Our little girl’s middle name is [name]Rose[/name] to honor a grandma [name]Rosalie[/name] and a grandma [name]Rosemary[/name]. If we had another girl, I’d like to honor grandma [name]Barbara[/name], but that name is so dated to me. Her middle name [name]JoAnn[/name] is nice (or [name]JoAnna[/name] or [name]JoHanna[/name] is), but I’m not loving it with any of our favorite girl names.
So, I had the inspiration to look up variations of [name]Barbara[/name], and I found [name]Varvara[/name] and [name]Varya[/name], which are Russian.
What do you think of [name]Kate[/name] [name]Varya[/name]? (with a two-syllable last name)
I think [name]Kate[/name] [name]Varya[/name] has a really lovely sound. [name]Kate[/name] is classic enough to ground the unusual [name]Varya[/name]. The flow is lovely too.
I’m very pro finding creative ways to honour family rather than just using their exact names and [name]Varya[/name] is much prettier than [name]Barbara[/name] in my opinion. Having said that, I do think [name]Kate[/name] [name]JoAnna[/name] is lovely too.
Or how about [name]Kate[/name] [name]Josephine[/name]? Or Maybe [name]Kate[/name] [name]Anna[/name]?
Good luck! 
I don’t know why but whenever I hear [name]Barbara[/name] I think [name]Darcy[/name]. Anyways, how about:
[name]Katherine[/name] [name]Varina[/name] “[name]Kate[/name]”
[name]Katrina[/name] Voska “[name]Kate[/name]”
[name]Johanna[/name] [name]Dorothea[/name] “[name]Ana[/name]”
Any of these working?
I like [name]Kate[/name] [name]Varya[/name] - I’m always one for unusual middles that have meaning.
My husband actually likes it! He never likes my names. He says he likes it because it sounds kind of Norse.
We would most likely go with a nickname name to go with [name]Eliza[/name] [name]Rose[/name]. I love [name]Kate[/name] as a proper name. Or [name]Mae[/name]. But I don’t think [name]Mae[/name] goes well with [name]Varya[/name]. Can you think of any other strong nickname names to go with it?
What do you think about choosing an international name but pronouncing it as it would be in your own language? I would think, being Russian, it would be WAR-ya. But that would make no sense in the US (especially since we have no Russian background).
I definitely think pronouncing it VAR-ee-uh would work in the US, especially since it’s a middle name so you won’t have to explain it on a daily basis.
I think [name]Kate[/name] is lovely, and [name]Mae[/name] is one of my all time favs But here are some other nicknamey names that may make a nice sister for [name]Eliza[/name]:
[name]Greta[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Brielle[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Lena[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Lily[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Molly[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Nell[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Prue[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Sadie[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Tess[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Thea[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Milla[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Edie[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Sophie[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Lottie[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Megan[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Margot[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Daisy[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Maisie[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Belle[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Josie[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Pippa[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Lilah[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Cleo[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Gwen[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Adele[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Bree[/name] [name]Varya[/name]
[name]Hope[/name] that helps some! Good luck
Thanks for the feedback! I love a lot of those. [name]Adele[/name] is one of my very favorites. Hubby vetoed it the first time around, but maybe he’ll soften up in a few years!
I also like
[name]Sadie[/name]
[name]Tess[/name]
[name]Milla[/name] (but maybe [name]Mila[/name] better)
[name]Maisie[/name] ([name]LOVE[/name] this, but I got a lot of negative feedback on this one once, with everyone saying it would never work on a grown up. I think it would!)
[name]Josie[/name]
[name]Pippa[/name]
I also like [name]Nora/name a lot.
And, from your previous post: [name]Kate[/name] [name]JoAnna[/name]. It sounds to me like three short names: [name]Kate[/name] [name]Joe[/name] [name]Anna[/name]. But maybe that’s not so bad.
I also like [name]Kate[/name] [name]Josephine[/name]. I had considered it before, but thought it was too far off from [name]JoAnn[/name]. It’s much closer to [name]JoAnn[/name] than [name]Varya[/name] is to [name]Barbara[/name] though! Ha!
Oh, and Voska is a cool variation too! I had to look that one up on another site. I had no idea there were so many cool international variations of [name]Barbara[/name]!