See the results of this poll: Helen or Josephine?
Respondents: 28 (This poll is closed)
- Helen Irene : 10 (36%)
- Josephine Gail: 18 (64%)
I prefer [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Gail[/name]. [name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name] sounds a bit too dated for me.
[name]Josephine[/name] is young and fresh, and I adore the NN [name]Josie[/name]!
I like [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Gail[/name] the best!
Oh man. When I first saw the title for this post, I thought [name]Josephine[/name] would be my pick. But then I saw the middle name for [name]Helen[/name]…
You see, I’m now extremely biased. [name]Helen[/name] is my favorite grandmother’s name, and [name]Irene[/name] is my mother’s name - [name]Helen[/name]'s daughter. I never thought of putting the two names together, and honestly, I rather like it.
I like the name [name]Josephine[/name]. However… I’m not crazy at all about [name]Gail[/name]. To me it feels very dated. (I’m sorry, I know you said this is a family name. It’s just not for me.) I’m gunna go with [name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name].
What about [name]Helen[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] as a combo? Or even [name]Helena[/name] [name]Irene[/name]?
[name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name] is a more interesting choice.
I like [name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name] so much more than the other. I love [name]Helena[/name] [name]Irena[/name] even more though 
[name]Josephine[/name], I don’t like [name]Helen[/name] it’s too dated.
I like [name]Helena[/name] (hel-[name]LAY[/name]-nah) though.
So nice to see [name]Helen[/name] rather than [name]Helena[/name]. Yes, I don’t know anyone younger than 20 who’s named it, but I think it’s far prettier than [name]Helena[/name], and you don’t get the constant mispronunciations either (because whichever way you want it, everyone else will say the other). There’s not much nn options though, only Hellie (which a [name]Helena[/name] I know goes by, but could easily work for [name]Helen[/name] too) where as [name]Josephine[/name] has far more. I love both names, I think that whichever you go for you’ve got a good choice. [name]Helen[/name]'s my pick though, it’s much more unexpected and would be gorgeous on a little girl plus works great on an adult too.
[name]Helen[/name] [name]Josephine[/name]! For sure!
[name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name] flows better, but I think I prefer [name]Josephine[/name]. I agree [name]Helen[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] would be great.
I voted for [name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name], a very handsome combination. Also, [name]Leni[/name] could be a nickname for [name]Helen[/name], and I’ve also heard [name]Nell[/name] used.
Thanks for all the replies so far. I agree that Helen Josephine would be a lovely combination, but we’re committed to honoring a family member with the middle name (the Gails are living, the Irene is not, but she was a dear, dear one to me).
We both prefer Helen over Helena, as Helena seems a little too trendy.
Josephine Irene doesn’t work, unless we’re trying to rhyme. And Helen Gail just doesn’t flow as nicely as Helen Irene.
Keep the votes coming!
Hmmm, I totally understand. I want to honor family in my names too. What if you use 2 mns and name her [name]Helen[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Gail[/name]? If I had to choose between the two on the list, I would choose [name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name]. Good luck
I like both [name]Helen[/name] and [name]Irene[/name] and would love to see them used. I like their Greek meanings (light + peace). But [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Gail[/name] seemed to flow better so it got my vote. I like the suggestion about [name]Helen[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] [name]Gail[/name] though-- I think it sounds lovely.
I really like [name]Helen[/name] [name]Irene[/name]. It’s beautiful. [name]Josephine[/name] is very pretty too. I don’t think you can go wrong with either choice.
I like the Greek meanings too. However, the Hebrew meanings may be even better: [name]Josephine[/name] = “God will increase” and [name]Gail[/name] (short for [name]Abigail[/name]) = “Father’s joy”
I should add that she has an older brother named [name]Gus[/name] (full name [name]Augustus[/name]). I’m not that big on sibling sets, but I have to admit that [name]Gus[/name] and [name]Josie[/name] sound awfully cute together.