Name for a second daughter?

Girl Names
1

[name]Hi[/name] all! Our daughter was born seven weeks ago, and we named her [name]Elena[/name]. Thanks for all the feedback on the names! I am mostly happy with her name, although I still sometimes feel sad we didn’t use [name]Magdalena[/name], which my husband felt sounded too Hispanic or Eastern European for our daughter (who is half-Korean, half-WASP). We actually waited to decide until she was born, thinking I might know which one I wanted when I saw her. I didn’t!

In any case, I am in the house all day with [name]Elena[/name] and starting to think of what I might name a second daughter, if I had one. (I am not pregnant, just having fun dreaming about names.) I have a boy name picked out, but I have no idea what I would name another daughter, and now that I’ve picked one name, I kind of want another name to be a reasonable stylistic match. Help me brainstorm.

Here’s what I would be looking for:

  • A name that is classic and timeless, not trendy.
  • A name (ideally) that has something to do with light, fire, or brightness, in order to match the Korean generational name. ([name]Elena[/name], a form of [name]Helen[/name], means “torch” or “shining, bright.”)
  • A name that “sounds right” for a half-Korean, all-American baby… i.e., not associated with an ethnicity we do not belong to (re: [name]Magdalena[/name]).
  • Does not end in an -ee sound, because our last name is Li. (I like [name]Audrey[/name], but it’s too sing-songy with our last name.)

The name that immediately springs to mind for me is [name]Diana[/name], goddess of the moon, but because I have a negative association with the name from a former student, I don’t think I could ever name a daughter that… which is too bad, because otherwise it’s perfect. If it helps, the other names at the top of my old list were [name]Caroline[/name] and [name]Vivian[/name]. (I crossed off [name]Vivian[/name] because of [name]Vivian[/name] [name]Leigh[/name], unfortunately.)

Any ideas?

2

My first thought after reading your requirements was [name]Clara[/name] which I think suits them to a T.

3

These names don’t all have the meanings you’re looking for but they really travel well across many cultures and languages.

[name]Ada[/name]
[name]Adela[/name]
[name]Adriana[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Ava[/name]
[name]Clara[/name]
[name]Eve[/name]/[name]Eva[/name]
[name]Isabella[/name]/[name]Isabel[/name]
[name]Mara[/name]
[name]Marina[/name]
[name]Maia[/name]/[name]Maya[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Mila[/name]
[name]Mira[/name]
[name]Natalia[/name]
[name]Nina[/name]
[name]Sara[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name]/[name]Sophia[/name]
[name]Sonia[/name]/[name]Sonja[/name]/[name]Sonya[/name]
[name]Talia[/name]
[name]Tania[/name]
[name]Tessa[/name]
[name]Thea[/name]

4

[name]Nora[/name], [name]Lucia[/name], [name]Stacia[/name], [name]Esther[/name], [name]Margaret[/name], [name]Marta[/name], [name]Megan[/name], [name]Dianne[/name], [name]Danielle[/name], [name]Dinah[/name], [name]Barbra[/name], [name]Cora[/name], [name]Susana[/name], [name]Liza[/name], [name]Luna[/name], [name]Lydia[/name], [name]Lillian[/name], [name]Kate[/name], [name]Becca[/name], [name]Katrina[/name], [name]Kathryn[/name], [name]Christina[/name], [name]Bettina[/name], [name]Alyssa[/name], [name]Evelyn[/name], [name]Edith[/name], [name]Judith[/name], [name]Cynthia[/name], [name]Meredith[/name], [name]Olivia[/name], [name]Vera[/name], [name]Viola[/name], [name]Delia[/name], [name]Erica[/name], [name]Greta[/name], [name]Ina[/name], [name]Iris[/name], [name]Ingrid[/name]

5

I like the suggestion of [name]Lucia[/name]. Maybe [name]Iris[/name]? It’s a flower and also means “[name]Rainbow[/name]”.

6

[name]Kira[/name] is a gorgeous name that means ‘light’ (it is not the same as [name]Ciara[/name]/[name]Keira[/name]).

7

I think [name]Clara[/name], [name]Claire[/name], [name]Diane[/name] are good ideas.