Me and DH have narrowed our options down to 3 names, and we don’t have long to go. We want to have her name sorted before she’s here!
We both like the 3 we have left from our shortlist: [name_f]Irina[/name_f], [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] and [name_u]Maria[/name_u].
Middle name is likely to be [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], and in the event we don’t go with [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], DH is considering using both [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] as middles.
Siblings are [name_f]Kristina[/name_f] and [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]!
Personally, I’d drop [name_f]Irina[/name_f] as to me it rhymes with [name_f]Kristina[/name_f], even though it really is lovely!
[name_u]Maria[/name_u] is my personal favorite of the three; I love her vibrance and international appeal. I could see [name_u]Maria[/name_u] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], though very long, working quite well and growing with your girl at all stages of her life.
I might like [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] best for y’all, though! It has the same balance of playfulness and gravitas as [name_f]Kristina[/name_f] and [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] to me.
[name_u]Welcome[/name_u] to NB and congrats on #3!!! <3
Definitely [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], honestly. To me, [name_f]Kristina[/name_f] sounds odd with both [name_f]Irina[/name_f] and [name_u]Maria[/name_u].
I also think that if [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] is going to be added to her name anyway, it’s a sign that it should be the first.
[name_f]Irina[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]! A beautiful choice and as much as I love [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], all the Alexandras I know eventually just get called [name_u]Alex[/name_u] which doesn’t fit as well with [name_f]Kristina[/name_f] and [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]. [name_f]Kristina[/name_f], [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m], and [name_f]Irina[/name_f] are a dream set IMHO. [name_u]Maria[/name_u] is lovely as well but [name_f]Irina[/name_f] sparkles.
I really like the name Irina, probably the best of the three, but I don’t think I could go Kristina and Irina - too similar/rhymy. I do also get that people have multiple sons with “on” endings for eg, but I think people might be annoying about this (“Kristina and Irina!” ). May be OK?
I like the cheerful Maria but my instinct is to want another name in front, like Eva-Maria to make it a but more substantial compared to the others.
Alexandra very much goes with the other two - and means the trio has a sort of Royal/19th century imperial feel. I’m just not a bit fan of its nicknames but if you have one ready to go, this could be your winner especially if this is the one you would use as a middle anyway.
Oh, I love love, love [name_f]Irina[/name_f]! But it does rhyme with [name_f]Kristina[/name_f].
[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] would be my choice otherwise. I love it in full and especially with the nn [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] (but there are other good options for nns too).
[name_u]Maria[/name_u] would go 3rd on my list. It’s a wonderful, traditional name, but it lacks some of the spark of [name_f]Kristina[/name_f] and [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m].
I didn’t actually notice [name_f]Irina[/name_f] and [name_f]Kristina[/name_f] possibly rhyming. I was adding [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] when saying the names, and I didn’t notice they could sound similar.
I do like [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], and [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] was nearly [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] but [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] would’ve likely been strange on a boy in the UK. We are Russian, so [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] was the obvious n for both [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]. However [name_u]Alex[/name_u] would be what most people think of, and I’m not too keen.
For [name_u]Maria[/name_u] the nn would be [name_f]Masha[/name_f], [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] [name_u]Sasha[/name_u], and [name_f]Irina[/name_f] [name_u]Ira[/name_u] or [name_f]Ina[/name_f].
DH doesn’t mind [name_u]Alex[/name_u] for [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], but for me I cringe slightly!