I have been musing about this for a few weeks now and am still not sure how I feel about it. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I are trying to have a baby, and I have been thinking about if we should use middle names and if so what. Our children will have two fairly long last names both beginning with M, and my preference with that is for fairly short simple names. I have also always thought that we wouldn’t use middle names for the sake of simplicity, but I also regret a little bit not using more names when we have the chance!
Recently I have been considering whether “El” on its own could be a middle name. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I have 3 now passed relatives that I would like to honor, who all happened to have names that started with EL; [name_u]Elias[/name_u], [name_f]Elaine[/name_f], and [name_m]Eldon[/name_m]. Obviously we could use these names separately (Elias is a first name contender for a boy) but somehow I like this lump together option. I don’t know how many kids we will have but we can always figure out other names down the road.
I have this on the girl category because I more easily imagine this as a middle name for a girl, likely because it sounds like “Elle”, but it wouldn’t have to be. And obviously two names honor men.
First, does this seem like a useable middle name?
Additionally, my biggest concern is that when the whole name is said the “El” would sound like the prefix in names in Arabic. This is not bad, but that is not a heritage we share and I want to be respectful. Additionally the first last name (my husband’s) actually is Arabic in origin, a remnant of moorish influence in Spain (he is Mexican). It is one similar vowel off from the Arabic word for city and a common Spanish-language last name if anyone wants to go the extra mile and sound it out. Does that change your initial response in any way?
I think [name_f]Elle[/name_f] would be best. I’m myself am Puerto Rican and a Spanish speaker (and coincidentally my dad has an Arabic name for the same reason!). [name_f]El[/name_f] seems a bit too much of a linking word to me. I was actually almost named [name_f]Elle[/name_f] when my mom was pregnant so usability wise I think it’s fine. I think [name_f]Elle[/name_f] works perfectly fine for a boy or girl, it’s already an established girl name and for boys it’s a common nickname (Elliot, [name_u]Elias[/name_u], [name_u]Ellis[/name_u], [name_u]Elijah[/name_u], etc etc) so I think the [name_f]Elle[/name_f] spelling works for both.
Overall I think it works perfectly and I love how it has special meaning to you guys, but I would spell it [name_f]Elle[/name_f] 1) because [name_f]El[/name_f] is such a common linking work in Spanish and 2) I think it works perfectly for both boys and girls
A girl would be easy for me with the meaning behind the name for you. I’d go with [name_f]Elle[/name_f]. [name_f]Elle[/name_f] certainly still honors the three relatives and has the exact sound.
Following the train of thought of [name_f]El[/name_f] being too much of a prefix with your ln, it certainly could sound that way, but how much do you use mn? Plus, it has so much meaning for you. I might consider [name_f]Ell[/name_f] so that it isn’t the prefix. [name_u]Or[/name_u] even [name_u]Eli[/name_u].
I totally forgot to include that too, about “el” the word. Somehow that bothers me less, partially because when said in the name it doesn’t sound like words, which makes the “wordiness” of el less.
I have considered [name_f]Elle[/name_f], and logically can see how it would simplify things, but I am something of a purist and just can’t quite get behind it right now. What all the names share is [name_f]El[/name_f], so if it were two names I was trying to honor I could do it (one el from each), but as it stands it feels to me like [name_f]Elle[/name_f] would be watering down the honor for the three. For me it is more about the visual look than the sound, since how often do you really say a middle name anyways?
I have even thought of two middle name initials: E L. However, that feels even more cumbersome, which is not my goal.