Baby girl due in August - Alaina/Alayna? Help!

Girl Names
1

I’m due with our second girl in [name]August[/name] and I’m desperately trying to decide on a couple names.

I really love the name [name]Alaina[/name]/[name]Alayna[/name]/[name]Elena[/name]/[name]Elaina[/name]/any other spelling will be considered as well (husband is not sold on any variation of the name). Does it sound too old fashioned? What is your impression of the name and would it be mispronounced a lot? Also, which spelling looks better:

  1. [name]Alaina[/name]
  2. [name]Alayna[/name]
  3. Alainah
  4. Alaynah
  5. [name]Elena[/name]
  6. [name]Elayna[/name]
  7. [name]Elaina[/name]
  8. Elaynah
  9. Elainah
  10. Any other spelling recommended.

I also love the nickname [name]Aly[/name]/[name]Ali[/name]/[name]Allie[/name] which also makes me lean towards [name]Alaina[/name]/[name]Alayna[/name]/etc.

I also like and am considering the following names:

  1. [name]Norah[/name]
  2. [name]Irina[/name]
  3. [name]Karina[/name]
  4. [name]Alisha[/name]/[name]Aleisha[/name]
  5. [name]Olivia[/name]
  6. [name]Sophia[/name]/[name]Sophie[/name]
  7. [name]Amira[/name]
  8. [name]Elyssa[/name]
  9. [name]Milena[/name]/[name]Melina[/name]
  10. Leyah
  11. [name]Lilah[/name]
  12. [name]Alissa[/name]
  13. [name]Angelika[/name]
  14. [name]Callie[/name]
  15. [name]Elyse[/name]
  16. [name]Linnea[/name]
  17. [name]Vanessa[/name]
  18. [name]Gisele[/name]
  19. [name]Janelle[/name]
  20. [name]Milana[/name]
  21. [name]Malia[/name]

Help!!! Please!! I’m so indecisive and my husband believes the name will just come to him (after I’ve run a couple thousand names by him). If you have any other suggestions I am happy and thankful to hear them all.

Thanks!!!

2

First of all, congrats on your baby! Secondly, I absolutely adore your first daughter’s name [name]Gianna[/name]. It is definitely my favorite of the trendy -ianna names.
As for the spelling, I would chose either [name]Alaina[/name] or [name]Elena[/name]. I agree with your husband that no weird spelling variations should be used. However, I would like to add that while [name]Alaina[/name] and [name]Elena[/name] are both legit spellings, they are different names. [name]Alaina[/name] is the female form of [name]Alain[/name], while [name]Elena[/name] is a Spanish form of [name]Ellen[/name], which in turn is a English form of [name]Helen[/name]. Their pronunciations are different too. [name]Alaina[/name] is more like uh-[name]LAY[/name]-nuh, while [name]Elena[/name] is more like eh-[name]LAY[/name]-nuh. It’s a subtle difference, but when you say it out loud it’s completely a different feel. Also, I don’t think its old fashioned at all. In fact, [name]Alaina[/name]/[name]Elena[/name] are both very fashionable names right now.
If you like [name]Allie[/name] as a nickname, I recommend [name]Alaina[/name] as the spelling but keep in mind that [name]Ellie[/name] is also a nickname you could use for [name]Elena[/name]. [name]Leni[/name] is also a cute nickname.
I think [name]Alaina[/name] [name]Lynn[/name] or [name]Elena[/name] [name]Lynn[/name] wouldn’t flow very well because the -len- part in [name]Alaina[/name] and [name]Elena[/name] is too close to [name]Lynn[/name]. Also, the name is just a bit too heavy on the L sound in general.

Other middle name suggestions: (I will use [name]Alaina[/name] as a default first name for these suggestions.)

[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Wren[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Bryn[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Rose[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Blythe[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] Mirai (mi-[name]RYE[/name])
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Celeste[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Juin[/name] (joo-[name]ANN[/name])
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Grace[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Vivienne[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Dove[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Claire[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Blair[/name]
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Zoe[/name] (zo-WEE, not just zo.)
[name]Alaina[/name] [name]Michelle[/name]
[name]Alaine[/name] [name]Selene[/name]

Out of the other choices you like, I also love:

[name]Norah[/name]
[name]Irina[/name]
[name]Karina[/name]
[name]Sophia[/name] (but not [name]Sophie[/name] as a full name.)
[name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Lila[/name] (without an H unless you are using it as a nickname for [name]Delilah[/name])
[name]Elise[/name] (spelled the original way, not as [name]Elyse[/name])
[name]Linnea[/name]
[name]Gisele[/name]

Other names you might like:

[name]Callista[/name]
[name]Emilia[/name]
[name]Amelia[/name] (different than [name]Emilia[/name])
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Carissa[/name]
[name]Alana[/name] (uh-[name]LAW[/name]-nuh)
[name]Rosanna[/name]
[name]Serena[/name]
[name]Celina[/name]

[name]Hope[/name] I’ve helped,

[name]Tara[/name] :slight_smile:

3

I love the name [name]Elaina[/name]. It is exotic, yet familiar, a lot like [name]Gianna[/name]. I prefer the spelling [name]Elaina[/name] as it is the most strait foward imo. [name]Elena[/name] can be pronounce Eh-len-uh as well as Eh-layn-uh. If you want to spell it with an A I would go with [name]Alaina[/name].

I also like and am considering the following names:

  1. [name]Norah[/name]- Cute but kinda plain next to [name]Gianna[/name].
  2. [name]Irina[/name]- [name]Lovely[/name], and goes great with [name]Gianna[/name].
  3. [name]Karina[/name]- [name]Love[/name] this too.
  4. [name]Alisha[/name]/[name]Aleisha[/name]- Eh, I dont like this at all. It just doesnt sound pleasent.
  5. [name]Olivia[/name]- Cute but so popular.
  6. [name]Sophia[/name]/[name]Sophie[/name]- same as above
  7. [name]Amira[/name]- Beautiful. I think this would go great with [name]Gianna[/name].
  8. [name]Elyssa[/name]- Very 80s
  9. [name]Milena[/name]/[name]Melina[/name]- [name]Melina[/name] is nice.
  10. Leyah- Like princess [name]Leia[/name] from star wars? I think that would be a hard name for a kid to grow up with personally. What about [name]Layla[/name]?
  11. [name]Lilah[/name]- [name]Love[/name], but prefer it spelt [name]Lila[/name].
  12. [name]Alissa[/name]- again, 80s
  13. [name]Angelika[/name]- [name]Kinda[/name] harsh imo
  14. [name]Callie[/name]- cute, but too nick namey
  15. [name]Elyse[/name]- Sweet, makes a nice mn too
  16. [name]Linnea[/name]- Nice
  17. [name]Vanessa[/name]- eh dont love it
  18. [name]Gisele[/name]- Beautiful. do you like having two Gs?
  19. [name]Janelle[/name]- again, 80s
  20. [name]Milana[/name]- Is this prn like Mi-layn-uh or some other way?
  21. [name]Malia[/name]-cute

I like [name]Irina[/name], [name]Karina[/name], and [name]Amira[/name] with [name]Gianna[/name].

4

Thanks for the input!!! So helpful and greatly appreciated! Thanks tara25 also for the compliment on [name]Gianna[/name]'s name. We love it too! It’s so hard to find another name for our 2nd daughter that we love equally as much as [name]Gianna[/name].

I have now definitely ruled out a lot of the variations on spelling of my 2nd daughter’s name – I’m now looking at [name]Alaina[/name] or [name]Elaina[/name]. Also still considering [name]Karina[/name], [name]Irina[/name], [name]Lila[/name] (no h at the end) and [name]Amira[/name].

5

[name]Hi[/name], firstly [name]Gianna[/name] is a beautiful name!

I’d spell it [name]Elena[/name] or maybe [name]Elaina[/name].

  1. [name]Norah[/name] - pretty name but too plain for [name]Gianna[/name]
  2. [name]Irina[/name] - this is unusual and goes well with [name]Gianna[/name]
  3. [name]Karina[/name] - not my style
  4. [name]Alisha[/name]/[name]Aleisha[/name] - too trendy and starting to sound dated
  5. [name]Olivia[/name] - way too popular!
  6. [name]Sophia[/name]/[name]Sophie[/name] - see above
  7. [name]Amira[/name] - this is a cute name with the nn [name]Mira[/name]
  8. [name]Elyssa[/name] - varient spelling of the very common [name]Alyssa[/name], I’d say no
  9. [name]Milena[/name]/[name]Melina[/name] - I like [name]Milena[/name] and was going to suggest this is an alternative to [name]Elena[/name]
  10. Leyah - doesn’t seem like a real name
  11. [name]Lilah[/name] - This is one of my favs but it is becoming popular
  12. [name]Alissa[/name] - same as [name]Elyssa[/name]
  13. [name]Angelika[/name] - I love it spelt [name]Angelica[/name] - one of my top 5 names!
  14. [name]Callie[/name] - not substantial enough to me
  15. [name]Elyse[/name] - This is [name]Elise[/name] spelt wrong in my opinion
  16. [name]Linnea[/name] - I’ve never understood the fuss with this name
  17. [name]Vanessa[/name] - A bit dated now
  18. [name]Gisele[/name] - Beautiful name but too close to [name]Gianna[/name], you don’t want to tie yourself in to G names.
  19. [name]Janelle[/name] - This I actually like
  20. [name]Milana[/name] - This rhymes with [name]Gianna[/name] a bit too much!
  21. [name]Malia[/name] - Cute but rising in popularity due to the [name]Obama[/name]'s eldest daughter

I would also suggest:

[name]Allegra[/name] (gets you the [name]Allie[/name] nickname)
[name]Helena[/name]
[name]Ilena[/name]
[name]Selena[/name]
[name]Valentina[/name]
[name]Leonora[/name]
[name]Thea[/name]
[name]Aria[/name]
[name]Ezra[/name]
[name]Aurora[/name]
[name]Beatriz[/name]
[name]Eulalia[/name]
[name]Catalina[/name]
[name]Mirabel[/name]
[name]Lelia[/name]
[name]Alessandra[/name] (Again, nn [name]Allie[/name])

Best of luck!

6

[name]Hi[/name]
If you want the nn [name]Ali[/name], I would choose the [name]Alayna[/name] spelling. I do like the [name]Elena[/name] spelling nn [name]Ellie[/name]/[name]Lena[/name] maybe?

Of your list I like;
[name]Norah[/name]
[name]Karina[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Sophie[/name]/[name]Sophia[/name]
[name]Elyssa[/name] - prefer [name]Alyssa[/name]
[name]Milena[/name]/ [name]Melina[/name] - depends how you want to pronounce it?
[name]Lilah[/name] - prefer [name]Lila[/name] spelling
Leyah - is this the same as [name]Leah[/name]/[name]Lea[/name]?
[name]Callie[/name] - [name]Love[/name] this - [name]Callie[/name] [name]Lynn[/name] very cute!
[name]Elyse[/name] - also like [name]Elise[/name] spelling
[name]Gisele[/name]