Brontë or Emmeline?

[nobutterflies.livejournal.com]

 Hi there! I am expecting a baby (sex unknown) in 5 weeks, and my husband and I are having a hard time agreeing on any girl names. I don't want to go with too 'classic' names--the reason being that my parents probably thought mine was classic, but I often get, "Ooh you have a pretty name; that's my mother's name!" from people who are sometimes decades older than me! :/ Nor do I like the trendy names that are popular these days, such as boy names for girls and 'creatively' spelled names.

Here are the only names that we even come close to agreeing on:

• Brontë
• Emmeline

Do you like one, both, or neither?

Edit: Thanks for all of the replies thus far. I'm probably more undecided than ever. :) I'm also rather surprised that Emmeline is popular...I don't even know any! I just read it in a Thomas Hardy book and thought it nice. I should probably get my nose out of old books to think of more names.

Edit #2: Is Brontë really that obvious? I think I assumed that most people would not get the reference. Maybe it's because I don't many readers--it's not that I think people are ignorant. Also, I like/love all the Brontë sisters, and it seems kind of romantic to have a name that refers to all of them. It's not vanity...I don't care what people think about me (i.e., via my kids' names), if that makes sense... I wouldn't choose just some random literary name--there has to be a reason for it.

Comments

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

I like Emmeline... And I like Bronte, but I don't think it would be a good first name for either sex. I see a lot of Brontosaurus jokes in their future.

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

You might want to try the Name Voyager (http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager) to see the staying power of each name. Some that have had consistent usage over the years:
Catherine
Ann/Anna/Anne
Isabelle/Isabella (yes, they are popular right now, but they have been consistently present for a long time)
Victoria
Michelle

[nobutterflies.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That is a cool tool. I'll be using it a lot over the next few weeks.

[lindiohead.livejournal.com]

I've seen it a lot with the indie crowd.

[lower-class.livejournal.com]

I don't like either of them for a little girl.

I named my daughter Gabrielle. It's not too trendy nor is it too "out there".

[laminy.livejournal.com]

I don't like either, really, but there is something about Brontë that's a little different, a little cooler.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Emmeline is really nice. My only concern is that it sounds so much like 'Emily'.

I've never liked Bronte, to be honest, I've always found it to be very pretentious. It's my cousin's name, and she's nine or ten years old, but it still hasn't grown on me. It just seems like, "Look how literary we are!" Plus, it's just not a nice-sounding name. I would go with Emmeline.

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

IAWTC

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

Emmeline is okay but trendy. Bronte is awful. It's a last name and should remain as such. If you want to name your daughter after the writers, name her Charlotte or Emily or both, not this.

[nothingtolose19.livejournal.com]

First of all, congratulations about your baby!! :)

Secondly, I really like the name Emmeline! Brontë, I'm not so fond of. I don't really like how it sounds.

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

Brontë is interesting, but I can see it more as a middle name. I think Emmeline is lovely.

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

I think Emmeline is really cute. I haven't noticed the supposed trendiness, but then again, I'm not living in the US.

I don't like the sound of Bronte...plus it sounds alittle...I don't know. A little pretentious, I guess.

[singhappy02.livejournal.com]

I think Emmeline is really cute. A friend of mine just named her little girl Emmalynn and she's probably the cutest baby ever so I may be a touch biased.

[lovetokate.livejournal.com]

I'm okay on Emmeline but absolutely HATE Bronte. Sorry. :(

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of Emmeline ... I think there was a character I didn't like named this in a movie or TV show or something when I was a kid.

I do kind of like Bronte, although it sounds more like a middle name to me. The one thing I would be concerned about with this name is pronunciation ... about half the people I know pronounce it BRON-tee, and the other half BRON-tay. I guess it just depends on how much it would bother you if half the people said her name differently than you do.

[broadwaybabe11.livejournal.com]

I love both of them, and I knew a girl named Bronte.

[nobutterflies.livejournal.com]

Actually, no, that was *not* part of my high school curriculum.

I'm beginning to wonder if the surprising comments (surprising to me, that is) re: the obviousness of Bronte and the trendiness of Emmeline have to do with geography. I'm in Canada and I have never known or heard of anyone IRL with either name!

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're just not hanging out with enough babies.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

No, I'm also in Canada. My cousin's name is Bronte, and most people here know who the Brontes are.

Also, Emmeline itself really isn't that trendy, it's just the beginning ('Em') that is, so Emmeline will probably rise in popularity. But as far as I know, it's not even in the top 1000 yet.

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

I didn't even have to read Jane Eyre in high school but of course I know who the Brontes were. Everyone does.

[blue-suspenders.livejournal.com]

I prefer Emmeline.

[azelmaroark.livejournal.com]

Bronte: Not a fan. I think you could be a little more subtle if you want the literary reference, like those above suggested.
Emmeline: I prefer Emmaline, but it's nice.

Suggestions from Nymbler:

Beatrice
Estelle
Alice
Lucy
Matilda
Charlene
Julianne
Colette

Emerson
Percy
Emmett
Bruce
Blaise
Adrian

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

As to your edit, um, yes, Bronte really is that obvious. The Bronte sisters are among the most famous authors out there. Some people won't get the reference, but most people would. Emily, Charlotte, or Anne would be a lot more subtle, but Bronte is pretty in-your-face. It's like naming a boy 'Tolkien'.

[nobutterflies.livejournal.com]

It's like naming a boy 'Tolkien'.

Ugh, when you put it that way...I think I see what you mean.

[echomyst.livejournal.com]

...

I grew up in Canada and I can assure you that most people would catch the Brontë reference. I like the name though.

[sageharper.livejournal.com]

I love Bronte.
Actually did know a little girl called that, and she seemed to wear it well and get positive responses.
You probably would get a skewed perspective here because we're nerd; but I can't see the literary thing being problematic IRL. But then Harper is on my list too so I'm down with that either way.

Emmeline is nice, but so similiar to a lot of trendy names (Emma, Emiliy, Madeline, etc) that it gets a bit lost in the crowd.

[murderprotocol.livejournal.com]

I love Bronte. I knew it as a name before I was aware of the Bronte sisters (I'm not a fan of classics, nor were they in my HS curriculum), so I never immediately reference them when I hear it - and even if I did think of them, I wouldn't automatically assume that that was where you got the name from. Emmeline is nice, but it's not really my thing.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

Several Bronte books are required reading in public high schools in my area, so even the kids who didn't read the books would at least know the authors' name; I think Bronte would, therefore, be a terrible choice for a first name and I also think it's an unattractive name.

Emmeline is lovely.