My husband has decided he would like to incorporate our grandmothers’ names into our baby girl’s name. I’m not set on using ALL of them, but looking for ideas. For his, we could do [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]-[name_u]Jo[/name_u] or [name_f]Joelle[/name_f] (probably MN) but I’m at a loss for my grandma [name_f]Wanda[/name_f]. She is a wonderful lady but has never liked her name and I’m not fond of it either. To make things more complicated, she doesn’t have a middle name. She uses her maiden name (Klassen or just K.) when she has to, but technically doesn’t have a mn. Her married name also isn’t useable as a baby name, unlike a lot of surname-names.
I’m thinking [name_f]Amanda[/name_f], [name_f]Candace[/name_f], [name_f]Lavanda[/name_f], [name_f]Miranda[/name_f], [name_f]Luanda[/name_f] that incorporate the ‘anda’; [name_u]Walker[/name_u] (mn), [name_f]Willa[/name_f], [name_f]Wednesday[/name_f], [name_f]Winnie[/name_f], [name_f]Wendy[/name_f], [name_f]Winona[/name_f], [name_f]Willow[/name_f], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], [name_u]Wren[/name_u] that have the ‘W’. My faves would be [name_f]Amanda[/name_f] or [name_f]Wendy[/name_f].
Well, there’s always the option of “[name_u]Kay[/name_u]” as the middle name - and variations like [name_f]Kayla[/name_f].
[name_f]Wendy[/name_f] is a pretty common variant of [name_f]Wanda[/name_f].
If your grandmother [name_f]Wanda[/name_f] has never liked her name, it seems silly to want to honor her by use of her name. I understand wanting to honor her with the naming of your child, though, so perhaps is there a different way you could do that? For example, choosing a name with a meaning that reminds you of her/defines the qualities you see in her? Or something she loves?
What about names that sound similar to [name_f]Wanda[/name_f]:
Wonder
Wander
Also, [name_m]German[/name_m] and Polish versions of [name_f]Wanda[/name_f] are [name_f]Vanda[/name_f].
Or names that share the same meaning “wanderer”
[name_m]Farrin[/name_m]/Farron/Farran
Wendelle
[name_f]Romilly[/name_f]
[name_f]Naiara[/name_f] (N-AYAARAH)
Or names that share similar meaning:
[name_f]Journey[/name_f], Viatrix- to travel
[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f]- voyager
[name_f]Odessa[/name_f]- odyssey (I could only think of the book title when I saw this but I looked up the defintion and #2 is very much travel or wander. ) (Odyssey Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com)
[name_u]Sloane[/name_u]- expedition
[name_f]Zita[/name_f]- to seek
Since you mention your Grandmother isn’t fond of her name, perhaps you could invite her to participate in the name picking process? Perhaps there is a name she has always loved that you love as well. Or, maybe there is something that has been incredibly important in her life to inspire a name? If the point is to honor her, who would know better than her how to go about it?
The only other thing I can think of that has not already been mentioned is, what do you think of [name_f]Dawn[/name_f], as an anagram for [name_f]Wanda[/name_f]?
Those are some great suggestions. For those of you who said it seems odd to honor her using a name she doesn’t like–that’s exactly it! We’re trying to come up with another name that we can use that reminds us of her.
She was born in [name_u]August[/name_u], but [name_f]Augusta[/name_f] just doesn’t sound right. We could potentially use her mother’s name, [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. I’ve asked my mom what her favorite flower is. I know what she usually plants, but not sure they truly would be her “favorite.” I’m also researching names that have a meaning that describes her–a simple, devoted, loving woman.
The town she was born in and the town she grew up in are both unusable. I don’t want to make it too much of a stretch because my husband’s grandmother’s names are so direct [name_m]Ely[/name_m] (prn. [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]) and [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_u]Jo[/name_u] (called Grandma [name_u]Jo[/name_u])–thus [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]-[name_u]Jo[/name_u]/[name_m]Ely[/name_m]-[name_u]Jo[/name_u] or [name_f]Joelle[/name_f].
Our other option is to use my late grandfather’s name ([name_m]William[/name_m] or [name_m]Ned[/name_m]) for our baby boy. (We’re expecting twins.) That would probably mean as much to my grandma as using her name.
I think Klassen makes a nice middle. [name_f]Joelle[/name_f] Kassen is nice. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you like [name_f]Mariella[/name_f], [name_f]Marielle[/name_f] or [name_f]Mariel[/name_f]? That would honor your husband’s grandmothers too and I think [name_f]Mariella[/name_f] Klassen is classy and beautiful.
Perhaps just [name_f]Autumn[/name_f] or [name_f]Summer[/name_f] (for her birthday)? Or for example if she always plants lilies or roses, [name_f]Lilith[/name_f], [name_f]Lilian[/name_f], [name_f]Roslyn[/name_f], [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f], etc. You could make it less of a “stretch” by making the middle name [name_u]Kay[/name_u] or [name_f]Kayla[/name_f]. You could also stretch Klassen into something like [name_u]Kassidy[/name_u] or [name_f]Clarissa[/name_f].
But honestly, I think it’s okay to be inconsistent about how directly or indirectly you are using the original names - if she doesn’t like her name, it’s not a big deal - it’s really the thought that counts. [name_m]Even[/name_m] a special memory of her - a certain outing together you always remember fondly, something she bakes, a perfume she’s worn for 50 years - could inspire a lovely name in honor of her. Sometimes it’s the littlest things that are the most meaningful.
I like that you said using [name_m]William[/name_m] could mean just as much to her - I like Klassen as a middle name for a boy. [name_m]William[/name_m] Klassen is nice. If you wanted to incorporate [name_m]William[/name_m] for a girl’s name, you could go with [name_f]Willa[/name_f], [name_f]Willow[/name_f], Wilhemina, etc.
There are many lovely names out there with a “devotion” meaning, but it seems they are mostly “devotion to God” - is that okay? If so, I’ll pick out a few and post them here!
Actually, devoted to God is a perfect description of both her and my Grandpa. She was/is devoted to God and family. I know there’s a lot of names with that kind of meaning so I need to see if we like any of them or if any of them fit with our other names.
Some others I came across with meanings like “devoted to God,” “servant of God,” “child of God,” “bringer of faith,” “messenger of God,” “faith,” etc. that may resonate with you:
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