This is my first post here, thanks in advance for reading this!
My daughter was born 13 months ago. We had a hard time naming her for some reason? I’m not sure why since it was so easy with my other two children, [name]Joe[/name] and [name]Adele[/name]. Perhaps it’s because these were both family names? In the hospital we decided to name her [name]Leona[/name] [name]Frances[/name]. This was a name we chose at random, it does not have family significance. We were also strongly considering [name]Sylvie[/name] at the time. When we announced her name one of our close family members expressed a strong dislike for the name. [name]Ever[/name] since it has caused a lot of self doubt with my husband and I. Its like a seed was planted and it just keeps growing. When she was 4 months old my husband said “We should have named her [name]Sylvie[/name]”. We talked about changing her name but never did anything…now I think it’s too late. The fact that my other two children have taken to calling her “[name]Yona[/name]” or “[name]Leon[/name]” is driving me mad. We are still throwing around the idea of changing her middle name to [name]Winifred[/name], instead of [name]Frances[/name]. [name]Winifred[/name] is my Maternal Grandmothers name, so it would be meaningful for me, and we would possibly use the nn [name]Winnie[/name]. It’s complicated since we have waited so long. She knows her name, and so do all our family and friends. I hate that I feel this way, but don’t want to be too scared to make a change just because it isn’t the “popular” thing to do. Help, what would you do???
If it helps, [name]Leona[/name] [name]Frances[/name] is a beautiful name! I havent had much experience in changing names but I have had experience in name regret a little. I have two sons, [name]Sam[/name] and [name]Finn[/name]. When [name]Sam[/name] was born I didn’t like any of the [name]Sam[/name]- variants but loved [name]Sam[/name] on its own and sometimes now I wish I named him [name]Samson[/name] or [name]Samuel[/name]. But I still love his name. Whereas with [name]Finn[/name], till he was about 1, I didn’t think it suited him but I still adored the name, but it didnt feel like it was him… if that makes sense. By the time he was [name]One[/name] I realised that he suits the name perfectly and he isn’t anything else. He is [name]Finn[/name]. His love for fish might have something to do with that though…
Sorry for the story, it probably isnt helping in any way! If I was in your situation, I would probably change her middle to [name]Winifred[/name], and try nicknaming her [name]Winnie[/name] (which is adorable, by the way.). Then even if she doesn’t grow into [name]Leona[/name] (Which she might do!) then she can go by her middle name which you seem to like more.
Also (this is what I would most likely do if I was in your situation.) Maybe you could change her name to [name]Leona[/name] [name]Sylvie[/name] [name]Winifred[/name], then you have the options of [name]Leona[/name], [name]Sylvie[/name] & [name]Winifred[/name] as names? To me that seems like a great option because then you have access to the name that you regret not calling her, and the name that honors a family member.
[name]Yona[/name] and [name]Leon[/name] don’t have to be her nicknames… why not [name]Ona[/name]? (Oh-na) [name]Lee[/name], [name]Leo[/name], [name]Nona[/name], and [name]Lea[/name] are all possible nicknames. [name]Leona[/name] [name]Winnifred[/name] is adorable, and I think sounds better than [name]Leona[/name] [name]Frances[/name], especially since her other siblings have family ties to their name. I’m not a fan of calling a kid by their middle name, but [name]Winnie[/name] is cute. You could even call her [name]Winona[/name], as a mix of both her first and middle name.
I think if you hate [name]Leona[/name] [name]Frances[/name], but think you’d like [name]Leona[/name] [name]Winnifred[/name], talk it over with her daddy and a few other close relatives (not too many though, as you can’t please everyone! My suggestion is to talk to the Husband, the two kids, and your mom and his mom.)
[name]Leona[/name] [name]Winnifred[/name] is beautiful, and the nicknames [name]Ona[/name], [name]Lee[/name], [name]Leo[/name], [name]Nona[/name], [name]Lea[/name], [name]Winnie[/name], or even [name]Winona[/name] are adorable. Good luck!
Well I have two experiences with this as well. This is my seventh pregnancy and I am still not settled on a name for this baby girl. My first 2 girls were easy to name, and we knew immediately what to name them and they were both family names. My third daughter we named [name]Victoria[/name] [name]Camryn[/name] and neither of those names were a family names to our knowledge. We found out later that my great grandmother had two middle names and one of them was [name]Victoria[/name]. Our other daughter who was only 18 months older was named after her first name, [name]Olivia[/name].
The second regret I had was with our 3rd [name]Son[/name], We have 3 girls and 3 boys and a girl on the way. Anyway, I let my husband name him as I became overwhelmed with deciding on a name. He named him both family names on my side which he loved [name]Miles[/name] [name]Sawyer[/name]. We decided on calling him [name]Sawyer[/name] instead of [name]Miles[/name] and now we are running into little girls with the name of [name]Sawyer[/name]. He is almost 2 and I have thought about calling him [name]Miles[/name] instead but we have called him [name]Sawyer[/name] for so long I worry about calling him something different. All of my children and husband want to keep calling him [name]Sawyer[/name] anyway so I think its a done deal now.
[name]Frances[/name] is a family name on my side and I have actually considered it for my girl. [name]Winnifred[/name] is wonderful and I prefer it over [name]Frances[/name] but it is not a family name for us. I don’t think changing a middle name is a big deal. Your husband and children need to be factored in if you want to call her something different though. She will be fine but might not answer to that name right away.
Thank you [name]Livia[/name] and [name]Jane[/name] for your responses! We (I) did try using [name]Leni[/name] as a nn. It doesn’t necessarily fit with [name]Leona[/name], but I thought it was cute. Unfortunately this did not catch on for the rest of the family. My daughter called her “[name]Lala[/name]” for awhile, but that has gone too. My husband says that none of the nicknames have felt “right” so he calls her [name]Leona[/name] all the time. However, “[name]Yona[/name]” definitely feel wrong, and I would like to have a nn to use. I’m afraid that otherwise my kids, or other children will choose a nn that I don’t like (like [name]Yona[/name]). [name]Winona[/name] is interesting since it would include both!
My [name]MIL[/name] is the one that expressed a strong dislike for the name after we had named her. I wish that I could not let it get to me, but it has. Other people have also acted as though it’s an odd name when I’ve introduced her…they have mentioned [name]Leona[/name] Helmsley. I guess I knew an old woman growing up named [name]Leona[/name] so it didn’t seem odd to me. I like alot of old fashioned names! I hate that other people have a negative connotation with her name though, she is such a sweet innocent girl.
I don’t want to be crazy, but forever seems like a long time to live with something if it doesn’t feel right…
I guess I didn’t mention that I think the name [name]Leona[/name] is lovely. It also sounds very sweet even without a nickname. I have always loved that I had a more unusual name even if I had to explain it. I tried to do that with my girls… give them a family name and a name that wasn’t really common. I failed with some of them as a lot of the mothers had the same name idea as I did. [name]Olivia[/name] was practically unheard of when we named her that 15 years ago…Who knew that was the year everyone would decide to name their girls [name]Olivia[/name]?
I would not change [name]Leona[/name], its a lovely name that you don’t hear of everyday. If you change anything [name]Imo[/name], it could be the middle name.
I think going through the hassle to change only the middle is kind of silly. Either change the first if you don’t plan on using anything related to it or just find a new nickname that you like & push for it. If you just change the middle you still have to explain the whole thing to everyone in your life & get the backlash of that (I’m assuming if your family members lack the boundaries to hold back criticizing a newborn’s name to her parents than they won’t hold back from criticizing a name change) you will probably still have to correct people from using [name]Leona[/name], [name]Yona[/name] & [name]Leon[/name]…you might as well take away the name entirely or else it could be a good excuse for people who want to undermine the decision to change it. I’m not sure it’s your style but I think [name]Leona[/name] [name]Frances[/name] could pull of the nickname [name]Nancy[/name]. It’s sweet & old fashioned. [name]Winifred[/name] nn [name]Winnie[/name] is cute too. Also maybe [name]Leonine[/name] or Leonina nn [name]Nina[/name] or [name]Lina[/name]? Or [name]Leonie[/name]?
I think [name]Leona[/name] is a pretty name, and the nickname [name]Leni[/name] is adorable! Not everyone is going to agree on names, so try to focus on the fact that [name]Leona[/name] is the name you and your husband chose in the moment, that was the name that felt right between the two of you. If anything, I would change her middle name, that way she has a family name like the other two have and it will feel more meaningful to you. As long as your consistent with whatever you choose to call her, it will eventually feel more “right” and more like her the more you call her that. Others will catch on or they may choose a little nickname of their own, which is pretty normal between close friends and family anyway. You could always let them know you dislike [name]Yona[/name] and [name]Leon[/name], that way they won’t use it. Good luck!
[name]Leona[/name] [name]Frances[/name] is a lovely name. You gave your daughter a great name. You did not name her Gooseberry Frankenstein. [name]Leona[/name] [name]Frances[/name] is a perfectly respectable name. And everyone ends up screwing around with their names and nicknames anyway. You can change it to whatever you want, that doesn’t mean it’s going to have any impact whatsoever on what people call her. [name]Winnifred[/name] could turn into ‘Pooh [name]Bear[/name]’ or just ‘Pooh,’ you never know. [name]Leona[/name] is her name. She’s your little [name]Leona[/name] and your kids love their [name]Yona[/name] and [name]Leon[/name] and that’s exactly how it always goes. [name]Don[/name]'t stress about it!
I am curious if you changed your daughter’s middle name. I am in a similar situation and I’m considering changing my 2 year olds middle name. I’d love to know how it went for you if you did!
My name was changed when I was a baby. I not sure about how old I was when it happened, but I think I was at least a couple months old. It comes up every once in a great while and everyone kind of laughs. I like my name and couldn’t imagine it being what it originally was. And I don’t remember ever being addressed as that name, so while I’m sure my baby self was confused by the change, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
My dad’s name was [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Travis[/name_m] and everyone called him [name_m]Pete[/name_m] growing up. His family called him [name_m]Pete[/name_m] all their lives. So nicknames can be anything.
[name_f]Leona[/name_f] [name_f]Frances[/name_f] is a beautiful name. I would probably call her L, or [name_f]El[/name_f] if I wrote it, or [name_f]Franny[/name_f]. My best friend in high school was named [name_f]Frances[/name_f]. She never liked her name so I told her I could call her Francy or [name_f]Fancy[/name_f]. She really hated those two, so I said, “[name_f]Franny[/name_f] it is!” She laughed, and I never called her [name_f]Frances[/name_f] again. She gradually switched over to [name_f]Franny[/name_f] and that’s what she’s called now.
So - did you change your childs name, OP? It’s been 3 years. We need an update.
I love love the nickname [name_f]Leonie[/name_f] for [name_f]Leona[/name_f]. It is a chic [name_m]French[/name_m] form of the name, [name_f]Leona[/name_f]. The first syllable can be pronounced lee or lay, the second on or own and of course the third is ee. The accent can be on either the first or second syllable or evenly distributed. It is so close in spelling, but so different when pronounced.
I can also see how [name_f]Lena[/name_f] could be used as a nickname for [name_f]Leona[/name_f]
Another solution would be to change the name [name_f]Leona[/name_f] to [name_f]Leonora[/name_f] by just adding the two letters “or,” that is, if you prefer the name [name_f]Leonora[/name_f] to [name_f]Leona[/name_f] and would consider using the nickname [name_f]Nora[/name_f].
If I was in your situation, I would probably change her middle to [name]Winifred[/name], and try nicknaming her [name]Winnie[/name] (which is adorable, by the way.). Then even if she doesn’t grow into [name]Leona[/name] (Which she might do!) then she can go by her middle name which you seem to like more.
