(My mother-in-law is in town this week, but the babies don’t wait and the questions are coming in faster than I can answer them, so I’ll post some for anyone interested to work on.)
Isla writes:
I’m due 10/6, and we still haven’t found a name for our newest addition.
My husband and I have two kids already. Our oldest is his son from his previous marriage (but I’ve legally adopted him) and his full name is Geovanni Domenico – though he is always, always Geo. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call him Geovanni in the seven years I’ve known him. Our younger son is Owen Phinneas.
We are now expecting our first girl. I really want her name to fit in with Geo and Owen’s, but I feel like their names are too different and we’re having a hard time finding an in between point. Geo’s name was picked by my husband’s late wife, who was 100% Italian – my husband and I are not Italian whatsoever, but I don’t want Geo to feel left out if we give our little girl a name that sounds great with Owen’s name, but not with his.
Names at the top of our list right now (but not necessarily a fix to the problem I mentioned) include Eloise, Beatrice, Clare, Eliza, Danika, Rosalie (with ‘lie’ pronounced ‘lie,’ like not telling the truth), Safia, and Violet.
We also like names like Flannery, Hadley, Bliss, and Willow that don’t go with either of our sons names at all!
One last thing – for the past week or so I’ve been really loving the nickname Leni. I love the sound of it, and I like how it sounds with Geo and Owen. This may be our top contendor, along with Eloise and Flannery. But the only full names we can come up with for it are Helene and Elena, and we don’t like either. So if you could help me with some other possible full names for Leni, that would be great.
And any other names that you think might go well with our sons.. I don’t feel like we’ve found the perfect name yet (although I think we’re close) so maybe it will be one of your suggestions!
And finally, for middle names, we’re not looking to honor anyone, really, so whatever sounds good, because we don’t have any ideas in terms of that. But probably not any of the names I mentioned earlier, because we may want to use them for a future daughter.
Oh, Leni is so cute. I wonder about using a name like Marilena (which I am, perhaps incorrectly, pronouncing mare-ih-LAY-nah) and then using Leni as a nickname? Or Adelaina (add-eh-LAY-nah), which gives you not only Leni but Addy? Maddalena, which gives you not only Leni but Maddie?
Name update 10-17-2009! Isla writes:
Hi Swistle, thanks so much for all your readers suggestions. Our daughter was born on October 7th and her name is Rosalena Violet, called Leni, obviously (pronounced “Len-nee”). We’re really happy with the name .. we feel it fits in well with Geo and Owen – it has that long “o” which some of the comments pointed out, and it was a nice alternative to Rosalie. Thanks to mayberry for suggesting it to us!
I think Isabella would go with the other 2 boy’s names, but I realize it is pretty popular right now and…well, you know. As far as Leni (which is beautiful by the way, I think it is also short for Helene, Helena, Leonora, or Leonore. Hope this helps, and congratulations! Baby girls, SQUEE!
Or what about Magdalena? I knew a girl whose name was pronounced Mah-gda-layna, and she went by Mahgda (Magda) (although Leni works well for this too!)
I like how Willow has a “O” sound that blends well with Geo and Owen. So although it doesn’t “go” it does work auditorily. :)
I love the suggestion on Helena (pr. HEL-eh-na). One of my favorites that I cannot use. sigh. Other than that, what about Eleanor or Eleanora. Both are lovely, have a classic feel like your other children’s names, and give you the nickname you love :)
I love the name Flannery, (but my husband didn’t) so I like it when other people use it!
How about Melena (Malena?) – I think it sounds nice with both boy’s names. And you could still use Leni.
I really think you can use Leni for anything that has an “L” and an “N” in it…It’s a nickname, you get to make the rules :)
Eileen ?
Evelyn? (Evie too!)
it’s maybe a little more common, but probably depends on where you live — Maria ?
I automatically thought of Eleni if you like the nn Leni. There’s a fanciful bakery called Eleni’s here in New York. I also picked up on the common O sound your sons’ names have – Violet, Eloise, Rosalie all have it as well. To give more of a match I love the name Viola.
Why not just Leni by itself? I believe it is Heidi Klum’s daughter’s name, and she is just Leni. I think it’s adorable.
How are you pronouncing Leni? When I first saw it, I read it like “Lenny,” but now that I read all the name suggestions, I see that it must be like “Laney.” Maybe I’m the only one who read it like that, but I think others might make the same mistake – so, if you’re worried about having to correct people on pronunciation all the time, you might consider a different spelling of Leni. Laney? Lainey? Lanie?
How about Rosalena, since you like Rosalie?
I also agree with the previous poster about Willow. Very pretty and I could see it with your boys’ names.
Heidi Klum’s daughter’s name is Helene, but does seem to go strictly by Leni, which I do agree is an adorable nn. I just can’t come up with a full name that I think would suit your tastes. The name Lenora could be shortened to Leni, Leona could be used too with the extra bonus that it has that long “O” sound like Geo & Owen. I like the idea of using that long “O” sound, like the name Chloe, or Eloise (on your list!) with an Italian-American sounding middle name like Marie (???) For some reason I want to suggest the name Lorelei, it’s a nice name that seems to go with both boy’s names. Eleni, Linae, Elinor, just to throw a couple more out there because I do love the nn Leni. I’m sure my rambling didn’t help you at all!! GOOD LUCK!
Okay, now I’m curious. How are you pronouncing Leni? I was pronouncing it “Lenny” but now after some of the comments, I’m wondering if that is right?
I think it’s “Lee-nee” with two long “e”s.
I am sure you know about Leni Riefenstahl, but it always has to be mentioned with the name. (I’m pronouncing it Lenny, too, for the record.)
Since all the Old Hollywood names are coming back (Ava, Sophia), what about Marlena (as in Dietrich)? She has a really interesting history as well, and was an inventor in addition to an actress.
Or, Gemma is another possibility. It used to be used predominantly by Italian-American families, but has been rising in popularity in general. Nameberry.com predicted it would be the new Emma.
Leni (pronounced “leh-nee”—there’s no other way to say it!)
I agree with whomeever said Eleni, if you dont like Helene or Elena. Helene is the old greek form, Elena is more the slavic/italian/spanish form, and Eleni is the common Greek form today; already a shortened form of “Helene,” Eleni is the common nickname one would hear Greek women named “Helene” go by. It would be a short and simple way to get to use “Leni” as a nickname to just use “Eleni” as your name!
I love love LOVE Adelaina. So sweet. And you could spell it Adelena, too, to go more with the Leni nickname if you wanted. Plus, I think it’s close enough to some of the common, popular names that it goes with Owen, and it’s got the European feel to go with Geovanni.
I’ve been pronouncing it “LAY-nee.” I have no back-up for this pronunciation—it’s just the way I think it’s pronounced, I suppose based on alternate spellings such as Lainey and Laney (and on not seeing any alternate spellings such as Leenie or Lennie).
Thanks for all the suggestions.. she’s being a bit reluctant to be born, haha, so keep them coming.
And we’re pronouncing it like “Lenny” …the variations of Lainey had never even crossed our minds.
I like Marlena, and then Leni (“Lenny”) as a nn. Or, in a different direction, have you considered Carolina or Antonia? Both classic and beautfiul, and sound good with Owen and Gio. You could even do Leni with Carolina, although it’s a bit of a stretch as Lena would be the natural nn. We know people who wanted Lanie (“Lay-nee”) as the nn, so they just sort of made up their own formal name: Lansha. So be creative! Hope she arrives soon!
I like Swistle’s suggestion of Marilena, but I’d pronounce it Mahr-i-lay-na. It sounds Italian enough to fit with Geo, but gives you the nn Leni. I’m also drawn to Carolyn’s suggestion of Magdalena.
I actually think the whole list that starts Eloise, Beatrice, Clare etc. goes pretty well with both boys’ names. I’m having trouble picking a favorite, but since Eloise is high on your list, I might advocate for that one.
Eleanor or Elaine for Leni? Leilani perhaps?
I don’t care for Leni “Lenny” as a nn (no offense) so I am going to focus on some of your other choices, because I think those would work well with both your boys. I really like Eliza, Clare (though I prefer Clara), and Eloise, and I like the suggestion of Viola for Violet. I’d also suggest:
Vanessa
Fiona
Bianca
Victoria
Olivia
Carina
All of which are latinate (or are Italian) and I think also go well with Owen.
I’m really loving Marlena and Magdalena as girl names with the nn Leni (I also love Magda as a middle name and I know an adorable little girl with this name/nn combination).
So you ARE pronouncing it Lenny! Well, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the spelling “Leni” has sparked a lot of confusion among the readers – maybe you’re totally fine with that, but if not, maybe you should consider an alternate spelling. Lenny? Lennie? Lenni? Lenney? Lennee? The double n is what makes all the difference.
Now, thinking of some of the names that have been mentioned…I don’t see how a lot of them would get the nickname Leni (pron. Lenny). For example, one of the names you mentioned was Elena, and as far as I know, this is pronounced “eh-LAY-nuh,” which would lend itself to the nickname Laney. The other name you mentioned, Helene, I’ve heard pronounced either “heh-LEEN” or “heh-LANE,” which would lend itself to the nicknames Leeney(?) or Laney.
Swistle was under the impression that the nickname would be pronounced like Laney, too, so all her name suggestions also lead to Laney. The same goes for many of the reader suggestions above.
If you want Lenny, how about…Helen? Ellen? Lenora/Lenore? Kaylen? Jaylen? Melanie?
Wow, I must be delirious. Leni was definitely not born today – she was born on the 7th. I just needed to correct that; sorry
Fixed it!
Oh WOW, it’s such a thrill to see that you liked my suggestion, Isla! Congratulations on a beautiful name and a beautiful girl!
(By the way … I have an Owen too :)