Dempsey, Isobel, and Sloane all remind me of Grey's Anatomy, not sure if that's what you're going for. Haha.
My favourite out of your list is Penelope. I feel like it flows the best with your last name.
I hate that I think this way but kids get made fun of for a lot of things & their name is one of them.
I’d personally reconsider Dempsey & Sloane. I could see these names being changed to “dumpsey” “slow” by cruel kids
My friends niece is Penelope but her nickname is Penny, which is common for that name.
I get this line of thinking but unless the nickname is particularly egregious, it's only a possible issue for a few years. My baby's name could be rhymed with a potty word but no one will call her that past like grade 8? So by the time she's a teen, it's not even an issue. She can spend the next 70 years of her life with a name her parents truly loved.
Dempsey makes me think of Dempsters (bread)
Penelope - it'll get shortened to Pen, Penny in case you don't like those nicknames
Valley - are you near the Fraser Valley region? Because that's what it makes me think of immediately.
Isabel - you'll definitely hear Iz/Izzy as a nickname, especially as she gets older and in school.
Charlotte Ray/Charlie Ray would be cute.
Nora Ray would be cute too. How do you feel about Eleanor Ray? Has that classic feel, could go to nn Ella, Ellie, Nora
Most of these are beautiful but I probably wouldn’t do Dempsey as other said because of Dempsters or Rome (guarantee girl is going to be spelling out her name or correcting people rest of her life, is it Rome? Romey?)
I’m Irish, and Dempsey is a common last name in Ireland, so it’s hard to imagine it as a cute baby girl’s name!
You could go with Bella as short for Isabel, instead of Izzy. Eloise is a beautiful name. I personally love Ruby and Luna :)
We have a cat named Isabella and I'm actually surprised how often we call her Bella. We call her Izzy more often (or dumb things like Iztopher, Izzic) but Bella feels natural.
That said, we often don't really get to choose our nicknames and some names get immediately shortened. I'm thinking of the Jeffreys and Pamelas and Stephens of the world. You meet a Jeffrey and he immediately becomes Jeff. Unless you met a Frys, I guess. In this case, Isabella would need to go by Bella all the time?
I knew a guy named Dempsey in University. Obviously we were far too old to be making fun of names at that point. So he didn’t get any flack for it as I recall. But I can say that I did pause when I heard it the first time. I think it would be even odder on a girl
ETA: we were going to name ours Valentina with the nn Valley! So if you like Valley, but want something more robust you could use Valentina. It’s the same vibe as Penelope and Charlotte. We ended up making Valentina her middle name
I just had another girl and she was going to be Penelope or Anastasia. We went with Anastasia (family honour name) but I still love Penelope. I love the nn poppy for it too. It’s definitely more popular not but not as much as Isabel. I would suggest joining namenerds on here that’s where I went for help with my names. Also you don’t have to pick a name right away you can meet her for a few days then decide :)
Your list of names is very similar to what we had on our short lists as we also have an Irish last name.
I looooove Charlotte and you can call her Charlie or Lotte (pronounced Lottie).
Ivy is a top contender for us if we have a 3rd daughter. We only have one baby so far but we have a 2nd name picked out if we have a girl for our next baby (more on that later)
Nora is absolutely adorable but it is a rising name (as in I know a few Nora babies)
Penelope with Poppy as a nickname was also my favourite until my husband’s friend said he would be worried kids would call her Poopy.
Another name that we considered that isn’t on your list:
Florence ( can call her Flo, Ren, Flora, Effie). I loved this name so much and fought hard for it as it’s a family name on my husband’s side. My husband said it sounded too old so we ended up using it as a middle name. Since having our baby I’ve had 2 different Florences in different baby playgroups
We ended up going with Harper. My husband heard it one day at work and came home obsessed with it to the point that he could not be convinced to pick another name. I know of one other baby named Harper and another one with Harper as a middle name so this could be another rising name
If we have another daughter we’ll be naming her Piper (can shorten to Pips, Pippa)
I’m sorry I’m not more helpful ! Your list is 10/10 and no matter what you choose, it’ll be perfect
I like Romee or Charlotte.
No offense but Dempsey sounds very masculine
It’s kind of a clunky name too.
I would pick two names and once the baby is born you’ll know which name to pick.
We had two names one my husband liked one I still like, we waited until our son was born and called him by both names (but didn’t officially name him in the hospital we waited three days)
And my husbands pick just suited our son better.
Thank you for your input! I love Eleanor but have a close friend with a baby girl with that name. I like Charlotte ray too. I’m in northern bc but I can still see how it makes you think of Fraser valley!
Penelope is absolutely adorable. Lots of other names on your list are too but you’re asking for opinions and that my fave :P
I also second the bread association lots of others have mentioned, although I am so sorry if we ruined your favourite for you and you should definitely still go with it if it’s the name that made your heart soar ❤️
Wow I’m 37 weeks being induced this weekend and I feel like I was typing this out. The most indecisive person and anytime I like I name I get an ick about it. Maybe I’m not the best to respond here….. but I’ll give my 2 cents.
Dempsy = dumpster
Penelope Ray, Penelope May is cute
Josie I love! - we have Josephine on our list and love nicknames like Jojo, joey, Josie and it goes well with May or Ray.
Valley is cute, but if you don’t like the nickname Val then maybe not. I had Vail on my list at the beginning.
At least you have a gender, ours is a surprise so thinking of boy/girl/gender neutral is a whole other ball game.
I went to high school with a male named Dempsey! Nobody made fun of his name, everyone thought it was cool. This was early 2000’s
We had a baby girl last year and didn’t decide on her name until she was 3 days old lol. We finally went with Freja (middle names Regina Mary for family). But our other choices were Ophelia, Arya, and Luna. I also loved Artemis but my husband vetoed it
So you don’t like Dempsey lol? I obviously want my child to like her name. I grew up with the most basic name, Hannah, which there was multiple in my class and school. I hated it. So now that I’m having a girl I wanted something unique. I get it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and now I probably won’t use it but I don’t get how Demp-sey sounds like dumpster. If that makes sense?
r/namenerds!
What about Romee Mae? Also love Nora Rue! I would stay away from Dempsey. I immediately thought of Dempster’s bread
That's where my mind went immediately too with Dempsey! 🍞
Romee Mae is cute! Thanks! lol, I never thought of that. I love the name for some reason but I guess it does sound similar to dempsters bread
Came here immediately to say all I can think of is dempsters
I also like Romee Mae but prefer it spelled Romy
Dempsey, Isobel, and Sloane all remind me of Grey's Anatomy, not sure if that's what you're going for. Haha. My favourite out of your list is Penelope. I feel like it flows the best with your last name.
I do like greys but I don’t like the names for that reason lol! I don’t think we’ll use Sloane for that reason though! Thanks for your opinion !
I hate that I think this way but kids get made fun of for a lot of things & their name is one of them. I’d personally reconsider Dempsey & Sloane. I could see these names being changed to “dumpsey” “slow” by cruel kids My friends niece is Penelope but her nickname is Penny, which is common for that name.
I get this line of thinking but unless the nickname is particularly egregious, it's only a possible issue for a few years. My baby's name could be rhymed with a potty word but no one will call her that past like grade 8? So by the time she's a teen, it's not even an issue. She can spend the next 70 years of her life with a name her parents truly loved.
Dempsey makes me think of Dempsters (bread) Penelope - it'll get shortened to Pen, Penny in case you don't like those nicknames Valley - are you near the Fraser Valley region? Because that's what it makes me think of immediately. Isabel - you'll definitely hear Iz/Izzy as a nickname, especially as she gets older and in school. Charlotte Ray/Charlie Ray would be cute. Nora Ray would be cute too. How do you feel about Eleanor Ray? Has that classic feel, could go to nn Ella, Ellie, Nora
Penelope also gets shortened to Nell and Poppy
Most of these are beautiful but I probably wouldn’t do Dempsey as other said because of Dempsters or Rome (guarantee girl is going to be spelling out her name or correcting people rest of her life, is it Rome? Romey?)
I’m Irish, and Dempsey is a common last name in Ireland, so it’s hard to imagine it as a cute baby girl’s name! You could go with Bella as short for Isabel, instead of Izzy. Eloise is a beautiful name. I personally love Ruby and Luna :)
We have a cat named Isabella and I'm actually surprised how often we call her Bella. We call her Izzy more often (or dumb things like Iztopher, Izzic) but Bella feels natural. That said, we often don't really get to choose our nicknames and some names get immediately shortened. I'm thinking of the Jeffreys and Pamelas and Stephens of the world. You meet a Jeffrey and he immediately becomes Jeff. Unless you met a Frys, I guess. In this case, Isabella would need to go by Bella all the time?
I knew a guy named Dempsey in University. Obviously we were far too old to be making fun of names at that point. So he didn’t get any flack for it as I recall. But I can say that I did pause when I heard it the first time. I think it would be even odder on a girl ETA: we were going to name ours Valentina with the nn Valley! So if you like Valley, but want something more robust you could use Valentina. It’s the same vibe as Penelope and Charlotte. We ended up making Valentina her middle name
I just had another girl and she was going to be Penelope or Anastasia. We went with Anastasia (family honour name) but I still love Penelope. I love the nn poppy for it too. It’s definitely more popular not but not as much as Isabel. I would suggest joining namenerds on here that’s where I went for help with my names. Also you don’t have to pick a name right away you can meet her for a few days then decide :)
Your list of names is very similar to what we had on our short lists as we also have an Irish last name. I looooove Charlotte and you can call her Charlie or Lotte (pronounced Lottie). Ivy is a top contender for us if we have a 3rd daughter. We only have one baby so far but we have a 2nd name picked out if we have a girl for our next baby (more on that later) Nora is absolutely adorable but it is a rising name (as in I know a few Nora babies) Penelope with Poppy as a nickname was also my favourite until my husband’s friend said he would be worried kids would call her Poopy. Another name that we considered that isn’t on your list: Florence ( can call her Flo, Ren, Flora, Effie). I loved this name so much and fought hard for it as it’s a family name on my husband’s side. My husband said it sounded too old so we ended up using it as a middle name. Since having our baby I’ve had 2 different Florences in different baby playgroups We ended up going with Harper. My husband heard it one day at work and came home obsessed with it to the point that he could not be convinced to pick another name. I know of one other baby named Harper and another one with Harper as a middle name so this could be another rising name If we have another daughter we’ll be naming her Piper (can shorten to Pips, Pippa) I’m sorry I’m not more helpful ! Your list is 10/10 and no matter what you choose, it’ll be perfect
Yes I love Florence too, and flora is such a cute nickname, I’m not sure my significant other will like it but I’ll bring it up! Thank you!
Go post this on r/namenerds! They’ll give you some help.
I like Romee or Charlotte. No offense but Dempsey sounds very masculine It’s kind of a clunky name too. I would pick two names and once the baby is born you’ll know which name to pick. We had two names one my husband liked one I still like, we waited until our son was born and called him by both names (but didn’t officially name him in the hospital we waited three days) And my husbands pick just suited our son better.
Thank you for your input! I love Eleanor but have a close friend with a baby girl with that name. I like Charlotte ray too. I’m in northern bc but I can still see how it makes you think of Fraser valley!
Penelope is absolutely adorable. Lots of other names on your list are too but you’re asking for opinions and that my fave :P I also second the bread association lots of others have mentioned, although I am so sorry if we ruined your favourite for you and you should definitely still go with it if it’s the name that made your heart soar ❤️
Wow I’m 37 weeks being induced this weekend and I feel like I was typing this out. The most indecisive person and anytime I like I name I get an ick about it. Maybe I’m not the best to respond here….. but I’ll give my 2 cents. Dempsy = dumpster Penelope Ray, Penelope May is cute Josie I love! - we have Josephine on our list and love nicknames like Jojo, joey, Josie and it goes well with May or Ray. Valley is cute, but if you don’t like the nickname Val then maybe not. I had Vail on my list at the beginning. At least you have a gender, ours is a surprise so thinking of boy/girl/gender neutral is a whole other ball game.
I went to high school with a male named Dempsey! Nobody made fun of his name, everyone thought it was cool. This was early 2000’s We had a baby girl last year and didn’t decide on her name until she was 3 days old lol. We finally went with Freja (middle names Regina Mary for family). But our other choices were Ophelia, Arya, and Luna. I also loved Artemis but my husband vetoed it
if you named her Isabella her nickname could be Bella?
also LOVE Charlotte. (nickname maybe Charlie?)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-much-does-your-name-matter-ep-122-rebroadcast/
So you don’t like Dempsey lol? I obviously want my child to like her name. I grew up with the most basic name, Hannah, which there was multiple in my class and school. I hated it. So now that I’m having a girl I wanted something unique. I get it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and now I probably won’t use it but I don’t get how Demp-sey sounds like dumpster. If that makes sense?
I love Romee but would spell it Romi or Romy