[name]Hi[/name] berries! My husband and I have been ttc and I am currently in the dreaded two week wait to find out if i’m pregnant. So what better way to keep myself busy than to pour over nameberry and make lists of names! 
If we have a boy we want to name him [name]Griffin[/name]. We agreed on that name about 3 years ago, and still love it, so I’m thinking it’s the name for us. BUT IF IT’S A GIRL we are in trouble! 
We cannot seem to settle on a name that is just perfect. We would love to use some family names for sure. [name]Diane[/name] is the set middle name, just trying to decide on a name to go with it. We would also like to somehow use the names [name]Ellen[/name] and [name]Joyce[/name] (also family names). What do you think of [name]Joelle[/name] [name]Diane[/name]? I’ve had [name]Joelle[/name] on the list for some time as a middle name option, but the idea of using it as a first name is really growing on me! I love that it is unusual, but still feels familiar, it’s pretty and girly, and it honors family! What more could I ask right? Buuuuuut, I do have a few questions about it…
[name]How[/name] would you pronounce it? I say it jo-[name]ELL[/name] like the letter L. Is this the common pronunciation?
Does this name work for us if we have no French blood in us?
What do you think of these possible nn’s - [name]Jo[/name], Joellie [name]Josie[/name], [name]Jolie[/name]?
Does it sound weird with a brother named [name]Griffin[/name] or does it work ok? I’m not really bothered by siblings that don’t have the exact same name style, I just don’t like to use one super popular name and one really uncommon one.
Soooo, any and all opinions are welcome and appreciated!! Oh and the other option we came up with was [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name] nn [name]Nell[/name] and/or [name]Ellie[/name] or Edie for the initials E.D. Thoughts? [name]Do[/name] you prefer [name]Joelle[/name] [name]Diane[/name] or [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name]? Or do you not care for either one?
THANKS!!!
I would pronounce [name]Joelle[/name] the same way you do. And I don’t think it matters if you are not French especially with how popular “ella” names are.
I prefer [name]Ellen[/name] [name]Diane[/name], though. Though, not sure how I feel about the similar ending [name]Griffin[/name] and [name]Ellen[/name]. So now that I think about it I’d rather have [name]Griffin[/name] and [name]Joelle[/name] than [name]Griffin[/name] and [name]Ellen[/name].
I like [name]Joelle[/name] and don’t think it is too French. I would pronounce it the way you do - jo-[name]ELL[/name]. I also think it works with [name]Griffin[/name] as a brothers name. However, I do prefer [name]Joella[/name] [name]Diane[/name]. As for nn, I like [name]Joey[/name] when she is young which she could modify to [name]Jo[/name] if she wanted to.
Other ideas working with the names [name]Joyce[/name] and [name]Ellen[/name].
[name]Joy[/name]-[name]Elle[/name] [name]Diane[/name]
[name]Ellie[/name]-[name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name]
[name]Elinor[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name]
[name]Joy[/name] [name]Elinor[/name] [name]Diane[/name]
[name]Elena[/name] [name]Joy[/name] [name]Diane[/name]
I like [name]Joelle[/name], I pronounce it the same way as you ([name]Jo[/name]-L). [name]Joelle[/name] sounds fine with brother [name]Griffin[/name] in my opinion. I do prefer [name]Ellen[/name] though!
[name]Joelle[/name] [name]Diane[/name] is very pretty, your pronounciation is fine to me that’s how I say it.
Other ideas
[name]Jocelyn[/name] [name]Diane[/name]
I like the flow of [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Joelle[/name] [name]Diane[/name]. You can call her [name]Ellie[/name]-[name]Jo[/name].
I also agree that [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Joelle[/name] or [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Dianne[/name] would be great.