother, so it seems both trendy and old-ladyish.I would go for Susannah. Annabel (that spelling) doesn't look quite right, and in any case makes me think of a big, fancy, overdressed baby doll that's too expensive to play with, or like a kooky, flaky book character.
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Annabel is gorgeous. I don't think it will date badly. I feel like I *should* like Susannah, but I really don't. I detest Suzie, which would be hard to avoid.
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I prefer Susannah.Annabel is not bad either, but I’d prefer Anne Rebecca or Anna Sophia.What are your choices that you’re excited about for a boy? Separate post, maybe?
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I'm honestly stuck for a boy. The names I love (William, Oliver, Henry) are too popular.
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I love Oliver.
I met two young brothers today named Oliver and Finn, and the mom kept calling OliverOllie”... which isn’t my cup of tea, but she was either Australian or British, (i didn’t speak with her enough to hear more than a few words, and felt it was rude to ask) and Ollie said in her accent was delightfully adorable.
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Ollie is basically a given if you've got a kid in Australia named Oliver. It's actually quite common now as a full name instead of Oliver. Finn is also insanely popular here too.
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Bear in mind "Annabel Lee" is the name of a famous and very creepy poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The guy in the poem was in love with a girl named Annabel Lee, and she died. Now the guy is obsessed with her, sleeps in her grave, and defiantly claims that HE loves Annabel so much better than other people love, and he's certain the angels envied him for it!!! Really disturbed guy Poe wrote. But then, Annabel Lee never did anything wrong but love some guy who went bonkers when she died, so it's not like naming a girl Maleficent or something.Susannah. The main association with that name is the nonsense song "Oh Susannah." "O Susannah, O don't you cry for me. I am bound to Alabama with a banjo on my knee." Not a negative song. Fun, rustic associations. I like Annabel and Susannah in and of themselves. I wouldn't name a kid Annabel, but both my parents were English professors, so "Annabel Lee" looms larger in my mind than in most people's. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44885/annabel-lee
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I knew a young couple who named their younger daughter Annabel precisely because of "Annabel Lee." Of course, they also named their older daughter Lydia precisely because of the character in "Beetlejuice".
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Susannah feels more wholesome like a breath of fresh air or rolling prairies covered in wild flowers. Annabel sounds frilly (although not as frilly as Annabelle) and makes me think of tiaras and "little princess" signs.You could wait until you see her, and then decide which one fits her better.
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Yep, Theodora was going to 99% be named Daphne until she was born. My family was a bit stunned because they'd gotten used to it (even though I told them we told them it could change).
Hermione was 50/50 between Hermione and Winifred up until the last month where she was almost definitely Hermione.I wouldn't have a name 100% locked in or announced before the birth.
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This is true too. 1 of my kids had their name chosen before birth and was concrete.
The other 4 we waited until they were born to decide for sure and it was pretty neat. A little unnerving to not have a name picked, especially when everyone kept asking, but I really enjoyed deciding after I saw my baby as well.
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I honestly can't imagine not using some form of Anna for a girl no matter what she looks like or seems like. I've been obsessed with Anna since I was a tiny little girl. But who knows? I've never had a baby before so I have no idea how it feels to meet a brand new person and be responsible for its name.
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My son was always going to be Peter, and was. Thus reassured and confident, I decided on Lucy for a daughter. Didn't tell anyone - decided I'd pass it off as a delivery-room inspiration. Which was just as well: somehow, I don't know how, she didn't look anything like a Lucy. So I went through my (reputable!) name book, trying out each name that I liked until I reached Caroline, which seemed to fit her perfectly. So, Caroline it was. Never did get my Lucy daughter, and it might have been a bit too Narnia with Peter, but I was willing to take the chance. Then my second daughter had to have one of her sister's names, Caroline having died, and her first mn was Beatrice after my mother. Who hadn't liked her name, and always went by Bea. So, DH and DS insisted on Beatrice, and I was OK with it because I'd never heard anyone call my mother by it so there were no associations. Naming can be weird.
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It's hard for me to imagine Anna being dated, which mitigates the likely eventual datedness of the *bel part, so that wouldn't be a dealbreaker to me.I kind of like Susannah, but the problem is, I dislike it with any nickname.And I do like Annabel. It's ordinary looking but spunky and delicate, and the meaning's sweet.It's a toss up if Susannah is just Susannah, but if not, then I prefer Annabel.
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Susannah gmv. I think Annabel(le) won't die out super fast, though. I think it won't be as sharply dated as, say, Penelope will be.
Susannah just seems more timeless and distinctive, to me.
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