A. writes:
My husband and I are having a baby girl any day now. Early on, we realized we have zero similarities in name taste. We argued for weeks until finally he said I could name the baby and he would name the next one. After going through thousands of names, I became completely disenchanted and exhausted with names. Now, July 1st our baby is due, and I feel like I have given up. I hadn’t looked at names in weeks. Well, last week the name Alison came up from one of the original names that we had discussed. My husband likes it. I am fine with it, as it has a good meaning (noble birth) and it’s not weird or as common as Ava or Isabella. But, when we told family we were going to use it, they started saying, “How is Alison doing?” Everytime they say it, I cringe….that can’t be good..right? Names I liked before I got pregnant I don’t really care for anymore, and the very few names I did like either have awkward meanings (Azalea= dry flower) or have odd associations (Allegra= the allergy med). Her middle name is going to be Jean, because suddenly that’s what my husbands wants- after his great grandmother. Our last name sounds like ramble. I feel so upset that I can’t commit to a name and feel awkward every time I hear the name we have chosen. Other names I liked before ending up becoming bored with all names were: Alexandra,Allegra, Charlotte, Ada, Jane, and Ava. My husband liked Isabella, Lydia, Katrina, Erica and Natalie. We each disliked the other’s picks. If we have a boy he will more than likely be named Archer Phillip. But I don’t want to name my daughter something outdoorsy just because of her “possible future brother’s” outdoorsy name. Is it normal for me to feel the babies name doesn’t “fit” before she is even born?
Any sane, non emotional advice would be welcome.
Thanks!
Cringing whenever you hear the name Allison definitely seems like a bad sign—and yet I’m not sure what to suggest. “Disenchanted and exhausted” is a very good description of how you feel, and I don’t know if throwing more name suggestions at you (would you prefer Ellison? that would go nicely with the surname name Archer; or maybe Alice, for an updated sound?) is going to help. And yet I’m reluctant to reassure you: the level of dislike you’re feeling for the chosen name doesn’t sound to me like the usual cold feet. On the other hand, I remember how uncomfortable/awkward I felt with my kids’ names at first (I preferred to call them “the baby”), and I think the nurses at the hospital purposefully said the names a lot to help new parents get over that hurdle—so it’s hard to know where the line is between “It’s awkward at first” and “It doesn’t work.”
The first thing I think I’d do in your shoes is take away the “I’ll name this one, you name the next one” policy. I think that works great for some couples, but it doesn’t sound like it’s working well here. It also doesn’t sound as if it’s your turn, if your husband likes Allison but you’re cringing, and if your husband has chosen the middle name.
Or perhaps DON’T get rid of that policy, just make it your husband’s turn instead of yours? Actually, I think that might be what I’d advise trying as a first step: it would immediately take the pressure off of you. But do you think you could be happy with the name he chose, or do you think you’d continue to cringe and feel miserable in the long run, even if you got to choose the next child’s name?
It may be that in this case, you’ll have to work together. It sounds to me like you can’t do it on your own, and furthermore that you don’t want to. Also, I see a lot of overlap in your naming styles: I’d put Charlotte, Ava, and Isabella all on the same list; I’d put Ada, Jane, and Lydia together on another list; I’d put Alexandra, Katrina, Natalie, and Erica together on a third list.
It’s good to think ahead about sibling names to make sure you don’t choose something that, for example, rules out your top boy name in case you need it later. But I definitely wouldn’t worry about choosing something outdoorsy just because a future possible boy could be named Archer. For one thing, Archer can be considered outdoorsy, but it could also be considered a vocation name, a surname name, a fresh new name, an A name, etc. And I think it generally works fine to have a style gap between the boy names and the girl names in the family.
Would you be willing to drop the preference for a good meaning? If it’s a major priority, that’s something we can still work with—but this situation feels more desperate than that. Name meanings are for the most part as invented as the meanings of flowers and gemstones: names are names, and flowers are flowers, and gems are gems, whatever meaning a culture decides to attribute to them. Azalea means azalea, just as Ruby means ruby and Rose means rose; they also each mean “a combination of sounds used as an English-language name.” Alison is a diminutive of the name Alice; Alice is a variant of the German name Adelaide; the name Adelaide comes from the word “adal,” which means noble, plus the word “heid,” which means sort. (Source: The Oxford Dictionary of First Names.) But do the words “adal heid” and the name “Allison” have anything in common? I say no, which is why I generally dismiss baby name meanings as fun but unimportant.
Your naming styles really are quite similar. If you found you were arguing incessantly, it may be more a difference in discussion/negotiation/decision-making style rather than in naming style. One of the more common mistakes is for one parent to try to force the other parent to like a name, or try to argue that parent into liking it (“But you like Sophia! Why wouldn’t you like Fiona?? It’s practically the same sounds!!”). It might work better for the two of you to see if you can keep adding names to your respective lists until you stumble upon some overlap. Another method would be to use The Baby Name Wizard and look for STYLES you agree on, rather than individual names; then each of you make a list of the names you like in that style category and see if there are any duplicates.
Another exercise that sometimes works is looking at the lists and brainstorming similar names to see if both parents like any of them. “Similar” will vary considerably from one person to the next, but if it were my own list, it would start out like this:
Allegra
Arabella
Ella
Ella Grace
Ella Grey
Elle
Stella
Calla
Georgia
Gabriella
Alessandra
Lissandra
Alana
Anastasia
Elena
Eliana
Eliza
Ellery
Allison
Ellison
Emerson
Ellis
Alice
Annabel
Elise
Alessandra
Lissandra
Alyssa
Charlotte
Scarlet
Violet
Bridget
Margaret
Juliet
Greta
Colette
Harriet
Gretchen
Fern
…and so on. I wouldn’t stop too long to think about each name (“Is this REALLY similar to Allison?”), I’d just jot the names down as quickly as they occurred to me, and let each name lead me to the next name. When I ran out of steam, I’d start a new list for the next name one of you likes.
Are you disenchanted and exhausted because you WANT you and your husband to both love the name and by instituting the you-first, him-second policy, you feel like it makes it impossible for you both to love this first baby’s name? I say, take the policy off the table. Tell your husband you’re stressed and you want his input and help and support.
And if you want an internet stranger’s input, I LOVE both Alice and Allegra.
Alice Jean Ramble
Allegra Jean Ramble
Alice Jean, potential big sister to Archer Phillip.
Allegra Jean, potential big sister to Archer Phillip.
I will also reassure you that I worked with an Allegra and 1. I loved her name, and 2. It wasn’t until MONTHS after meeting her that I realized/considered the fact that her name is the same word as that allergy medicine. EVEN THOUGH I was fully aware of the allergy medicine and its name from a plethora of commercials. So people meeting your Allegra may not make that association initially, if at all. After all, they’ll be introduced to it in the context of Baby Name or Girl Name or Woman Name, and not in the context of medicine.
Good luck!
To the letter writer: poor you! I completely understand. We had a heck of a time with our first daughter (the next was easier because of the tone of the first one).
In the end, we had a list of top three names and we waited to see her before naming her. You get up to a week (I think) in Canada to name your child… assuming the situation is the same where you are you can take your time! If Allison doesn’t fit, just tell the family that it wasn’t the right name for the baby. Something will fit, and it will be beautiful!
Incidentally, since you seem to like “a” endings, Vanessa is a nice name. ;) There are a few butterfly species of the genus *Vanessa*, and I always loved that association!
My husband and I picked out a name we loved for our son. It took me weeks to actually call him by his name after he was born….I always referred to him as “the baby.” I don’t know why I had a hard time, but it just felt awkward and weird. Of course now that he’s 10 months his name fits him perfectly. I don’t think it was name regret or anything….it was just strange to have this real baby here, live and in person. And before he was born I couldn’t call him by his name (I have always thought it’s weird to do that…) either. So maybe that’s what you’re going through?
Me, too! I was happy to let my husband name our son. I really didn’t have any vested interest in any particular name, but, the name he chose (“Tom”) was one that I was kind of “meh” about. Within a few weeks of his birth, though, it was just his name. And ten years in, I can’t imagine my darling son having any other.
I second Elle: I like Allegra. Usually I first associate with the Versace heiress before I think “allergy medicine.” It just has that cool Italian vibe for me.
Is it that you really don’t like Alison or that you have doubts and hearing it reminds you of the anxiety and pressure you feel? If you really don’t like it, perhaps Elise or Elisa has the same sounds to please your husband, but a different feel for you. If it’s the latter, bring your husband into the mix again, either giving him this turn or making a list of possibles and rating them. (Swistle, didn’t you post about some awesome spreadsheet that did that? I’m sure there’s another Excel geek like me who also remembers it…)
Swistle also once posted about how you may not find The Perfect Name. Sometimes it is just a good enough name, and that’s okay, too.
I was in a similar situation with my first, we had picked a name that I loved, in fact, it was my maternal grandmother’s first and middle name. But then we told our families. And every time they would refer to my unborn baby by the chosen name it made me cringe, and I really wasn’t liking it. But once she was born I immediately felt like that was her name, and how the heck could I have thought about changing it! I think it’s awesome to go into childbirth with a list of names you like, or even the perfect name you want to use, but it also is so much easier to name a baby once they are actually in your arms.
All that to say, I wouldn’t write Allison off just yet. Wait until you meet her and you might like it again. I also have to say that I think Allegra is really pretty, and I don’t really think of the allergy medicine when I hear it.
Yes and yes! Please reconsider Azalea! It’s such a great name! Please don’t rule it out because someone made up a meaning for it. It’s a beautiful flower, and that’s a fact! As you can tell, I’m partial to Azalea! : )
My birthday is July 1st! It’s the perfect day to be due to be born! (Although I was actually 10 days late) : )
You have so many great suggestions and some great advice. I agree with someone above that Allison seems dated. I think it is a mom name. (One of my best friends is Allison and she’s a mom of 3).
My favorites are Azalea, Alice, and Athena. Good luck!
I hate to think you’re ruling out Azalea because something somewhere told you it means “dry flower.” What Azalea means is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azalea. I think it is a drought resistant plant, but it no more means “dry flower” than Rose means “thorny flower.”
I agree! Azaleas are pretty but hardy – that’s a nice meaning for your daughter. And Azalea Jean Ramble sounds great.
Yes! This!
I agree with Swistle that name meanings shouldn’t hold too much weight in your choice. If you like the name & it means something nice to you, that’s all that matters. If Azalea makes you think “pretty, colorful flower” who cares what some baby name book or website says?
I love her idea of using the Baby Name Wizard book. Look up each of your names & each of your husband’s, I think you will be surprised how much style overlap there actually is. If you look at the style categories, I suspect you’ll find at least a few names you both like. And you do not have to have a name before she is born. Go in with a small list and see what feels right once you meet her.
Completely agree love Azalea! It is a beautiful colourful flower maybe you should do a google image search to see how pretty they are if you are unfamiliar with the flower.
Oh, I think you have great taste, and a lot of overlap. It’s just that you haven’t figured out where the RIGHT overlap is yet.
Here are my suggestions:
Violet Jean
Lillian Jean
Audrey Jean
Eleanor Jean
Catherine Jean
Anna Jean
Marian Jean
Lucy Jean
Magnolia Jean
Evelyn Jean
Margaret Jean
Astrid Jean
Matilda Jean
Cecilia Jean
Helena Jean
Meredith Jean
I do rather adore Alice, Allegra, Ada, Alison, and Azalea.
Allison and Azalea remind me of Alethia and Athena. You have some lovely names there. I’m sure your lovely daughter will grow into whatever you decide!
Out of the ones you mentioned, I think Jane and Charlotte are the prettiest, followed by Allison. I actually like Alice the best. I am having the same trouble with names (and our baby is even due a few days earlier than you-literally any day now), so I empathize completely! We have a 3 year old daughter, though, and her name is very old and classic, but still sounded made up and strange to me at first, too. I think the concept of naming someone (for life, no less) is really intimidating and that’s why it sounds weird and gives us cold feet. It’s easy to psych ourselves out of good names that way, so remember no matter what you choose, that name really will fit the baby perfectly.
I knew an Allegra in college and I never thought about the allergy medicine. She often went by “Alli” – I know some Allisons who go by “Alli” as well. I wonder if you’d like any of these:
Elodie
Adeline
Amelia (that’s my name! I love it!)
Aster
Aurelie
Aurelia (my preference: Aurelia Jean Ramble)
Coraline
Aurora
Emmeline
Emily (underused lately, but a lovely classic, also nice: Emily Jean)
Ariel
Aurora
Autumn
My husband and I had similar frustrations, so I will share our solution in case it helps. In one of the many baby name books I bought (in the hope one would have a name we hadn’t seen in the other four!? I was crazy…) they suggested using a point and veto system to narrow lists. My husband and I picked our top 10 names, assigned points for aspects that were important to us (easy to spell, feminine, uncommon, etc), and narrowed our own lists to 5 names based on the point system. We then vetoed 3 of each others’ names. It helped a lot for us to have the discussion in an un-emotional, fair way. Oh, and not during Sportscenter! We spent a day calling the baby by each of the remaining 4 names and in practice I actually ended up loving a name from my husband’s list. My favorite made me cringe when I said it out loud.
Good luck! I’m sure whatever you pick will be a great name for her.
FWIW, I think Allegra and Archer are a brilliant sibling set!
It sounds to me as if Allison is not the name. Swistle had some good ideas for generating new ones. For what it’s worth, I think Alice Jean is adorable. Good luck choosing.
I’d encourage you not to choose based on meaning, and to just pick the name you and your husband collectively like best. Pick the name that you can imagine being a part of your family and that is pleasant to say. After all, you will use the name regularly, but you will rarely reference the name’s dictionary definition. Allegra and Azalea are absolutely GORGEOUS.
I think it is totally normal for it to feel awkward when people start referring to your unborn child by name. There is something different about when the baby is actually born and you are looking at her. Just like another commenter said, I would not rule out Alison just yet. However, I do love the idea of creating a long list like Swistle’s. Then i would slowly eliminate names off the list— like you and your husband should each remove 3 names per day or something like that. If I were you, I would narrow it down to about 3 names and continually try them out on your baby in your head. “Alison is hungry right now” “Allegra was kicking me all night!” and see if one sticks more than another but it’s ok if that doesn’t happen since, as stated before, it may not feel right until she is actually here. You can also go into the delivery room with those 3 names and choose when you see her!
If it were me, I’d be cringing at them talking about my womb inhabitant by first name. That is just awkward! I don’t think you are cringing at The name Allison, but at the use of it before she is born. That’s my take and I think you should wait to see if when she is born whether or not the name Allison gives you anymore cringe feelings or if it perfectly suits your daughter. (Also reason 852 of why to not tell anyone the baby’s name before the birth.)
AGREED! All of it!
Concur.
Also, my family was *awful*, so I told them a name that I knew they would hate (I think it might have been Ignatius for my son, and Ruth for one of my daughters … lovely names, but my mom especially has “strong opinions” and these gave her plenty of target practice).
In the end, they were so relieved it wasn’t Ignatius / Ruth, they embraced the chosen names happily. And I didn’t have to bother with this for baby #3 because my family got the message — none of your damn business til the baby is born, and then love the name or shut up :-)
This is hilarious. Ignatius is a family name on my side and it has been my top boy name for over 15 years. Now that I’m married, there is a very real possibility I’ll have a baby Iggy in a few years! Even though I know it’s a harsh name for a kid, there’s no other boy name I like enough to not use Ignatius.
My list for girls includes Ruth. Iggy and Ruthie, what a team!
This would make me so happy. We sometimes still call my second daughter Baby Ruth because it was her “faux in utero” name, though we haven’t called our boy Iggy in a few years. :-)
I’m a little late, but I have to say this is a brilliant approach.
Allison seems a little bit of a style mismatch with your other faves Azalea and Allegra. Azalea and Allegra are unusual, flowery/musical feminine names that can’t be easily dated. Allison is quite common, masculine surname sounding (even though it is a diminutive of Alice), and dated to the 1980s/1990s. I know at least a dozen women around my age (mid-20s) with the name Alison/Allison/Alyson and I’m afraid by the time your daughter is in elementary school she will have more classmates with moms named Allison than classmates themselves named Allison.
None of these are reasons not to use the name if you love it– but since you don’t love it, they seem like heavy strikes against the name.
I definitely prefer Alice. It sounds fresh and ages better. It also goes better with Allegra and Azalea if you have another girl in the future and still like those names.
I don’t think the allergy medicine is enough to kill Allegra as a possibility– I know a 20-year-old Allegra and she says people rarely comment on the medication when they hear her name. I’m not sure about the “ra”-ending of Allegra and the “ra” beginning of your surname. It was a little stuttery to my ear.
I like Azalea very much. Don’t worry about meanings– Azalea just means azalea flower. It’s a beautiful meaning and a beautiful name.
Azalea Jean Ramble is my favorite, followed by Alice Jean Ramble. I think both go nicely with Archer.
Do you like Adelaide, Arabella, Emilia or Amelia, Anna, Dinah, Sarah, or Lily?
Also, I disagree that you and your husband have completely different tastes for names. If you look at your lists, the names mostly overlap in categories. You both like feminine, classic/vintage names. It’s not like he likes androgynous surname names, for example, or word names, or trendy made-up names, or dated names. You actually have really similar taste, broadly speaking. You just need to find an individual name that you agree upon.
there’s already so much good advice here, i do hope it will help you in your decision!
reading your message to Swistle made me wonder whether you may just have “name fatigue” – i got that earlier on in my pregnancy, and it got worse if i overdid it with name searching. baby naming books don’t work for me at all since there is no system or sense to many of the names featured (i also hate when people make up meanings for names, and at least the one baby name book i still own is full of that!).
i love Azalea and Allegra. Azalea sounds like “desert flower” to me (i have no idea if they are actually desert flowers). the idea that it’s a drought-resistant flower adds to the name too, because it basically means “resilient”.. this is how name meanings work for me at least.
Allegra, i didn’t even know there was an allergy medicine with that same name. i find it disappointing when i hear such mundane associations. Allegra sounds graceful to me, musical definitely.. the only pop reference i have is Allegra Versace, but i don’t think that’s relevant at all.
Allegra and Alison (and Alice) might all become Ally when you call her. how do you feel about this potential nick name? i personally really love your style from the little bit you’ve shared here. i love a longer name (3+ syllables) that sounds distinguished and graceful and that has a good nick name option.
also, i would keep the name to myself and not share it until birth and until you and your partner have had the chance to get used to the name yourselves. i think whatever you end up choosing, there may very well be some time where you just try out the name until it loses its initial awkwardness.
For me, I didn’t want family to know the name choice. There was one possibility for my daughter, “Jocelyn,” that we kicked around for awhile. My mom somehow figured it out, and as soon as she said it, it just ruined it for me (plus, we decided it sounded too much like my son’s name).
We went with a different name for her anyway, and no one in the family knew about it.
Even then, it took me a little while to get used to her name after she was born. She was often “the baby”. Because really, a tiny wrinkly person is a baby! It’s hard to picture them with a full-grown name.
It didn’t take long, but that girl finally owned her name — Vivienne. She’s 2.5 now and yep, a total Vivie.
Not sure how to encourage you with this pursuit, other than to know that this is a HARD decision, and it is a gift you are giving to your child. I hope you find something you love. Looking forward to an update here!
When our son was born, we had a name picked out for him. Then his birthmother confided that she “just didn’t like it”. So, we picked our second favorite name from our list. A few hours later, she didn’t like that one either. Frustrated, we drove away from the hospital for the night and openly discussed choosing a new name or telling his birthmother, “Too bad!” We weren’t at our best.
In the end, my husband finally said, “Strangely enough, he doesn’t seem like Name A or Name B.”
“I know,” I agreed.
“But, I think we ought to accept the obvious. He IS a certain name, and we should just call him that.”
“I agree,” I said. “I wonder if we’re thinking of the same name then.”
On the count of three, we both said the name we thought WAS his name, and –sure enough– we said the same name.
I write all this to say don’t feel bad for not officially naming your daughter until after spending some time with her.
Annnnd… if you like Allegra and Allison, do you care for Cassandra? Estelle? Murielle? Calendula? Marina? Brielle? Camille? Gianna? Julianna? Liliana? Meredith? Nicolina? Maven? Victoria? Rachelle?
From your list, I do dearly love Azalea. Azalea Jean. Mmmm… it’s sweet like pie but strong and feminine.
Best wishes to you and your husband (and daughter!) as you find her name. It will be perfect for her because she has parents that actually care what she’s called for the rest of her life!
What a great story!
One more idea! Do you like Sylvia? Sylvia Jean?
If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. I had the name saturation/overload thing happen with my last pregnancy (2nd child). Because of constant compromise, we had a list of about 10 names that all felt MEH. All of them were fine names, but none really excited me. I ended up trying on the names one at a time, spending a few days mentally calling the baby each name. It was surprising how things shook out…the names I thought I liked better (the most interesting ones) were the toughest to imagine on our baby. We ended up choosing the most common name on our list…far more common than I would normally pick, but had a family connection that felt the most comfortable. That being said, now that the baby is here, I still am not that excited about her name. It is a fine name and I’m sure she will grow into it, but it’s not PERFECT from my perspective. I hope, however, that she will like her name as she gets older. I regret somewhat not being firmer in choosing something that I really loved, even though I have no desire to change her name.
PS – I second Swistle’s idea to abandon attachment to a name’s meaning. Unless a name is an English word, the meaning of names are virtually unknown except to the bearer. Both my girls have names with boring or unknown meanings. My own name means cheerful and I couldn’t care less.
PS – my favorite from your lists are Azalea, Jane, and Lydia. I think it’s wonderful with your last name! I like Azalea Jane Ramble or Lydia Jane Ramble. Jean would be sweet in the middle too, although I’m partial to Jane since it’s my older daughter’s name (a name I was excited about when we chose it!).
I think you and your husband have a lot of really good name contenders and your styles don’t actually seem to be that different- you’ve just picked different names within the same “category”.
When I saw your lists I thought of the name Isla- it reminds me of Ada and Ava from your list (a little vintagey, lots of vowels, short) while it also reminds me of Isabella from his list (same beginning) as well as Lydia. You can also spell is Ilsa which is pretty. Isla Jean is a great name- or Isla Jane is also nice.
Ohh… I like this suggestion of Isla. Seems to be a good combination! And I think it goes fabulously with Archer.
Archer and Isla. Perfect!!
I think Allegra Jean is a lovely name combination! I also love Audrey Jean. Audrey and Archer are such a great sibling set.
What about Avery, Eden or Avalon? Eden and Archer are particularly sweet!
Eden Isabella and Archer Philip perhaps?
I really love Emerson, especially style wise, with Archer. Emerson Jean and Archer Philip sound so great together!
All the best!
I like the idea of Swistle’s to start with the names you like and then list down from them…
I completely understand where you are coming from, as we had a heck of a time picking our son’s name, and finally decided on the front-runner about a week prior to his birth. My husband was opposite, he basically would agree with the majority of the names that I would pick (I’m sure to just be done with it and stop the nightly obsessing and discussing various names) whereas I just couldn’t commit. I think part of my issue with not being able to commit was that when we found our daughter’s name, Juliet, instantly we were both in love… that was going to be her name and we never looked back. Whereas with pregnancy #2, we just didn’t have that “ah-hah… we love it” moment like with did with the girls name so I kept second guessing and doubting every single name that we came across (which maybe you are doing the same as it seems you were able to come up with a boy name that you both love??). Eventually we went back to a name we had discussed and dismissed months prior… we love his name now and it totally suits him, but it sure wasn’t as clear as the first go around. I hope that you find one that you love soon.
Here’s some of my favourites:
Ada
Adelaide
Amelia or Emelia
Etta (love this)
Elle or Ella
Emme
Emmaline
Eve nn Evie
Alice
Lucy
Scarlet
Rose
Juliet (my daughter’s name and we absolutely love it)
Genevieve (I heard this name today on a girl at the park and I absolutely love it)
Isadora
Giada (another of my favourites)
Good luck, I hope you find a name that you are happy with. Keep us posted!!
With respect to what Swistle said about cold feet/ delivery nurses, I mentioned to the nurse going into delivery (c-section) that we liked two names. She could tell we kind of preferred one and were unwilling to commit. When she was born, hubby and I were both looking at her and saying … yeah? Preferred name? Meanwhile, the nurse had grabbed the pink newborn hat and wrote the preferred name in purple magic marker and put it on her head before she handed us our daughter. Part of me was a little upset in the moment about the presumptuousness (pretty sure she hadn’t heard us talking), but within seconds I was not only over it, I also had a picture of my DAUGHTER in a HAT with her NAME! Never looked back.
As far as name meanings go- please don’t let it bug you too much! When I was a little girl I looked up my name in a baby name book and found that together, my first name and middle name mean Pure Bitter. Not the greatest meaning, and I’m sure nobody would intentionally name their child Pure Bitter Lastname. But remember, the “meaning” is NOT the name! If you were to name your daughter Azalea, you wouldn’t be naming her Dry Flower Ramble and I’m sure that if you were to choose Azalea as her name, you wouldn’t think of dry flowers every time you said her name.
I suggest, isla, aurelia, avaya, avalyn, livia
Not sure why this just popped into my head, but, Avalon??
What about Alicia as it seems a nice compromise between Allegra, Azalea and Alison?
Ali, Asha, Lia, Lissie, Sia etc could all be nicknames.
I’m fond of Helen Sophia and Sarah Rebecca (old family names).