DH and I agreed a long time ago that our next baby (if a boy) would have the middle name [name_m]John[/name_m] (family name, all our kids have family middle names). We haven’t yet decided what will happen if our next baby is a girl though! We’re thinking [name_f]Jane[/name_f], but I’m a bit meh about it. Any suggestions? This is what I’ve come up with so far:
[name_u]Jean[/name_u] (not really related, but also a family name and it’s close)
[name_f]Johanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Johnna[/name_f] (not a fan)
[name_f]Jana[/name_f] (not a fan)
[name_f]Jenna[/name_f]/[name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] may also sound similar, but NO chance of either of these. Hate them. [name_f]Joan[/name_f] is also out, because we know too many Joans as friends and we want to stick with family names.
Thank you in advance! Oh, I should also add that we have no real contenders for first names yet, so I’m thinking of making a short list of possible [name_m]John[/name_m]-variations to narrow down later.
My favourite feminine version of [name_m]John[/name_m] is [name_f]Jane[/name_f]. [name_u]Jean[/name_u] is a [name_m]French[/name_m] male version of [name_m]John[/name_m] but it’s also used for girls as well. It’s short, sweet and simple. There is also versions in other cultures as well.
[name_m]French[/name_m] - [name_f]Jeanne[/name_f], [name_f]Jeanette[/name_f]/[name_f]Jeannette[/name_f], [name_f]Jeanine[/name_f]/[name_f]Jeannine[/name_f] or medieval [name_m]French[/name_m] - [name_f]Jehanne[/name_f]
Spanish - [name_f]Juana[/name_f]/[name_f]Juanita[/name_f]
Italian - [name_f]Gianna[/name_f]/[name_f]Giovanna[/name_f]
Irish - [name_f]Sinead (Jane)[/name_f]/Siobhan/Shona (Joan)
Scottish - [name_f]Sine[/name_f]/[name_f]Sheena[/name_f]
Welsh - [name_f]Sian[/name_f]
Greek - [name_f]Ioanna[/name_f]
Swedish - [name_f]Janna[/name_f], Jannicke/Jannike
Eastern Europe - [name_f]Jana[/name_f], Ivana/Ivanka
Russian - [name_f]Zhanna[/name_f]
Polish - [name_f]Janina[/name_f]
Latin - [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f] is my favorite. It’s simple, elegant, strong, and feminine. I would suggest pairing it with a long, unusual middle name to give it some flair.
Mm, you’ve thought of most of the “[name_m]John[/name_m]” variants. The only others I can think of are [name_f]Jonella[/name_f], [name_f]Jonelle[/name_f], [name_f]Joneva[/name_f], [name_f]Jonnanina[/name_f] & [name_u]June[/name_u].
I absolutely love [name_f]Joni[/name_f].
Like [name_f]Joni[/name_f] [name_m]Mitchell[/name_m]… yeah. I just think it’s adorable. I know a little girl who’s about 8, and a baby with the name.
Or could you use [name_m]John[/name_m] as her middle name?
Thank you for these! I love [name_f]Gia[/name_f]/[name_f]Gianna[/name_f]! [name_u]June[/name_u], [name_f]Joni[/name_f] (really cute!), [name_f]Ioanna[/name_f] and the Swedish [name_f]Janna[/name_f]/Jannicke. I’m assuming the Swedish and Eastern European variants are pronounced with y sound? Like [name_f]Yanna[/name_f]? I’m not ruling out [name_f]Jane[/name_f] either, I just want more options since I don’t know yet what the fn will be. But a couple names we’ve been playing with don’t sound great with [name_f]Jane[/name_f] as a mn.
I love [name_f]Jane[/name_f]. I think it is so classy and simple and sweet. But I also loanna or [name_f]Ioana[/name_f] for a middle, it is so spunky (But I’m Greek so I’m a bit biased). I also really like [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] and [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]. I think they are cute and fun, and so much more fun than simple [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] or [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. I’m not really a fan of any of the other feminine forms of [name_m]John[/name_m]. I heard [name_f]Johnna[/name_f] once and was not pleasantly surprised. [name_m]John[/name_m] has such a masculine sound to me that most of the others just don’t feel like girls names.
