We have a very dear family member, [name]Joy[/name] [name]Ellen[/name], whom we would like to honor if/when we have our first daughter. What do you all think of the name [name]Ellen[/name]? Is it just too dated sounding? If we used it, we would probably end up using [name]Ellie[/name] or [name]Ella[/name] as a nn, at least some of the time. We’ve kinda been thinking to use the name [name]Elena[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name] (eh-[name]LAY[/name]-na), but have also considered something like [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name]. What do you think? Any suggestions? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas! 
I don’t think [name]Ellen[/name] is too dated, because I know a couple of young Ellens. It’s a nice name. [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] sounds like a 50 year old, though. What about [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diantha[/name]? [name]Elena[/name] is pretty, too. You could also use [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Lenora[/name], [name]Helena[/name], etc.
I like [name]Ellen[/name], I think it would be the perfect time to use this underused great name.
[name]Glad[/name] to hear at least a couple positive coments about [name]Ellen[/name]! One of you mentioned that [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] sounds like someone in there 50’s. I tend to agree with that - the name as a combination doesn’t do a lot for me either. A little back ground though on why we are thinking of this combo… [name]Both[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Ellen[/name] and [name]Diane[/name] are important people in our lives, and we would like to honor them both whith the name of our first little girl. Originally my hubby mentioned [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name], then after lots of talking we sort of agreed on something like [name]Elena[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name] (eh-[name]LAY[/name]-na), which I love! The only thing is, I would prefer only one middle name, but to do this it would be hard to honor both people. I don’t know if I’m even making sence here… I guess maybe my question is this - [name]Do[/name] you like [name]Elena[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name] or [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] better? Or maybe someone has a suggestion for another combo that would honor both the ladies we love?
I would so appreciate any and all advice you all could share with me!!!
I love [name]Elena[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name]! I like [name]Ellen[/name], but I agree that [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] sounds dated. If you want to honor both women, how about [name]Diana[/name] [name]Joy[/name]?
I am hard-pressed to think of a SINGLE version of [name]Helen[/name]/[name]Eleanor[/name] that I don’t love. Seriously, they’re all great. I think [name]Ellen[/name] is very cute.
Blueberri, so encouraging to hear that you really love [name]Elena[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name]! That’s the name we will most likely end up using, although we are still looking at other options. [name]Glad[/name] you also like [name]Ellen[/name]. So cool that you mentioned [name]Diana[/name] [name]Joy[/name] because that is another option I have considered - and actually I think I prefer that to the [name]Ellen[/name] option, but still don’t think I like it quite as much as the [name]Elena[/name] option.
Majotour, thanks so much for your encouraging coments about [name]Ellen[/name] - so glad to hear you like it, as well as other [name]Helen[/name]/[name]Eleanor[/name] variations. Thanks for the input! 
[name]Ellen[/name] is a gorgeous name.
I know a 5 year old with [name]Ellen[/name] as her mn and I wish it was her first name.
I would not shorten her name it is perfect the way it is.
[name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diana[/name] is lovely, very fresh and feminine.
[name]Don[/name]'t go with [name]Elena[/name] I think [name]Ellen[/name] is much nicer.
I would change [name]Diane[/name] to [name]Diana[/name] but I do have a thing about the die in [name]Diana[/name].
[name]Ellen[/name] [name]Felicity[/name] [name]Dianthe[/name]/[name]Diana[/name]
[name]Felicity[/name] means joy and happiness
[name]Ellen[/name] and [name]Helen[/name] each take turns in the spotlight. Right now, neither is widely used or in fashion, but since [name]Ellen[/name] was the queen of the last round, I think it’s time for [name]Helen[/name] (/[name]Helene[/name]/[name]Helena[/name]/etc.) to make a small comeback. Overall, I prefer [name]Helen[/name]'s sound more, or the sound of [name]Eleanor[/name]/[name]Ellinor[/name]–any of these names could be nn’d [name]Ellen[/name].
That being said, [name]Ellen[/name] is not a bad name, and it would surely fit in with the new hoards of Elles and Ellas. (:
NameGoddess
P.S. Looking back on this, perhaps one of the reasons that I don’t like [name]Ellen[/name] as much as its variants is because it reminds me of [name]Allen[/name]. My dad’s name is [name]Alan[/name], so I’ve always liked that spelling better, and hence [name]Allen[/name] seemed “misspelled” to me, and it’s one letter off from [name]Ellen[/name]. [name]Just[/name] saying that I may be a little biased in that respect. (:
I really like [name]Ellen[/name] (and [name]Helen[/name], for that matter). It has a clean, modern sound but is still relatively classic. I much prefer [name]Ellen[/name] over [name]Elena[/name], which has the possibility of mispronunciation- el-[name]LAY[/name]-nuh vs. [name]EL[/name]-en-uh, el-[name]LEE[/name]-na, el-AHN-uh, etc. And [name]Elena[/name] is getting more use nowadays and [name]Ellen[/name] makes for a unexpected, yet not weird, choice. I think [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] does sound a bit dated, but [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diana[/name] is sweet and feminine. [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diana[/name] [name]Joy[/name] or [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diana[/name] is also nice if you want to go the two middle name route.
My favourite name for girl is [name]Ellen[/name]. I [name]LOVE[/name] it! It is simple yet classic and it is a really pretty name. I don’t like [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] it sounds too old.
[name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diana[/name]
[name]Ellen[/name] [name]Joy[/name]
[name]Ellen[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diana[/name]
[name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diana[/name] [name]Joy[/name]
[name]Ellen[/name] [name]Hanna[/name] [name]Joy[/name]
I love [name]Ellen[/name]. I think it’s clean and smooth and stylish and needs to be used more. I d prefer [name]Helen[/name], but I don’t think either name is dated in a bad way; rather, I see them as charmingly vintage.
Thank you everyone for sharing your thuoghts on [name]Ellen[/name], and some of my other name options. It has been so encouraging to hear all the positive coments about [name]Ellen[/name]! I think I failed to mentioned the reason for using the name [name]Diane[/name] as a middle. [name]Diane[/name] is another very dear family member that we would like to honor with our daughter’s name. Several of you made the suggestion of [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diana[/name], and I think I like that much better than [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name]. I wasn’t really crazy about the way [name]Ellen[/name] and [name]Diane[/name] have very similar ending sounds, but changing [name]Diane[/name] to [name]Diana[/name] makes the flow much better. As I think I already mentioned, my hubby is the one who suggested [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] as a way to honor both women, but I just wasn’t totally sold on the name - now after hearing so many positive things about [name]Ellen[/name] I think I’m starting to like it better, especially with [name]Diana[/name] as the middle name! Thanks everyone for all your help!!! 
[name]Ellen[/name] is a little dated imo, not to mention it sounds kinda plain to my ears. [name]Elena[/name] [name]Diane[/name] [name]Joy[/name] would be lovely though.