• darcie

oh, how i love love love darcie. while she doesn’t have any grand meanings or messages or associations (apart from deeply personal connections), i find her just perfect. she’s everything i want in the ideal girl name, modern yet not without history, hits the ‘sweet spot’ of popularity and just a beautiful sound. i feel like absolutely anyone could pull off darcie. for a girl, i’d go with the darcie spelling instead of darcy as i gravitate a lot towards ‘ie’ endings (as you can probably tell by the rest of my list) for their carefree, summery feel. darcie joanna also has a lot of personal significance. darcie honours my parents by essentially combining their names (darren and danielle ‘danni’) while remaining distinct.

• joanna

joanna is a melodic, timeless classic and the meaning “God is gracious” is an extra bonus. joanna was also my parents' other choice for a girl.

• bronte

bronte is a name i just love with boundless positive associations. i love the imagery combined with the meaning “thunder” - a reminder to my bronte that she is strong and her capabilities know no bounds, and her beauty and strength can coexist. the literary brontë sisters are another plus (charlotte brontë is probably the best writer i have ever read and i count both jane eyre and villette among my favourite books). the final association for me is olympic swimmer bronte campbell, who i’ve always looked up to for her sporting achievements as a swimmer myself, but, in a side not so often highlighted, is also an advocate for the mental health of swimmers and gender parity within swimming - essentially, to leave the sport better than she found it. i think this would be a beautiful message to my bronte that she can use her influence for good and that she is so much more than people’s first impression of her.

• talia

talia is one of my longterm loves, a pretty sounding name with two gorgeous meanings. “gentle dew from heaven” is one of the most aesthetically pleasing name meanings and links to my faith, while “by the water” symbolises my love for swimming, the ocean and the beach. talia is also a subtle honour for two of my close childhood friends who i’ve fallen out of touch with.

• summer

summer is for the season, my absolute favourite. i love the sunshine and the warm weather, being able to wear my favourite clothes and go to the beach and swim everyday (ignoring the fact that i do that year round anyway). i love ice cream and summer fruits and flowers and two whole months of school holidays. i just love everything about summer and i think it has a beautiful sound, so a name that captures all of that is an obvious pick for me.

• elise

elise i adore the sound of, the slightly french flair and the meaning “pledged to God”. i have a lot of very personal positive associations with elise, and she honours a whole host of important people in my life with ‘el-’ names. that’s why i probably can’t use her as a first, but let’s just say i’ve never met a person named elise (or variants) i didn’t like.

• evie

evie is a name i could say forever. i toyed with various long forms like evelyn, evangeline and genevieve but ultimately i decided ‘just evie’ was best. another playful, carefree, ‘ie’ ending name, evie feels like mine. i love the meaning ‘life’ - so simple yet so pure and magical and important.

• charlotte

charlotte is a name that i can totally understand why it’s so popular. it’s elegant and classic with history and an abundance of references. i’ve already mentioned charlotte brontë but there’s also the likes of charlotte from charlotte’s web. charlotte has personal significance as it honours one of my closest friends named charli.

• bridie

bridie has always felt more popular to me than it actually is (and i totally think she should be more well used). the imagery i have of bridie is fiery and mountainous - a rugged, beautiful landscape. i love the two meanings, “strength” and “exalted one”. similar to bronte, “strength” would be a reminder to my bridie of her own capabilities while the happiness meaning of exalted for “exalted one” would show my bridie the happiness i feel simply that she exists.

• madeleine

madeleine is more for the vibes and simply because i adore french names. it’s one of those names that just sparks joy for no reason in particular.

• adeline

adeline is, again, french and charming. i feel like i could repeat her over and over and never get tired. adeline has always been on my list, or at least my radar, but i truly fell in love after reading the invisible life of addie larue, which is probably my favourite book ever. inspired by that - and because i think it’s such a cute nickname - i would probably call my adeline ‘addie’.

• matilda

matilda is fairly ubiquitous to me because of where i live but if anything, that’s only increased her appeal. the harry styles song matilda brought her back to my attention and the sound to me can only be described as sparkly.

• imogen

imogen is classy and distinctive and i love the musical sound. her dual meaning is “daughter” and “maiden” and i particularly love the meaning “daughter” because that’s exactly what she’d be. imogen is feminine without being frilly and i love the myriad nickname options - immy, mim, midge or ginny. that would be my only problem with using imogen - i’d never be able to decide what to call her!

• lily

lily is for the flower, the elegant and gentle sound, the association with lily potter - who to me represents a mother’s love - and two of my close friends, one named lily and the other whose middle name is liliana.

• alice

i love alice for her classic and literary roots, especially from alice in wonderland. i think she has a beautiful, beguiling, soft yet strong sound and i like the nicknames of allie or lissy.

• verity

verity has pretty much always been on my list. i love virtue names and how she isn’t as obviously a virtue name but still keeps the wonderful meaning “truth”. i also think she has a lovely, melodic sound.

• mia

mia is incredibly meaningful to me for a number of personal reasons but more than that, i love everything about her. i can easily understand just why she’s a top 10 name across the globe. the sound and the appeal for nearly everyone - feminine, short and sweet, modern and on-trend, streamlined, having roots in history - make her one of my very favourites. the meaning “mine” is so special as that’s exactly what my daughter would be, no matter what. taken as a diminutive of maria, the meaning “drop of the sea” reflects my love of the water while “beloved” would show my mia my endless love for her. i’ve written paragraphs and paragraphs about my love for mia and the meaning behind her in the past but i’ll leave it here for now.

• sophie

sophie is a huge personal gp of mine (i have a second cousin named sophie and a first cousin named sophia, among other reasons) but i simply adore her, especially with mia. she’s soft yet lively, international and feminine without being overly frilly. a sophie could be absolutely anybody and wear it stunningly. i also love the song sophie by the altogether.

• maeve

maeve is probably the name i’ve loved for the longest of any on my list. i love the dual irish mythology associations and the nicknames mae and maevie. i also think she has a gorgeous sound and is very aesthetically pleasing!

• rosanna

rosanna originated as a stretchy honour for my mum, who loves roses, and my friend named grace (from the meaning of anna) but i think she sounds really pretty too. i was also inspired by the toto song rosanna.

• ella

ella has been sparking joy for me recently and i love the meaning “fairy maiden”.

• marlene

marlene first came to my attention via marlene mckinnon in harry potter and even though she’s slightly stuffy i love her solid, vintage flair.