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Help[Opinions] Annabel
I'm back on Annabel. I'm listening to an audiobook with an Annabel character and hearing it said aloud, I'm reminded of how beautiful I think it is. But then, I think it will be extremely dated quite soon. And I think it's princessy in a way I don't like. But it's so pretty!
What do you think of Annabel?
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What do you think of Annabel?
This message was edited 8/25/2018, 6:18 PM
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I like it a lot. It used to be a favorite, then it started sounding too prissy to me, but a coworker has the most adorable little girl named Annabel who is feminine, but heading more towards gender neutral, so she's made me like it again.
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Annabelle is more princessy in look than Annabel, though that's just written out. They're the same when said aloud. And I don't like either spelling for the same reason I can't warm up to Caroline, even though by all accounts I'm supposed to like those names. But they come across to me as very princessy and snobbish.
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Lol, my name is Caroline. I've never thought of it as princessy. I've always thought it was almost austere. *shrug*
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Well, first off, the spelling bothers me. It looks incomplete, and I prefer Annabelle. Which is odd because though I don't really like Isabel, I do prefer that spelling over Isabelle.
I do like Annabelle better than Isabel, but I wouldn't say I really LIKED it liked it, as in, put on my list of names I like. It's princessy but also kind of frumpy in the way belle names are. I picture an Annabelle as a big, beautifully crafted porcelain doll, big as a real baby, dressed in gorgeous handmade historical clothes and with every detail exactly right, but too expensive and fragile to play with. And then I also picture her as a poor Okie headed to California in 1932 crammed in the back of a beat-up car with all her brothers and sisters, and she's acknowledged as the prettiest and smartest of her family, but she also acknowledges it and thinks she's too good to pick grapes and string beans along with everybody else, and throws a fit when she can't have a brand-new skirt and sweater set or something.
I do like Annabelle better than Isabel, but I wouldn't say I really LIKED it liked it, as in, put on my list of names I like. It's princessy but also kind of frumpy in the way belle names are. I picture an Annabelle as a big, beautifully crafted porcelain doll, big as a real baby, dressed in gorgeous handmade historical clothes and with every detail exactly right, but too expensive and fragile to play with. And then I also picture her as a poor Okie headed to California in 1932 crammed in the back of a beat-up car with all her brothers and sisters, and she's acknowledged as the prettiest and smartest of her family, but she also acknowledges it and thinks she's too good to pick grapes and string beans along with everybody else, and throws a fit when she can't have a brand-new skirt and sweater set or something.
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I'm also conflicted. It is beautiful, and therefore risky - a plain, podgy and unpleasant Annabel would be such a horrible let-down. But the etymology is such fun! I think I would prefer Anne anyway, regardless of personal reasons, and I'm warming up to Anna because of a friend's remarkable daughter, but Annabel would be a mn if at all.
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