Hey all, my friend is looking for a middle name for her daughter that is like her middle name ([name]Kayleen[/name]) and can be shortened to [name]Kay[/name]. She doesn’t like [name]Kayleigh[/name] or [name]Kaylyn[/name] and doesn’t want to use just [name]Kay[/name]. She’s settled on [name]Kayla[/name] so far (it is what her mom wanted to name her but her dad didn’t like it, so they named her [name]Megan[/name] and he made up her middle name [name]Kayleen[/name] as a compromise) but she is not sold. Can you guys think of any other [name]Kay[/name]- names besides those three? Thanks!
Theoretically, any name starting with K could be shortened to “[name]Kay[/name].”
More obviously:
[name]Karin[/name]
Karinna
[name]Katarina[/name]
Kateri (a Mowhawk saint, the first Native American to be canonized)
[name]Katharine[/name]
[name]Katya[/name]
Katriel (“God is my crown” in Hebrew)
Kaveri (Finnish for ‘friend’)
[name]Mariska[/name]
And with the sound:
[name]Leocadia[/name]
[name]Michaela[/name]
[name]Cadence[/name]
[name]Casey[/name]
[name]Caitlin[/name]
[name]Cascade[/name]
[name]Acacia[/name]
[name]Acadia[/name]
[name]Arcadia[/name]
[name]Cate[/name]/[name]Kate[/name]
[name]Ran[/name] all of this past my friend. She really wants the actual “kay” sound in the beginning and preferably something that starts with k. She was intrigued by Kateri and Katriel though. And she sort of liked the idea of [name]Kate[/name] but said she’d spell it Kayte. She’s not sold though. Any other ideas?
What’s the baby’s first name? That would help with suggestions. If she wants to use [name]Kay[/name], but doesn’t want just [name]Kay[/name], what about a hyphenated middle name? Something like [name]Samantha[/name]-[name]Kay[/name] or [name]Stephanie[/name]-[name]Kay[/name]?
Does she need just the sound “kay” or the spelling? Because I’m thinking something like [name]Katelyn[/name] or [name]Kaitlin[/name] might work. I’m not a fan of the Kayte spelling, honestly. It looks made up and takes away from the classic beauty of the name [name]Kate[/name].
Duh, sorry! Lol the baby’s fn is [name]Gabriella[/name]. She wants to be able to nn her [name]Gabby[/name] [name]Kay[/name] as her nn is [name]Megan[/name] [name]Kay[/name]. So she really would like the [name]Kay[/name] spelling but in a longer form. I’m not a fan of the Kayte spelling either…
[name]Gabriella[/name] [name]Kaysi[/name]?
I’m glad she liked Kateri and Katriel.
If she has to have the first three letters be [name]Kay[/name], then the only options I know of are all modern invented names like the ones she’s rejecting. The total list:
[name]Kaya[/name]
[name]Kaycie[/name]
[name]Kayden[/name]
[name]Kaydence[/name]
[name]Kayla[/name]
[name]Kayleigh[/name]
[name]Kaylynn[/name]
[name]Kayan[/name]
Kayra
[name]Kaytlin[/name]
My choice, with such a pretty and long first name as [name]Gabriella[/name], would be the simple [name]Gabriella[/name] [name]Kaye[/name].
Starting with the letter K and with a true [name]Kay[/name] sound:
Keona (Hawaiian name meaning ‘God is gracious’)
[name]Keziah[/name] (Hebrew for cinnamon, and the name of [name]Job[/name]'s daughter in the Bible)
Keala ([name]Kay[/name]-ah-la, Hawaiian for ‘the pathway’)
[name]Kacie[/name], [name]Kaleigh[/name], [name]Kaden[/name], etc
[name]Kaitlin[/name] or something similar maybe?
[name]Kasey[/name]
[name]Katie[/name]
Kayanna
[name]Kadie[/name]
With [name]Gabriella[/name] I think [name]Kay[/name] really is the best flow, and [name]Gabriella[/name] [name]Kay[/name] nn [name]Gabby[/name] [name]Kay[/name] is really nice and straightforward. [name]Gabriella[/name] and [name]Kayla[/name] are both pretty but the flow is not the best because of the matching endings. [name]Gabrielle[/name] [name]Kayla[/name] would work better if she’s open to [name]Gabrielle[/name]. I also think [name]Gabriella[/name] [name]Cadence[/name] is really nice. She could spell it [name]Gabriella[/name] [name]Kaydence[/name] if she really wanted to, in the middle I think youneek spellings matter less, but [name]Gabriella[/name] [name]Cadence[/name] looks better and there’s no reason she couldn’t be called [name]Gabby[/name] [name]Kay[/name] and even have the nn spelled with [name]Kay[/name], just the middle without.
I take it she doesn’t want to re-use [name]Kayleen[/name]? [name]Gabriella[/name] [name]Kayleen[/name] is OK. A few other ideas, all invented:
Kayline (rhyming with [name]Caroline[/name])
[name]Mikayla[/name] (better with [name]Gabrielle[/name]: [name]Gabrielle[/name] [name]Mikayla[/name] - I far prefer the [name]Michaela[/name] spelling but this one’s next best and better with a reason).
[name]Kaysie[/name] or Kayzie or [name]Kaysy[/name] (rhyming with [name]Daisy[/name])
Kaysley (rhyming with [name]Paisley[/name])
Kayland (close to [name]Kaylyn[/name], but maybe mixing it up more?)
Kayton (like the surname [name]Keaton[/name] but with a [name]Kay[/name] sound)
Kaydeen
Kayreen
Kayanne (looks a lot like [name]Cayenne[/name])
Kaymary (with stress on [name]Kay[/name] and mary kind of broken down, like in [name]Rosemary[/name])
Kaymarie (similar to [name]Rosemarie[/name])
Kayreen
Kaygan (merging with her name [name]Megan[/name])
Has Kayana been mentioned? I think it is a pretty name I got off of babynames.com list. ([name]Kay[/name]-ahna) I think [name]Gabriella[/name] Kayana would be lovely, but I like the repeated “a” endings as I have [name]Elena[/name] [name]Sophia[/name] on my list.
These are some awesome suggestions! I’m super excited to take these to her. [name]Blade[/name]-- the Hawaiian names are great! I had forgotten, but she and her cousins were hula dancers growing up and all have Hawaiian nn, so she might really go for those.
Now that’s cool. [name]Glad[/name] to have helped-- they’re so pretty, and I like that they have some substance behind them. [name]Gabrielle[/name] Keona would have my vote. 
She LOVED having so many suggestions to pick from! Thank you so much! She’s down to two that she loves and would like your votes: [name]Gabriella[/name] Kayana or [name]Gabriella[/name] Keona. They sound similar to begin but she likes the actual “[name]Kay[/name]” beginning of Kayana but loves that Keona is Hawaiian and that she can still get to the “[name]Kay[/name]” nn. She talked about spelling Keona as Kayona but I talked her out of that thankfully!
[name]Gabriella[/name] Keona gets my vote
Definitely Keona! It has such deep roots and a beautiful meaning, whereas the other is just pretty sounds, nothing more. So glad she liked it!