After much list making, thinking, talking I’m really liking a name… finally! I love the name but am not really sure it fits with the sib set…
A little background… completely by chance all 5 of us have 5 letters in our names - [name]James[/name], [name]Jamie[/name] (dad and mom), [name]Elise[/name], [name]Marie[/name], and [name]Clara[/name]. So, now that we’re getting ready to welcome girl number 4, she absolutely has to have a five letter first name. Also, her name has to flow well with her sisters. Right now my husband and I are liking [name]Elena[/name]. Another strange factor is that we are Americans living in Turkey. [name]Elise[/name] has no Turkish middle name (just a family name) because the Turkish name [name]Eliz[/name] is so close to her first name… she uses it on the playground and at school. [name]Marie[/name] and [name]Clara[/name] both have 2 middle names - one after a family member, and one Turkish which they use on the playground, in classroom settings, etc. If we go with the name [name]Elena[/name] it works well for Americans but it is also a Turkish name (spelled [name]Aleyna[/name] here). So, she could round out the sib set and give [name]Elise[/name] a partner in the single middle name category. We like that, but it hasn’t completely sold us on the name yet.
Help me out! Give me your real, honest opinion. Good or bad… I don’t care if it’s rude or harsh… I really want to know! What is your first impression of the name and the sib set? Is there anything that pops out at you that I have missed?
It was going to be my sons name had he been a girl! It beautiful!.. and Actually it would have been [name]Elena[/name] [name]Marie[/name]! So we obviously like similar names!
I think [name]Elena[/name] is a lovely name and goes just fine with your sibset. That being said, I might hesitate because of the “[name]El[/name]” like [name]Elise[/name]. But [name]Elena[/name] is a sweet name that any girl would love.
Other 5 letter girl names that I think might work with your other daughters’ names (not sure if they have similar sounding names in Turkish):
I like [name]Elena[/name] a lot and I think it fits well with your girls’ names… my only worry is how close [name]Elise[/name] and [name]Elena[/name] are. [name]Both[/name] start with [name]El[/name]-, both could technically get the nn [name]Ellie[/name]/[name]Ella[/name]/[name]Elle[/name], both five letters… they both even share 3 out of the 5 letters in their name (El__e/Ele__). If this doesn’t bother you, I would say go for it! [name]Elena[/name] is great and stylistically I think it’s a perfect match. I like that it would go with [name]Elise[/name]'s name, too, that they would both get the one MN while [name]Marie[/name] and [name]Clara[/name] got two.
I love [name]Elena[/name], but I does bother me that [name]Elise[/name] and [name]Elena[/name] have the same beginning. If its big an issue for you, though, I say go for it.
I would definitely go for [name]Elena[/name]! It’s so lovely and fits perfectly with your other daughters’ names. I’m also in love with the Turkish spelling too, after I met the most adorable little [name]Aleyna[/name] in Turkey a few years ago.
I don’t think that [name]Elena[/name] and [name]Elise[/name] are too similar. Sure, they share the same sounds, but it’s not a big deal. Plus they will only be said together for the period of time that they’re children - when they’re 20 and 27 it’s not likely to be an issue! Also from a Turkish point of view [name]Aleyna[/name] and [name]Eliz[/name] are even less similar.
So overall, I’d use [name]Elena[/name]. It’s gorgeous!
She goes by [name]Ellie[/name].