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HelpI apologize for the length of this post...
in reply to a message by fluffien
but I have a lot to say :)
Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about what your family thinks. From now on, don't say anything else about names, even if you've made a decision. Then, once the baby is born, you've chosen the name YOU want, not one that they like and that they've influenced you to use. They'll just have to get used to it. I know a couple who didn't tell anyone the name they chose for their daughter until she was born, and they're much happier for it. My own family is difficult, too - I don't have kids, but when I decided to get a new middle name and use it I didn't say a word until it was legalized. (I did feel that I needed to compromise a bit by keeping my first name, but even if I eliminated it they'd still call me that anyway. I've already had a few tell me flat-out "I'm not calling you Fiammetta." Ugh.)
Name boards are good places to get inspiration and second opinions, but you really have to take everything with a grain of salt. I've seen boards where nothing but positive comments are allowed (I hate that!) and others that have strict rules on legitimacy. I believe in honesty, but everyone has different taste, so a name that you think is horrendous may be beautiful to me. As long as the name isn't going to cause serious problems (like Ecstasy or Hitler), it's largely a matter of opinion.
Now that I've written a novel about that, here's my input:
Sybil: I've always found it interesting. I'm not sure whether I prefer Sybil or Sibyl, but both are fine. I'd be thrilled to see it on a little girl, it's something you don't hear much.
Eva: Pretty and short and simple, but that's exactly why Ava is popular and Eva is getting there. It depends on how much you care about popularity. Eve is lovely too, but I don't know where it stands popularity-wise.
Aoife: I met an Irish girl in college with this name. I had never heard it, and she pronounced it "EE-fa," so I thought it was spelled Ifa or Efa (silly me!) I think it's actually more similar to Eva than Ava. I also live in the US; if you're worried about spelling and pronunciation, Eva would be a better choice.
Charlotte: I think this is getting very popular. It's nice, though. Lotte is a bit unintuitive to me with our pronunciation, but that's a personal thing (I'd probably end up shortening it to Char or something that other people would hate. Heh)
Audie: I really don't like nicknames as full names. Any Aud-name would work just fine with Audie as a nickname. I'm pretty sure Audi (the car) is pronounced OW-dee, not AW-dee.
Beatrix: Not bad, but I think I prefer Beatrice.
Mina: This seems a bit insubstantial to me, but I've seen it plenty of times, so I think it'd work fine as a full name. If you want, you could always use it as a NN for a name containing/ending in -mina.
Celeste: This name seems old to me, I can't picture it on anyone under 50. Celie is cute, but it's rather nicknamey. Maybe Celia, Cecilia/Cecelia, or Cecily? You could definitely use Celie for those. Or anything else ending in -celia.
Eveny: I don't like this at all. It seems very trendy/made up and reminds me of the online game "Evony" that I get ads for all the time (usually with nearly-naked women, lol). I saw in another post that you found it at Name Nerds, but I'm not sure how reliable their sources are.
Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about what your family thinks. From now on, don't say anything else about names, even if you've made a decision. Then, once the baby is born, you've chosen the name YOU want, not one that they like and that they've influenced you to use. They'll just have to get used to it. I know a couple who didn't tell anyone the name they chose for their daughter until she was born, and they're much happier for it. My own family is difficult, too - I don't have kids, but when I decided to get a new middle name and use it I didn't say a word until it was legalized. (I did feel that I needed to compromise a bit by keeping my first name, but even if I eliminated it they'd still call me that anyway. I've already had a few tell me flat-out "I'm not calling you Fiammetta." Ugh.)
Name boards are good places to get inspiration and second opinions, but you really have to take everything with a grain of salt. I've seen boards where nothing but positive comments are allowed (I hate that!) and others that have strict rules on legitimacy. I believe in honesty, but everyone has different taste, so a name that you think is horrendous may be beautiful to me. As long as the name isn't going to cause serious problems (like Ecstasy or Hitler), it's largely a matter of opinion.
Now that I've written a novel about that, here's my input:
Sybil: I've always found it interesting. I'm not sure whether I prefer Sybil or Sibyl, but both are fine. I'd be thrilled to see it on a little girl, it's something you don't hear much.
Eva: Pretty and short and simple, but that's exactly why Ava is popular and Eva is getting there. It depends on how much you care about popularity. Eve is lovely too, but I don't know where it stands popularity-wise.
Aoife: I met an Irish girl in college with this name. I had never heard it, and she pronounced it "EE-fa," so I thought it was spelled Ifa or Efa (silly me!) I think it's actually more similar to Eva than Ava. I also live in the US; if you're worried about spelling and pronunciation, Eva would be a better choice.
Charlotte: I think this is getting very popular. It's nice, though. Lotte is a bit unintuitive to me with our pronunciation, but that's a personal thing (I'd probably end up shortening it to Char or something that other people would hate. Heh)
Audie: I really don't like nicknames as full names. Any Aud-name would work just fine with Audie as a nickname. I'm pretty sure Audi (the car) is pronounced OW-dee, not AW-dee.
Beatrix: Not bad, but I think I prefer Beatrice.
Mina: This seems a bit insubstantial to me, but I've seen it plenty of times, so I think it'd work fine as a full name. If you want, you could always use it as a NN for a name containing/ending in -mina.
Celeste: This name seems old to me, I can't picture it on anyone under 50. Celie is cute, but it's rather nicknamey. Maybe Celia, Cecilia/Cecelia, or Cecily? You could definitely use Celie for those. Or anything else ending in -celia.
Eveny: I don't like this at all. It seems very trendy/made up and reminds me of the online game "Evony" that I get ads for all the time (usually with nearly-naked women, lol). I saw in another post that you found it at Name Nerds, but I'm not sure how reliable their sources are.
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