Hello! We’re currently in the process of finding a first name that honors a family member named [name_u]Jean[/name_u]. We’ve been trying to find a variant that we love but have come up with no luck. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have any suggestions? As an example, we named our daughter [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] after a family member named [name_f]Angela[/name_f]. This little girl has 3 big siblings, [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], [name_m]Dominic[/name_m], and [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] (sometimes called [name_m]Ian[/name_m], [name_u]Nick[/name_u]/[name_u]Nicky[/name_u], and [name_u]Angel[/name_u]/[name_f]Lina[/name_f]). Please help us?!
Adding to the post: Using Jean on it’s own is NOT an option for us. It will not be ever, we don’t like it on its own and doesn’t fit with our other children’s names. We are looking for a name like Angelina’s…it’s a variant/related to the name but still has it’s own personality and is girly
[name_f]My[/name_f] mom was [name_f]Jeannette[/name_f] (yes, double n double t) but always went by [name_u]Jean[/name_u].
I almost used [name_u]Jean[/name_u] in the middle but didn’t because it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I got an overwhelming
positive response to [name_u]Jean[/name_u] both on and off of Nameberry.
Thank you for the link, we’ll definitely take a closer look at it! [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] is pretty however both my husband and my’s name start with “[name_u]Jo[/name_u]” so we want to stay away from those.
Using [name_u]Jean[/name_u] as-is is not an option. We are looking for alternatives.
[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t be sorry… it was to me also! Maybe honor [name_u]Jean[/name_u] by their middle? What about [name_u]Joan[/name_u] or [name_f]Jane[/name_f]? Too far?
[name_u]Joan[/name_u] and [name_f]Jane[/name_f] are a bit too short for us, also we can’t use the name [name_f]Jane[/name_f]. [name_u]Jean[/name_u]'s middle name is [name_f]Marie[/name_f] and we didn’t like any variants of that either…plus we really want to use some form of [name_u]Jean[/name_u] as it’s a lot more meaningful to us that way rather than using a middle name.
[name_f]Gianna[/name_f] is nice, though we don’t have strong feelings towards it right now. We came across [name_f]Giovanna[/name_f] which we are liking but not sure if it would cause any issues (mainly spelling-wise?).
[name_u]Jean[/name_u] is a variant of [name_f]Jane[/name_f]…but since [name_f]Jane[/name_f] is not an option…may I suggest [name_f]Janessa[/name_f] (prn like [name_f]Vanessa[/name_f] but with a J).
[name_f]Zhanna[/name_f] - Prn. ZHAH-nah, Russian
[name_f]Siobhan[/name_f] - Prn. shi-VAWN
Sínead - Prn. shi-NAYD
[name_f]Jovana[/name_f] - Correctly prn. yo-VAH-nah, but I really like jo-VAH-nah as well
[name_f]Ivanna[/name_f]/[name_f]Ivana[/name_f] -Russian again
[name_f]Hannelore[/name_f] - this one is a little strange, but quite beautiful all the same, [name_m]German[/name_m] combination of [name_f]Hanne[/name_f] (from [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]) and [name_f]Eleonore[/name_f].
[name_f]Marie[/name_f] made me think of [name_f]Maribel[/name_f], I love [name_f]Maribel[/name_f] for you!
Also:
Maëlys
[name_u]Marian[/name_u]
[name_f]Mariana[/name_f]
[name_f]Mariella[/name_f]
[name_f]Marietta[/name_f]
[name_f]Marigold[/name_f]
[name_f]Marilyn[/name_f]
[name_f]Marisol[/name_f]
[name_f]Miriam[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosemary[/name_f]
The first thing that came to my mind was [name_f]Janine[/name_f] (“jah-neen”). It sounds just like [name_u]Jean[/name_u], but with an extra syllable in the middle. If you decide you want to use it, you may want to play around with the spelling a little bit, though, so that you end up with something that closer resembles [name_u]Jean[/name_u] ([name_f]Janean[/name_f], maybe?).
[name_f]Jeannine[/name_f] is a another, similar alternative.
I know its not a first name but my sister was named after our grandmother and her name is [name_f]Ivy[/name_f] [name_u]Jean[/name_u], Her nickname is [name_f]Jeanie[/name_f] or [name_u]Jean[/name_u]. So maybe combining it with a short first name or vice versa that you could say as a whole or not. [name_u]Jean[/name_u] was a very common middle name.
[name_f]Giovanna[/name_f] is lovely! I like [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] a lot (and think it goes smashingly with [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], [name_m]Dominic[/name_m], and [name_f]Angelina[/name_f]), but I would have never connected it to [name_u]Jean[/name_u] at all. Would that bother you?
[name_f]My[/name_f] first idea was [name_f]Georgina[/name_f] (has the [name_u]Jean[/name_u] sound right in there!), but I prefer [name_f]Georgiana[/name_f] personally (which still sort of relates, I think).
To me an honour name has to be at least related to the original one. To me honouring Jean with something like Genevieve is not really honouring at all. Why not just name her Jean, and use a nickname you like (Jenny, Jeanie, Jay-Jay, Scout - like in To Kill a Mockingbird - Jack…) or a double name (Emma-Jean, Clara-Jean, Jean-Elizabeth)?
Your other kids have fairly classic names so I think most non-English forms of Jean sound too exotic in comparison… for instance, I love the french Forms Jeanne and Jehanne, but they would be butchered in English. However, I think these could work: Jana, Janna, Jenna, Joanne, Joanna, Janet, Jeanine, Janice, Ioanna, Evanna, Ivana, Iva.
Giovanna is pretty (and Angelina is also Italian, so it fits), but please pronounce it correctly (Jo-vah-nah, not gee-oh-canna). There’s also Giannina (jah-nina).
What about using Johanna and calling her Hanna, to avoid the “Jo” repetition?
If you like Joan but feels to short, again why not go with a double-first name — something like Joan-Grace or Sophia-Joan?
