help. I can't pick between my top two names
I love matilda and Penelope. The thing I don't like about matilda is the nick name Mattie. What I don't like about Penelope is how popular it has become. Name popularity really tends to scare me off.
Here are my options
Penelope Matilda
Matilda Eloise
Matilda felicity
Matilda Penelope
Matilda phoebe
matilda violet
By rockabell.2009
Wed, 02/24/2016 - 1:27pm
Wed, 02/24/2016 - 1:27pm
Replies
I am having an extremel difficult time choosing
How popular is Penelope, really? Honestly, the popularity of Maddie seems much greater than Penelope. Of course, if you insist on no nicknames, people will respect your wishes (at least, until your daughter is a teenager and decides she WANTS to be called Mattie, but I doubt that will happen). I would go with the name that you LIKE the best and not worry about nicknames or popularity.
Penelope is number 43 so it's pretty popular in my eyes. i have no intention of ever calling her Mattie if we name her Matilda maybe Millie or Tilly occasionally but never Mattie and I'll correct people up until she's in school but at that point it's sort of out of my hands
If Mattie is holding you back, how do you feel about Tillie or Tildie?
We plan on not really calling her a nick name. I'm not a big nick name person but mainly I worry about others taking the liberty of calling her Mattie. I hate the name Mattie it reminds me of Maddy which makes me think Madison or madeline. Mattie just seems safe and too common.
If I had to pick a nick name for her I would probably go with Millie, Tilda or tilly. I don't have any issues with those nick names. Even mimi could be cute
Even if you don't use nicknames at home, if you have a couple of friends or relatives who are big nicknamey people, you can get them to call her the nickname of your choice so she gets used to answering to that name. That's still no guarantee that her friends won't later call her Mat (in my experience, first syllable nicknames have been by far the most common among the high school - and beyond - friends), but it does make it more likely that she'd tell people that, actually, she goes by Tillie, or whatever you choose.
The emphasis in Matilda is on the -til-, so Mattie is actually counterintuitive as a nickname for it. My best friend had a cat named Matilda; many people (mis)heard her name as Tilda. Nobody ever used Matty, even though it would've been entirely appropriate at certain times of year. :-)
Don't let the rankings scare you off Penelope: 5062 babies in the entire US over the course of a year isn't really all that many. For comparison, in 1985, there were 5243 babies named Jacqueline in the U.S., and 4982 named Monica. Do you know scads of Jacquelines and Monicas? I certainly don't. (Zero on one, and vague recollection of a childhood acquaintance for the other.) Penelope itself was a factor of 100 less popular in the 1980s than it is now, but the only Penelope I know is thirty-something.
I try not to dwell on the popularity but I had a popular name and I hate it. Matilda in the us is in the 600's and Penelope is 43 so it really makes me lean towards Matilda. But sound alone I would possibly lean towards Penelope I also like the nick names for Penelope a bit more than the ones for Matilda.
hopefu you're right about Mattie not being intuitive I think Tilly makes more sense. Millie is maybe a bit of a stretch but I do like millie as a Nick name for Matilda
I think Millie is perfectly easy to get to from Matilda. The Matilde (pronounced Ma-til-dee) I know goes by Tilde, and I know a few British Tillys who may or may not be Matildas.
I think it's a lovely name, and if you crack down on Mattie when you hear it, you should be able to avoid it.
Mattie is not an intuitive nickname for Matilda at all, so I wouldn't worry about that.
Another consideration about Penelope's popularity is that it has several nicknames, and many birth certificate Penelope's aren't using the full name at all. I know two Penelope's; one is exclusively Nell and the other is Penny. We are using Penelope on the birth certificate for our upcoming daughter, but she'll be called exclusively Pippa. So your daughter may well be the only Penelope she knows who uses the full name.
One good think in my state is that its number 98 here so it's not as common as it is nationally
I was really attracted to the name with my second pregnancy which was five years ago. I had never met a Penelope and loved that it was quirky and uncommon but with each pregnancy since then I've watched it rise and it's bugged me. I worry it'll get even more popular and it's already number 42 :/ plus now I think some people are connecting it's rise to kiurtney kardashian naming her daughter that and I hate the kartrashians
If Penelope is your favorite, I say go for it! A popular name isn't what is used to be. Penelope is currently ranked #42, meaning it was given to only a bit more than 5,000 in the U.S. last year.
If the only thing holding you back from using Matilda is the nickname Mattie, just don't use Mattie! Most of the kids I know don't use any nickname. I'd be surprised if people defaulted to Mattie if you don't already use it. You could also have another nickname at the stand by. Tilda or Tillie are both super-cute.