I hope everything is staying safe in these difficult times. Please help me with the name, I’m sending lots of positive karma your way and would be very grateful
Quick background: I’m Russian, raised in the US from childhood, but my family moved to [name_f]Russia[/name_f] to retire and I go often to visit them (at least a couple times a year minimum). Hubby is from LA, CA. First daughter, I got a 100% naming privilege to honor a dear family member who passed away tragically. It’s Russian for both first and middle names. The second daughter I’m letting him take a lead on it since he was so gracious the first time. He picked [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] and I’m picking out middle names. Which middle names from the list below do you like? None are Russian per se, except [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] - so my Russian family hasn’t reacted kindly and voiced their opinions to be known. Not sure what to do?
Lovely choices all! [name_f]My[/name_f] favorites are [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f] and [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Angelina[/name_f], though [name_f]Ladislava[/name_f] intrigues me as well—I like the way it sounds with [name_f]Gisele[/name_f].
My favorite is [name_f]Giselle[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f]. I do like [name_f]Ladislava[/name_f] quite a bit, too, but (getting off the topic) is it really Russian? I thought the Russian version was Vladislava, and [name_f]Ladislava[/name_f] is more Polish or maybe Czech. I do think it usable no matter what, just curious.
Gisele is a beautiful choice!
I really love [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f], it’s stunning! I also like [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Ladislava[/name_f] and [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Angelina[/name_f]!
I’d go with either [name_u]Vivian[/name_u] or [name_f]Angelina[/name_f]. [name_f]Estella[/name_f] and [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] repeat the ‘elle’ sound, so they don’t really flow with [name_f]Gisele[/name_f]. I’d probably go with [name_f]Angelina[/name_f], since it’s Russian, and also references Los [name_f]Angeles[/name_f], where your husband is from
[name_f]My[/name_f] first instinct would be the typical ‘it’s your baby, not theirs, so you choose the name’, but I understand that there may be cultural differences at play. I don’t know much about Russian culture, but I’m aware that, in a lot of cultures, the family approving of a new baby’s name is important.
That being said, the best advice I can give is to pick a Russian middle name, to honor both cultures.
Other Russian suggestions that I found, if you need them:
I’d rule out [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] and [name_f]Estella[/name_f] as they are a bit ‘ell’ heavy with [name_f]Gisele[/name_f]. [name_f]Ladislava[/name_f] doesn’t flow very well with [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] either because the ‘ele’ at the end of [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] runs into the ‘L’ at the beginning of [name_f]Ladislava[/name_f].
I love [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_u]Vivian[/name_u]! [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] and [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f] are gorgeous, too. What about [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Viktoria[/name_f], if your looking for something to fit both that style, but also carry over into Russian. (I have a cousin --by marriage-- who is Russian and her name is [name_f]Viktoria[/name_f], so I assume it could work for you, if you like it.)
Giselle Alexandria would be perfect! It is a very beautiful name and I believe Alexandria would work in Russian too as it is very similar to Alexandra/Aleksandra.
I love Isabella and Estella, but I’m not sure about the endings -elle and -ella together.
Giselle Vivian would be my second choice, but Ladislava would be a lovely choice to honor your eastern European heritage. My third choice would be Giselle Angelina! It’s such a sweet name!
I just wanted to update everybody who was kind enough to partke in my thread. First of all, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! Thank you for taking the time to reply in this difficult times, thank you for your time, thank you for your kindness in giving me advice. I wish all and every single one of you all the best, to stay safe and a lot of positivity coming your way
I decided to name the girl [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f]. I have to admit - I REALLY liked [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] [name_f]Victoria[/name_f], it sounded, so pretty and feminine. Thank you for this suggestion. I ultimately decided to go with [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f] - in talking to my aunt I found out [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] was my great grandfather’s name. I never got to know my grandfather, he died tragically before my birth - so I felt naming her [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f] was a way to honor him and family history, plus it sounds a little bit fancy to me and very fitting
