Ok, folks, my due date is today, and we still haven’t pinned down a name. We think we’re down to just: [name]Glory[/name] and [name]Lena[/name] (which we will pronounce Leh-nuh/[name]Len[/name]-uh).
The middle name is a family name, Broadwell, and last name is Klebanoff.
So: [name]Glory[/name] Broadwell Klebanoff or [name]Lena[/name] Broadwell Klebanoff?
Other names we considered were [name]Nola[/name], [name]Fern[/name], [name]Wren[/name], [name]Stella[/name] ([name]LOVE[/name] but so popular) and [name]Dahlia[/name].
Hello! Well, out of all the names you suggested, I’d choose [name]Dahlia[/name]. [name]Glory[/name] is pretty, but doesn’t go well with the last name, and the [name]Lena[/name] spelling pronounced [name]Len[/name]-nah just messes it up for me. Maybe if you spelled it [name]Lynna[/name] I’d say I like that one the best. Otherwise I choose [name]Dahlia[/name]. It’s beautiful!
Thanks! [name]Dahlia[/name] is actually my husband’s choice, and I’ve always vetoed it because I didn’t want the first and last names to be 3 syllables, and I also worry about teasing of “diarrhea” (but maybe that’s crazy?).
I prefer [name]Lena[/name] Broadwell Klebanoff to [name]Glory[/name] Broadwell Klebanoff although I do think the pronunciaton of [name]Len[/name]-nah is not as pretty as [name]Lay[/name]-nah in my opinion. [name]Lena[/name] is usually a nn for [name]Magdalena[/name] or [name]Helena[/name] but it works well on its own too! It has an exotic European flair which I find appealing. Sadly, [name]Glory[/name] is not a virtue name that I can grow to like. It’s a grandiose name that would put unnecessary pressure on any girl. All the best!
[b]Ok, folks, my due date is today, and we still haven’t pinned down a name. We think we’re down to just: [name]Glory[/name] and [name]Lena[/name] (which we will pronounce [name]Len[/name]-nah).
The middle name is a family name, Broadwell, and last name is Klebanoff.
So: [name]Glory[/name] Broadwell Klebanoff or [name]Lena[/name] Broadwell Klebanoff?
Other names we considered were [name]Nola[/name], [name]Fern[/name], [name]Wren[/name], [name]Stella[/name] ([name]LOVE[/name] but so popular) and [name]Dahlia[/name].
Any thoughts???[/b]
I think your daughter will be in for a lifetime of correcting people if you insist on calling her [name]Len[/name] nah, most people would definitely say Lean ah.
I think (and sorry for being honest) that you would be giving your daughter a very hard name to live up to naming her [name]Glory[/name] and I can just imagine the teasing.
I think that [name]Stella[/name] would be the perfect name with your surname, [name]Stella[/name] Klebanoff. I have never run into a [name]Stella[/name], and so I don’t think it is popular at all. By far and away this has to be the best choice, it sounds great in combo and gives you great naming scope for future siblings.
If you went with [name]Glory[/name] with No 1 you couldn’t follow that up with say [name]Clare[/name] but if you went with [name]Epiphany[/name] or something else over the top the poor kid has a handicap for a name.
Your heart is saying [name]Stella[/name] please listen to it.
In the daycare we’re going to use, they have 2 infants named [name]Stella[/name]. Sigh. That totally floored me, and it just seems like that name is blowing up where we live right now (and everywhere else).
I thought [name]Glory[/name] was kind of a cool, under the radar, hip name, but maybe my radar is off on that.
I think both [name]Glory[/name] and [name]Lena[/name] are fresh, pretty choices that would stand out from the crowd.
I was going to say I like [name]Lena[/name] a bit more, but I’m not crazy about the way you’re pronouncing it. In fact, I’ve never heard of the ‘[name]Lenna[/name]’ pronunciation, and honestly I think that would cause a lot of confusion. When I see [name]Lena[/name], I definitely pronounce it [name]LEE[/name]-nah, which I think is much prettier. I also like [name]LAY[/name]-nah and could see that working, but not [name]LEN[/name]-nah.
From all your choices, I love [name]Lena[/name] (pron. [name]LEE[/name]-nah or maybe [name]LAY[/name]-nah), then [name]Dahlia[/name], then [name]Glory[/name]. Good luck to you!
Leh-nuh/[name]Len[/name]-uh is the most common pronunciation in Europe (where this name is apparently super-popular), and the pronunciation my husband loves. It’s really grown on me, too, and once people know how to pronounce it, I think it will be fine. We toyed with spelling it [name]Lenna[/name], but I think the name loses its charm. The hard part is getting a cool name to work with his crazy last name!!
[name]Lena[/name] is much better than [name]Glory[/name], any pronunciation. I think people can learn to say it right. I also think the lay-na pronunciation is a) pretty and b) not that far off from European Leh-na. I’ve known some European Lenas, and the vowel sound is usually between English eh and English ay. If that helps the ay sound to grow on you.
I like [name]Glory[/name] in theory. But I do think it sets a really high bar and also sets her up for teasing.
What about [name]Laura[/name] nn [name]Laurie[/name] or nn [name]Glory[/name]? It’s a classic, fits with your last name, has the L from [name]Lena[/name], and alludes to [name]Glory[/name] while giving her more flexibility.
Granted I know it’s a common name so you’ve probably considered it, but just thought I’d offer some thoughts on it that possibly didn’t occur.
[name]Dahlia[/name] is a beautiful name and one of those syllables is so weak it’s almost a two syllable name, like a 2.5 syllable name. But if it sounds like that to you, I wouldn’t use it. I’ve never thought that. [name]Talia[/name]? [name]Natalia[/name]? [name]Natalia[/name] with your last name has some real Slavic oomph, which I love, but understand if you don’t.
I am just wondering how popular is too popular for you? I have checked the SSA popular baby names and this is the result.
In 2002 [name]Stella[/name] was #499 in 2009 [name]Stella[/name] is #126
In 2009 [name]Lena[/name] was #418
Therefore I feel that [name]Lena[/name] and [name]Stella[/name] may be in the same kind of popularity curve, ie maybe in 7 years [name]Lena[/name] may have reached #126?
However, if you go with [name]Glory[/name] it hasn’t reached the top 1000 names.
If you go with [name]Nola[/name] it reached #946 in 2009
I think [name]Stella[/name] is the best choice, followed by [name]Lena[/name] but I would prefer to see [name]Helena[/name] or [name]Alanna[/name] or [name]Elena[/name] or [name]Elaina[/name].
[name]Nola[/name] not pretty, [name]Glory[/name] I don’t like this one at all!
[name]Hope[/name] you will reconsider [name]Stella[/name].
Based on all the input, I think [name]Glory[/name] is out the window. Thanks, berries–it’s good to get feedback ahead of time.
I may try to reconsider [name]Dahlia[/name]. For some reason, it never occurred to me that it is actually more of a 2.5 syllable name. I originally wanted a nature name ([name]Fern[/name] or [name]Wren[/name]), so [name]Dahlia[/name] is actually a nice compromise. I really wish [name]Lena[/name] didn’t come with such pronunciation issues–that’s been my only issue with it from the beginning.
@rollo. Your point is well taken, and I agree that [name]Stella[/name] works REALLY well with the last name (as does [name]Ida[/name], which is our cat’s name unfortunately). #126 isn’t too popular for me, but I worry about the future of that name. Ironically, lurking on nameberry actually killed the name for me even more as it seems so many people are using it or, at least, considering it. And between the two babies I met at the daycare, [name]Matt[/name] [name]Damon[/name] naming his baby [name]Stella[/name] (something I would have never known but for nameberry), the character on “[name]How[/name] I Met Your Mother” being named [name]Stella[/name], I think the name is just going to skyrocket even more within the next year. Part of me thinks I should just go with it because I liked it so much before I really started looking into baby names, but that name just makes me nervous…
I don’t know if it helps you as you consider [name]Stella[/name], but I grew up a [name]Jessica[/name] in the 1980s. I like my name a lot. In my life, I’ve been in a class with another [name]Jessica[/name] twice (once in elementary school, once in graduate school!). I went through two phases of not liking my name: once as a very small child (when I wanted to be [name]Jennifer[/name] :D!). Once as a teenager, when I felt it “didn’t fit me” – not because it was so overly common, mind you (in a high school of 1800, I knew of, at most, 10 others, none in classes with me), but because I was a teenager and most things felt that way. Now, I get a kick out of, not annoyed, at meeting other Jessicas around my age, and appreciate its Shakespearean and Biblical roots (Iscah). I was recently touched when I learned that my [name]MIL[/name] had planned to name my husband [name]Jessica[/name] if he had been a girl (we were born around the same time), which no doubt owed to the popularity (and no, he’s not [name]Jason[/name] : D).
So a name being popular or trendy is not all doom and gloom, especially if it has enough history and meaning to give it some gravity (which [name]Stella[/name] certainly does). That said, I’m sure there are plenty of Jessicas out there who wish they had something more unusual (I am happy to have an unusual name in the middle, at least for the 1980s, although now it’s getting to be popular!). And should I be lucky enough to become a parent, I’ll probably stay away from the #1 names just because I love this name stuff.
But I would certainly consider [name]Stella[/name] : D.
At the end of the day the golden rule is to love the name you have chosen, so that no matter what whether that be popularity or unpopularity (with friends, family etc) that it doesn’t deter you from using it as long as it is a lovely name and not the fad of the moment.
I have been a long time [name]Fern[/name] fan, it was a name picked out when my first was born but I had a son named [name]Miles[/name] instead.
If we were to include [name]Fern[/name] in the mix we could have the combos of
[name]Lydia[/name] [name]Fern[/name] or [name]Fern[/name] [name]Amelia[/name].
PS nameberry loves names that aren’t on the radar of many parents so I think that [name]Stella[/name] being popular here is a good thing. I am not so sure about the other connections though.