this, besides possibly thanksgiving, is my most favorite holiday. i love crafting sweet cards and handmade gifts for friends, family, and my students, and i’m just a romantic at heart.
my sweet great grandmother passed on this day five years ago. she still visits me in cardinals, but each day, and especially this day, i miss her ever so much.
my fiancé and i, as most of you know, are beginning are ttc journey in august, and i love the idea of honoring her, if we ever are blessed with a little girl. i thought this would be a fun way to get some ideas, if you had to honor a helen marie, what would you choose?
you may note as well
she loved flowers, her catholic faith, has a very anne shirley cuthbert back story, and was given the name ella by her biological mother and father. it was later changed, because there was already an ella in the orphanage.
thank you, as always, for your responses. i cherish each and every one of you
If I was to honour a [name_f]Helen[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f], I’d consider…
[name_f]Leni[/name_f] (from Helen)
[name_f]Lenor[/name_f] (from Helen)
[name_f]Nell[/name_f] (from Helen)
[name_f]Hannelore[/name_f] (has the letters of [name_f]Helen[/name_f], means light like [name_f]Helen[/name_f], includes the [name_f]El[/name_f]- sound for [name_f]Ella[/name_f], means 'grace-and-god-are-my-light)
[name_f]Annmarie[/name_f] (from her middle, a nod to the [name_f]Anne[/name_f] backstory, and religious meaning)
[name_f]Marilla[/name_f] (similar to above, and it feels floral)
[name_f]Elin[/name_f] (variant of Helen)
[name_f]Amaryllis[/name_f] (floral, linked to [name_f]Marilla[/name_f] / [name_f]Anne[/name_f], a nod to her middle, has a sparkling, shining meaning)
[name_f]Elowen[/name_f] (a stretch, but its botanical, begins with ‘El-’ and has a similar look to Helen)
[name_f]Elestren[/name_f] (floral - means [name_f]Iris[/name_f] - has the [name_f]El[/name_f]- beginning and similar ending to Helen)
Helena, Eleanor / Eleanora or Nell in the middle spot probably. Or Mariette / Marietta if taking inspiration from Marie. Eleanor / Eleanora would be a good way to nod to both Helen and Ella… Ella is lovely too.
Honestly? I would either use Helen, Marie, or Helen Marie as your daughter’s middle name(s). In my opinion that’s the most honourable choice - the actual, full name - so it is known and remembered.
Otherwise, I would go with Ella as your daughter’s first name. It’s sad that they changed her name and that name is a real connection to her, and your, biological family.
So I would go for:
Ella ________ (another middle name that honour someone else or that you like for another reason) or
________ Helen Marie, the full honour name. Helen Marie is a nice name combo as well, especially as 2 middle names.
@Greyblue grace, thank you kindly for these suggestions! leni, nell, elowen, and marilla definitely stick. i’ve been adoring lenora as an honor for her and leni and nell make lovely nicknames for that as well!
@Casea33 they’re the loveliest birds to see, imo, especially in the dead of winter! ella does make an awfully sweet middle!
@Lula-Rose eleanor would be so darn perfect, it’s one of my other great grandmothers’ names- i’ve considered ellanore as well, but sadly, my fiancé has a little cousin called eleanor! i’d still use it in the middle, however. thank you for these suggestions!
@EdgeOfTheMeadow thank you for this extensive list! elodie, eliora, nella, and luella are my absolute favorites, and luella iris, elodie marigold, and primrose ella are extra darling.
@Elsker i’ve been greatly considering naming a little girl helen. it’s so strong and sturdy, classic, yet still dusty, waiting for a revival. your words are giving me the confidence to keep it as a real contender. it is awfully sad that they changed it; we never even knew her name was ella until she passed five years ago! helen and marie as double middles are also gorgeous. i’m thinking ada helen marie and frances helen marie!
I absolutely love the name [name_f]Helen[/name_f], so I’d choose that! I think [name_f]Heidi[/name_f] or [name_f]Mary[/name_f] (or both as a really charming combo) would also be on my honors list. I love those.
More ideas so get creative…
• [name_f]Lennie[/name_f] (“Len” and “ie,” bits from both names)
• in a similar vein ^ [name_m]Lemmie[/name_m]!
• (for [name_f]Helen[/name_f] and [name_f]Ella[/name_f] together)
• [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], Ellanore, etc—I think this is ideal for you. Such an emeraldsea staple through time!
• [name_f]Elle[/name_f], [name_f]Elena[/name_f], [name_f]Helena[/name_f] (for [name_f]Helen[/name_f] and [name_f]Ella[/name_f], again)
• [name_f]Nellie[/name_f]
• [name_m]Len[/name_m]? (For [name_f]Helen[/name_f] but also the significance of Lent in the Catholic faith)
• [name_m]Valentine[/name_m]! I love this connection! Your babe and your great gran and your future hubby… all forever Valentines of your life.
• [name_f]Faith[/name_f]
• [name_f]Birdie[/name_f]
• a name that means “light” like [name_f]Helen[/name_f] does (for example: [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_m]Beacon[/name_m], [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f], [name_f]Nora[/name_f], [name_f]Halo[/name_f], [name_f]Elaine[/name_f], [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] / [name_f]Kira[/name_f], [name_f]Sorcha[/name_f], or [name_f]Yelena[/name_f] for a sweet connection)
• or maybe H and M initials in the combo, no matter baby’s sex! [name_m]Huxley[/name_m] [name_m]Meyer[/name_m] for a boy? [name_f]Heidi[/name_f] [name_f]Maybelle[/name_f] for a girl? All so fun and meaningful, whilst still opening the doors to your style as a couple.
I like [name_f]Elena[/name_f] [name_f]Mary[/name_f]. [name_m]Just[/name_m] variants of the original names [name_f]Helen[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f].
[name_f]Helena[/name_f] is also a viable option.
happy (belated) valentine’s day! 🫶🏻 & i hope grief isn’t stopping you from enjoying this special day!
if i were to honour helen…
helena
lena
ellen
leni
eleni (eh-leh-nee)
nell
honouring marie…
marigold (stretchy but marie & marigold)
mary
marnie
rosemary
maisy
you could also use those initials like doing hazel marigold or harriet mia and having the h.m first & middle initials.
if you wanted to honour ella, you could do any -elle ending name. such as giselle, adele/adelle or just straight elle! or luella which is super pretty!
I was thinking that if you don’t want to use [name_f]Helen[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f] in full, you could give her the first name [name_f]Helen[/name_f] with a different middle name or give her the middle name [name_f]Helen[/name_f]. I think [name_f]Helen[/name_f] is such a pretty name and it’s timeless too. Unfortunately, I think the middle name [name_f]Marie[/name_f] is a little overused though.
Wow, she sounds like a lovely lady! I like [name_f]Helen[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f] & love [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. It is really interesting that it was changed from [name_f]Ella[/name_f] to [name_f]Helen[/name_f]. I think using anything ‘Elle’ related would be a nice way to honor.
Sorry for any repeats, but I like the idea of…
[name_f]Elena[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleni[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]
Estella…too much of a stretch? I just love [name_f]Estella[/name_f]!
[name_f]Helena[/name_f]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f]
Magdalena…that honors Catholicism, yes? And [name_f]Lena[/name_f] is like [name_f]Helen[/name_f].
[name_f]Nellie[/name_f]!
And also you could use the same initials H.M. Maybe something floral too like…
I don’t really like far fetched honoring name, so to me the name still needs to be recognizable somehow and be included, or at least have an element of the name.
Otherwise I’d find it more meaningful to choose something the person loved (so for example Rose if she loved roses).
Summary
My grandma had an Els-name and I would consider Elsa, Elsabeth, Elspeth and Elsie to be honoring, but not really Isabelle, Betty, Lisa, Liza or Isabella (also forms of Elizabeth). So I would probably just pick Opal, which was her favorite stone as I feel it’s more meaningful than a name you can hardly link to the original anymore. I like Elsa too, but Opal is my preference at the moment.
So for Helen Marie I would say:
Helen or Helene or Helena
As they have the same meaning and similar sound. You can recognize the name.
For Marie I would honestly just do Marie as it feels less associated already, being only a middle name (unless she went by it). Or unless you use Helen as a middle name. Maria Helen or Mary Helen would have enough of a connection. Or you do variants of both, that would also work: Maria Helena, Helena Mary etc.
Ella I would only pick if she liked and appreciated the name and you have knowledge of that. Then it could work.
You could also pick the name of her favorite Catholic saint (if you know who she was). Or the saint of her name day.
Your story really stuck with me, as I also had a cherished great grandmother named Helen who passed on Valentine’s Day. Her name was Helen Evelyn
I honestly think the world is ready for Helen. I hope to maybe use it at least as a middle some day. It is so steady and yet bright and sweet! If you don’t use it as a first, I would strongly suggest using it in the middle - it would be such a lovely way to honor your great grandmother.
