Grace, Elowen, or Lyla?

For me personally, Grace. Elowen sounds rather like a Lord of the Rings character, but that could be good, depending on the person ;-) Grace is very common right now, but I can't say I've ever met an Elowen.

ETA: Lyla is very pretty and elegant. My friend just had a baby girl this morning and named her Lilah Penelope. I think Lyla is just the person you described.

ETA2: Callahan sounds like a last name; Vandom sounds so random ;-)

I wouldn't use Elowen because it's too tied to LOTR. Grace is lovely. Lila would be lovely as well. Don't use Lyla because it will look trashy and uneducated.

Elowen sounds too much like Lord of the Rings. Grace sounds too much like an everyday girl (but it's a pretty name). Plus it sounds very feminine.

I'm going for Lyla in this case.

Elowen definitely sounds the most like a fantasy name, if it didn't sound like such a LOTR rip off, it would be great.

Grace. I've never heard of Elowen and am not sure that I would know how to pronounce it. It reminds me of Halloween, or a combination of Eleanor and Owen. It also strikes me as a gender-neutral name and it sounds like you're looking for a feminine name.

ETA: now that you've thrown in Lyla, that's my favorite among the three, but I actually prefer the traditional spelling, Lila. The "y" reminds me of the song "Layla" (not a bad thing), lye (not a good thing), and Lyle Lovett (shudder). But I can see the appeal of the less traditional spelling too. In either case, it's a very pretty name.

I vote Grace. I've never heard of Elowen to be honest so I don't know it's background. To be blunt, I think it sounds like an eccentric character in a novel. I think you can't go wrong with Grace--sounds classic, simple and elegant to me. Only issue might be it's become pretty common. I assume you are naming a child, but if you have another reason to be asking then I might change my vote, depending on the reason.

Lyla is my vote. Dislike Elownen and Grace is beautiful but not fitting for this description to me. I like Lyla Callahan better than Lyla Vandom. Don't care for Vandom.
EDIT:
I agree with Joy T and almost put that I like L. best of all. :-)

I vote Lyla Callahan.

Lyla or Grace.
Elowen is ok if no one ever has to say the name out loud.
But I just HATE it when story characters have unpronounceable names.
How can you discuss the book with anyone when you can't say who you're talking about?
Admittedly it's kind of strange coming from ME considering we have a branch of the family with an old Polish family name of Basczcynski (pronounced bah-shchEEn-ski).
But I just like nice simple names.
PLEASE!

I prefer Elowen - reminds me of Eowyn, one of my favorite female characters from Lord of the Rings.

Grace is an entirely too common name, in my opinion. I imagine a little toddler running around when I hear Grace, now. I see girls named Grace all over the place.

Elowen, is very Lord of The Rings -ish. That could work for fantasy, but it all depends on how reminiscent you want to be.

I love the name Lyla, but it makes me think of the character from the TV show "Friday Night Lights."

Of the 3, I like Elowen the best. I also like the names:

Amaya - meaning "night rain" in arabic
Kiara - meaning "dark" in Irish
Elina - meaning "noble, kind" in Slavic

Not a fan of Elowen sorry :) Grace is pretty but it's kind of common now. Lyla is beautiful. I picture a sweet, soft spoken, culy blond girl when I think of the name Lyla for some reason LOL My DD's middle name is Adele and I think that would go nicely with Lyla.
Lyla Adele :)
Lyla Adelyn

I picture who you describe as an Elowen for a fantasy novel. I imagine long dark, flowy hair, a little dark and troubled, determined and young.

lyla for sure.
:) khairete
S.

I don't think anyone will know how to pronounce Elowen. Of the three I like Lyla best. Also Syndey, Lexxi, or Arianna.

Good for you that you are writing a book! Sorry to say this but the three names you listed do not fit the description for me. I like Callahan as a last name. It is Irish so perhaps find an Irish girl's name. Please let us know what you decide!

Grace is very common and nice, but does not make me think of a "slightly intimidating" or "leader" girl.
Elowen is weird, reminds me of Halloween.
Lyla is nice, but sounds a bit fragile.

Actually I like L. more than all three.
;-)

I like either Elowen or Lyla. Grace is too common right now, and evokes more of a typical girl to me, not someone that would be particularly interesting.

Elowen says all of that to me. It *is* a bit Lord of the Rings like another poster said, but I kind of like that. I also like the fact that readers won't have to use the real pronunciation. They can somewhat customize what her name sounds like to them as they read because it's not a name that will conjure up images of other Graces or Lyla's they've known. Lyla goes well with Callahan, though.

I like Grace. I don't care much that it's more common than the others...crazy, uncommon, odd names in novels are cliche.

I also like the name Denise and think it has the right "sound" for the character.

How about Lillie? It's one of my favorite names.

I really like Grace as a name, but I imagine Grace to be a quiet, slender, delicate person, like a fairytale princess. For your novel I like Lyla. To me, Lyla would be the perfect name for the character you describe. I imagine Lyla fearless, smart, street smart but also nice and gentle. Kind of like a female, modern Robin Hood. Got nothing on Elowen, but don't like it particularly anyways.

For a fantasy novel? Elowen seems like the best choice.

I like this thread :)

Lyla...not so much. It reminds me of my dog Layla lol

Grace is so very common I picture a somewhat all American girl.

Love Elowen

Elowen

Grace and Lyla are nice names, I know many. Also many little girls named that at my kids' school.
A common but nice name.

I like Lyla the best. Grace is beautiful but so overdone! Elowen sounds like a character from The Hobbit - also overdone @ this point. I like Layla but my 1st thought when I read your description was Aster.

Lyla/Lila is my favorite, I also like Ellery, amara, Amelia, malia, Camden, Ellison, Harper, Hadley, Jillian, kinley, Lane, delaney, Madeline, Norah, Naomi, Olivia, Peyton, Quinn, taryn, Veronica.