Respondents: 133 (This poll is closed)
[name_f]Alena[/name_f] got my vote. Pretty name that works on a baby to a woman. Good luck!
I think I like [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] the best. It is soft sounding, [name_u]Shay[/name_u] is a good NN, and it doesn’t seem as widely used as [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] or [name_f]Alena[/name_f].
I think both [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] and [name_f]Alena[/name_f] would also have pronunciation issues more than you would with [name_f]Shayna[/name_f]. I read [name_f]Alena[/name_f] as Uh-lay-nuh and [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] as [name_f]Air[/name_f]-e-elle even though you told me how to pronounce them.
[name_f]Serena[/name_f] is ok - I don’t love it but I definitely don’t hate it.
[name_f]Arielle[/name_f] gets my vote. I adore the nickname [name_f]Elle[/name_f] and find [name_u]Ari[/name_u] adorable.
[name_f]Serena[/name_f] and [name_f]Alena[/name_f] are my favorites. Good luck!
I like [name_f]Alina[/name_f]. It is familiar sounding but a lovely surprise.
[name_f]Serena[/name_f] is my favourite from your list - I find it really versatile. It’s soft, strong, feminine-but-not-too-frilly, and I can picture it fitting any personality. And I think it would stand a chance of being spelled correctly most of the time, for what it’s worth.
I like [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] too, but it feels less grounded than [name_f]Serena[/name_f] to me.
As to your spelling dilemmas: if you’re going for the uh-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-nuh pronunciation I’d strongly recommend [name_f]Alina[/name_f], since I’d be inclined to pronounce [name_f]Alena[/name_f] as uh-[name_m]LAY[/name_m]-na. And I think I’d prefer [name_f]Shaina[/name_f] to [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] - it looks a bit smoother to me. I’d pronounce them identically.
[name_u]Love[/name_u], love [name_f]Arielle[/name_f]! So pretty.
All of them are very pretty, [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] is my favorite.
I have a cousin [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] and we always pronounce it [name_f]Air[/name_f]-ee-[name_f]Elle[/name_f] with emphasis on the -elle. I also agree that if you go with te spelling of [name_f]Alena[/name_f], most people will pronounce it A-lay-nah or A-lenn-a. [name_f]Serena[/name_f] would be my first choice but [name_f]Alina[/name_f] would be a very close 2nd.
I voted [name_f]Serena[/name_f]. Wanted to vote for both [name_f]Serena[/name_f] and [name_f]Arielle[/name_f]. [name_u]Love[/name_u] them both. Perhaps [name_f]Serena[/name_f] [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] / [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] [name_f]Serena[/name_f]!
[name_f]Arielle[/name_f] is my favorite, but [name_f]Serena[/name_f] is really pretty, too.
As for the other names, I prefer these spellings: [name_f]Alina[/name_f] & [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] :).
Thanks so much for all the votes so far, and for your sweet comments! It’s nice to hear some positive responses to the names we are considering. Especially since we want to keep the names a secret - makes it nice to have you all to test them out on. 
We will most likely use the middle name [name_f]Joelle[/name_f] or possibly [name_f]Joy[/name_f], unless we go with the first name [name_f]Arielle[/name_f]. If we use that, we’re stumped on a good middle name to use. We’d like to use a family name for a middle, but can’t come up with one that has a good flow with [name_f]Arielle[/name_f].
[name_f]Arielle[/name_f] got my vote, but [name_f]Serena[/name_f] was a very close second! I like the idea of [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] [name_f]Serena[/name_f] as a combo, too. Of the ah-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-nah and [name_u]SHAY[/name_u]-nah spellings, [name_f]Alina[/name_f] and [name_f]Shaina[/name_f] are my favorites, I think. I definitely prefer [name_f]Alina[/name_f] to [name_f]Alena[/name_f] (I can never tell if [name_f]Alena[/name_f] is said like [name_f]Alina[/name_f] or like [name_f]Elena[/name_f]!), but I’m sort of torn on [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] vs. [name_f]Shaina[/name_f].
Good luck!
My vote went to [name_f]Serena[/name_f]. It’s definitely first choice. Runner up is [name_f]Shayna[/name_f].
1 [name_f]Serena[/name_f]
2 [name_f]Arielle[/name_f]
3 [name_f]Alina[/name_f]
4 [name_f]Shaina[/name_f]
[name_m]Favorite[/name_m] combo would be [name_f]Serena[/name_f] [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] or [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] [name_f]Serena[/name_f] but using your family names how about:
[name_f]Serena[/name_f] [name_f]Joy[/name_f]
[name_f]Arielle[/name_f] [name_f]Jolie[/name_f] (kinda remixed [name_f]Joy[/name_f]/[name_f]Joelle[/name_f] and I think [name_f]Jolie[/name_f] is a good fit)
[name_f]Alina[/name_f] [name_f]Joelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Serena[/name_f] is my favorite of these names! I would pick [name_f]Alina[/name_f] over [name_f]Alena[/name_f] because with the pronunciation you want that seems to me to be a more intuitive spelling. I think [name_f]Shaina[/name_f] looks better than [name_f]Shayna[/name_f].
I chose [name_f]Alina[/name_f]. I like the sound and the look of the name… very pretty:)
[name_f]Arielle[/name_f]! It’s so gorgeous!!!