Middle name for Nina?

Girl Names
1

I feel like I keep posting this but we cannot come up with anything we both like. I am at the point where I am thinking no mn would be ok, b/c I feel like IF we agree, it’s going to be a hurried choice, not meaningful, etc. My mn is [name]Lee[/name] and I have never liked it b/c it feels like an afterthought.

I made a list last night and he crossed off all but these:
[name]Adeline[/name]
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Ingrid[/name]
[name]Janet[/name]
[name]Lucille[/name]
[name]Madeline[/name]

His top favs are:
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Dorothy[/name]
I do not like [name]Beatrice[/name] (due to the weird pn issue of [name]Beat[/name]-rizz) or [name]Violet[/name]. I do kind of like [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Dorothy[/name] (my grammy’s mn) but he is considering “saving” those in case we have another daughter someday.

These are some names that I liked but he does not:
[name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Genevieve[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Maeve[/name]

And these are the family names that are already taken:
[name]Adele[/name]
[name]Amelia[/name]
[name]Caroline[/name]
[name]Grace[/name]
[name]Elaine[/name]
[name]Elizabeth[/name]
[name]Jane[/name]
[name]Katherine[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Meredith[/name]

I would just like some comments on the options I’ve listed above. Should I push for anything? I kind of wanted the mn to mean something.

Of the [name]RED[/name] names, [name]Janet[/name] is my dad’s mom’s name. I don’t particularly like this name, but I could get on board b/c it’s her name. [name]Madeline[/name] was sort of a combo of my sisters’ and his sister’s name (M- for [name]Meredith[/name], -ad- for [name]Adele[/name], -el- for [name]Elaine[/name], and -ine for [name]Katherine[/name]). BUT it’s pretty popular… [name]Adeline[/name] is similar to [name]Adele[/name] (I am surprised he left that one on the list). The others are just names.

Of the PURPLE names, [name]Jane[/name] and [name]Grace[/name] are our nieces’ mns. Could we reuse them? [name]Jane[/name] is also my mom’s mn, and [name]Grace[/name] is a name I’ve liked for a long time.

See how I am all over the place? Any advice for me? I am 32.5 weeks so I do still have some time… Last name is R@nnenberg so super [name]German[/name] sounding. My maiden name is [name]Simon[/name] but [name]Nina[/name] [name]Simone[/name] kind of ruined that option. :slight_smile:

Thanks for any help!

2

[name]Nina[/name] is gorgeous, I must say! [name]Nina[/name] [name]Jane[/name] sprung to mind as soon as I read the post, and it would honor your mum too (and possibly even your dad’s mom, [name]Janet[/name]?). I don’t think it’s too much of an issue that you have a niece named [name]Jane[/name]. You are using it for a middle name, rather than a first, and it’s a family name anyway. :wink:

Out of your red, blue and green names listed, I like:
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Ingrid[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Dorothy[/name]
[name]Genevieve[/name]
[name]Maeve[/name]

I like [name]Nina[/name] [name]Ingrid[/name], [name]Nina[/name] [name]Violet[/name] and [name]Nina[/name] [name]Maeve[/name] in particular. Another one I just [name]LOVE[/name] is [name]Nina[/name] [name]Meridith[/name], but you obviously can’t use it because it’s your sister’s name. I like a lot of others from your purple list too. I’m not particularly fond of [name]Nina[/name] [name]Janet[/name] (depending on pronunciation; I quite like the pronunciation jah-NET, but I don’t really like JAH-nuht) either, but if you wanted to use a variant of it, then I like:
[name]Jane[/name]
[name]Zaneta[/name] (Russian form)
[name]Gianetta[/name] (Italian form)
[name]Janneth[/name] (Scottish form)
[name]Jania[/name]
[name]Juno[/name]
[name]Janine[/name]
[name]Janella[/name]
[name]Janae[/name]
[name]Janette[/name]

My favourite of those is definitely [name]Nina[/name] [name]Jane[/name]. Which again, honors both your dad’s mom, and your mum, and of course sounds lovely! [name]Nina[/name] [name]Jane[/name] Rannenberg sounds wonderful to me, but my only concern is [name]Jane[/name], and although gorgeous and a honorable family name, sounds a little plain, which is the complete opposite of what you wanted. It’s up to you really. :slight_smile:

Good luck in finding a middle name for baby [name]Nina[/name]! :lol:

3

[name]How[/name] many children are you planning on having? ie - what are the chances of you having two more daughters, and the chances that you would use both [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Dorothy[/name] for both of them? I guess feel like “saving” a name isn’t worth it, simply because at different points of our lives, we tend towards different names. I know our current fave would not have made it on the list at ALL if she were our first instead of our fourth . . .

Also, for a middle name, I think re-using even though they have been taken by another family member is FINE. It’s only a middle name, and it can even be construed as honoring the other family member as well.

4

I think any of these would be lovely! I personally wouldn’t worry so much about the popularity of [name]Madeline[/name], since it’s in the middle spot. Understand if you feel differently. It is a name with history that’s been around, so I think it’s popular without being trendy per se, especially with all the tie-ins to family, that really grounds it. I would love to have a middle name connecting me to all my aunts : D. You could spell it [name]Madeleine[/name], which is somewhat less popular and for some people prn’d somewhat different (and has [name]Adele[/name] inside).

[name]Nina[/name] [name]Dorothy[/name] or [name]Nina[/name] [name]Penelope[/name] are also both great, especially [name]Nina[/name] [name]Penelope[/name] with that 2-4-3 syllable order - great flow! I wouldn’t worry too much about saving for a future daughter as there are two of these names! [name]Nina[/name] and [name]Penelope[/name] aren’t the easiest sisters for me to imagine, although it’s fine enough. [name]Nina[/name] and [name]Dorothy[/name] is easier to imagine, I think (of course, this all doesn’t matter if these are contenders for future middles only).

I will point out that in case you didn’t see that with [name]Penelope[/name] her initials would be NPR - like National Public Radio (if you’re in the US). Probably not a problem but wanted to mention it in case it is.

All best!

5

Thank you once again for the replies. :slight_smile:

[name]Jane[/name] is lovely, we really like how it sounds with [name]Nina[/name]. My twin sister’s daughter is [name]Nora[/name] [name]Jane[/name], that is why I feel like it’s so similar? She was born 3/10 so she’ll be 15 months older than this baby. Might be too close? [name]Meredith[/name] is my twin so I think it would be cool to use [name]Meredith[/name] as [name]Nina[/name]'s mn but my husband flat-out refuses. He likes my sister and all, but that’s a big honor (I think anyway).

I am really leaning towards [name]Madeline[/name] (or [name]Madeleine[/name], which I love the look of!). The initials NMR actually turn me off b/c I am a scientist and I use an NMR machine, so that is what I think of. Obviously, it’s not as bad as NPR, but we are liberals so we like NPR, haha. I will ask the husband what he thinks of those initials. I know he REALLY likes [name]Penelope[/name], but I think it’s more b/c he likes the nn [name]Penny[/name]. Same with [name]Dorothy[/name], he likes the nn [name]Dottie[/name]. But [name]Nina[/name] trumps both names so we will use [name]Nina[/name] first.

I think we’ll only have 2 kids (I’m already 32 and this one is my first) even though I would like 3-4. “Saving” a name is like gambling - do you risk not using it at all??

Then of course today he says he likes [name]Nina[/name] [name]Lily[/name]. I think it looks funny but it doesn’t sound BAD. He said [name]Lillian[/name] was too long. (Lots of Ls and Ns in the full name.)

I will give [name]Ingrid[/name] some more thought. I like it b/c it sounds [name]German[/name] to me, and with our last name being so [name]German[/name], I think it would fit. It sounds a little harsher than the flowy [name]Nina[/name], but that’s not bad, right?

I will see what he thinks of these top names. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your help. It’s so nice to get opinions with thought behind them on this!!!

6

Okay we have a top 4!! :slight_smile:

[name]Nina[/name] [name]Dorothy[/name]
[name]Nina[/name] [name]Ingrid[/name]
[name]Nina[/name] [name]Lucille[/name]
[name]Nina[/name] [name]Madeline[/name]

I figure, if we can get these down to two, I am ok with going to the delivery room with two options and choosing there. Hooray! Thanks again for the help!

7

[name]Hi[/name], and congrats! My 2 favorites:

[name]Nina[/name] [name]Lucille[/name]
[name]Nina[/name] [name]Madeline[/name]

8

I like them all : D!

My two favorites: [name]Nina[/name] [name]Dorothy[/name] and [name]Nina[/name] [name]Madeline[/name].

I had fun reading about NMR machines, by the way : D. I think it’s not bad at all. My own initials spell a common English word and I’ve never cared / no one ever really notices. With NMR it would be even less likely.

All best!