I agree! I think Milena Catherine would be so pretty and would be a top contender for me among all these names!
Audrey & Catherine / Katherine (nn Kit / Kitty) would be my other choices. I like Beatrice but no sure about the alliteration with B and I don’t love it with Leon.
I do like the imagery of Nicole with Leon - something very cool about them. I prefer Nicola, Nicolette, or Colette as far as girl Nicholas names go.
Congratulations!
I like [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] the best for you! It flows beautifully with [name_f]Milena[/name_f], there are no pronunciation issues, so many wonderful nickname options, and it sounds great with [name_m]Leon[/name_m].
[name_f]My[/name_f] second choice would by [name_f]Audrey[/name_f]. If there isn’t an easy translation in Slavic, the family would probably come up with an affectionate nickname to call her!
And I love [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] the most from your list, [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] Hepburn made me fall in love with this name completely and [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] [name_f]Milena[/name_f] is a beautiful combination that can easily blend into any culture (including Slavic)
I also like [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] the most with your son’s name, L.eon & [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] will make a gorgeous sibset together
You really can’t go wrong with any of the four names you’ve got!
[name_f]Audrey[/name_f] - works well in [name_f]English[/name_f] and [name_f]French[/name_f] (I assume a bilingual area in canada means english and french), goes well with [name_m]Leon[/name_m] and flows nicely with [name_f]Milena[/name_f].
[name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] - feels more timeless than [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], but goes nicely with [name_m]Leon[/name_m]. [name_m]Plenty[/name_m] of nicknames oppurtinities if that is something important to you. Might have different pronunciations in different languages;
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] - timeless like [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f], but I can imagine it being a bit more common. Maybe something like [name_f]Katherina[/name_f] or [name_f]Ekaterina[/name_f] if you care about popularity. Otherwise a nice name but doesn’t feel particularly special to me.
[name_f]Nicole[/name_f] - same as [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], doesn’t give me that wow-factor. Adding on to this, [name_f]Nicole[/name_f] does feel tied to the 90s, which again, something for you to decide if you care about that. Does flow nicely with [name_f]Milena[/name_f]
I think two questions that come to mind when I look at your name list are:
does popularity matter to you?
does it matter to you if the name is pronounced differently in different languages?
[name_f]My[/name_f] favourites with brother [name_m]Leon[/name_m] are [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] and [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f]. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps in some way!
We chose [name_f]Milena[/name_f] because it has special significance to my spouse’s family. I’m not a huge fan of it as a first name, but I think it’s entirely acceptable as a middle name. Plus, our firstborn’s middle name came from my family, so it’s only fair that my spouse get a chance to honour her ancestry.
All good points. [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] is the most logical choice, but naming a child is also an emotional process. It’s that coldness of the logic that’s stopping me from declaring it the overwhelming favourite at this point.
[name_f]Mila[/name_f] was a top choice for my spouse, but I really don’t like it on its own. We ended up with [name_f]Milena[/name_f] as a middle name instead. There’s a good chance that my in-laws will call our daughter [name_f]Mila[/name_f] anyhow as a term of endearment. It basically translates to “Dear”, and my spouse has told me that many girls in her country end up with some variant of [name_f]Mila[/name_f] as their nickname.
Thanks for the detailed analysis. Yes, you are correct that by “bilingual” I meant English/French. I’m not so bothered by different pronunciations in different languages. Our son is [name_m]Leon[/name_m], which I pronounce “LEE-on”, but both my Slavic in-laws and the Francophones in the area say “lay-ON” instead. So too it would be with [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f], which some people would pronounce “BEE-triss” and others “BE-ah-trice”.
As for popularity, it matters in as much as we’re trying to avoid the top ten or so. I have a very common name, and lived most of my childhood with my surname/initial glued to my first name. Of the names there, [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] is the most popular (#28 in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] last year), with the other three being well outside the top 100, at least in those spellings.
You are correct, [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] doesn’t have a Slavic form. It would be transliterated phonetically, essentially becoming “Odri” in the process. As I said in another post, though, there is a good chance my in-laws would call her [name_f]Mila[/name_f] anyhow just due to how their language and culture works.
I appreciated the suggestions. Some won’t work (Juliet is probably too Catholic for my in-laws, for example), but they’re worth considering again.
I was personally pushing [name_f]Marie[/name_f] as it’s a family name for me, but I stepped aside to allow my spouse to choose a name from her family instead, hence [name_f]Milena[/name_f].
That certainly does seem to be the most popular choice here, and the most popular of the four names in general. In the US, [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] was #74, while [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] and [name_f]Nicole[/name_f] were in the 330 range and [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] was #587
@HamwiseGumtree I read your concerns about [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] not having a Slavic form so I just wanted to add, as I do have a family with the Slavic roots - I agree with the fact that her Slavic side of the family can call her [name_f]Mila[/name_f], and it can be a lovely compromise.
I also saw it on here quite a few times where posters were mentioning that the child would be called by the first name with some members of the family and by middle name with others.
There was also a poster that mentioned that her husband was Slavic and she was from the [name_f]English[/name_f] speaking country. Their top contender was the name [name_m]Auden[/name_m], which has a similar sound to [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] but doesn’t translate into Slavic either. They intended on calling her [name_f]Adya[/name_f] with the Slavic side which I think could also work with [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], if that’s the only concern of yours. [name_f]My[/name_f] other suggestions would be [name_f]Audra[/name_f], [name_f]Aura[/name_f], [name_m]Ari[/name_m], [name_m]Ori[/name_m] or even [name_f]Ora[/name_f] - some may be stretchy but can definitely work.
I hope this was helpful and I am wishing you good luck with deciding on your daughter’s first name.
[name_m]Ah[/name_m] that makes a lot of sense on keeping [name_f]Milena[/name_f] as a middle for a good compromise - you have to love the first name! [name_m]Just[/name_m] throwing it out some alternative first names for [name_f]Mila[/name_f] in case helpful: [name_f]Camilla[/name_f], [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] or [name_f]Amelia[/name_f].
I really love [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] and [name_f]Audrey[/name_f] though and think you should pick your favourite regardless of name origin.
she’s stunning 