I’m trying to rename myself because I really hate my name. My birth name is [name_f]Amanda[/name_f] [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] [name_m]McDonald[/name_m], but I go by [name_u]Laney[/name_u]. I wanna keep that nickname. I’d like [name_f]Helena[/name_f] (Hel-ay-na) to be part of my new name, either as a FN or MN to honor my maternal grandmother whose middle name was [name_f]Helen[/name_f] and I also have a great-aunt on my dad’s side with [name_f]Helen[/name_f] as a first name. I’ve considered [name_f]Janet[/name_f] as a possible MN as well. It’s my mom’s name.
I eventually want to have an official name change, but for now I can’t afford it so I’ll use my new name informally.
I am Irish (on both my mother’s and father’s sides), Latvian (on my father’s side), and a little Scottish (on my mother’s side), but that’s not a requirement. There is also some [name_m]German[/name_m], Pennsylvania Dutch, Czech, and [name_m]French[/name_m] in my maternal grandfather’s ancestry and Polish and Italian are present on both sides. My immediate family isn’t either of those. An aunt and some of my cousins married people with Polish or Italian last names. lol
FN/MN Rules:
Gender specific! I strongly dislike boys’ names for girls.
Not in the top 200 for a FN either in 1986 (the year I was born) or currently. Nothing obviously trendy. If it is a middle name, it’s okay if it’s a little more common, but not a filler.
Traditional spellings preferred. No “kre8tive” spellings or anything ending in -lyn or -leigh unless that’s how it’s originally spelled. International variants are fine too as long as they aren’t hard to spell or pronounce.
Either one or two middle names is fine. I like long names if they aren’t excessive and they flow well.
I found a bunch of last names that I like. I need help to make FN/MN/LN combinations and narrow the LN’s down.
LN ideas:
[name_m]Adler[/name_m]
Arrington/Carrington
Alderman
[name_u]Brennan[/name_u]
[name_u]Barrett[/name_u]/[name_m]Bartlett[/name_m]
[name_u]Carson[/name_u]/[name_m]Carlson[/name_m]
[name_m]Dalton[/name_m]/[name_m]Dawson[/name_m]
[name_u]Ellis[/name_u]/[name_u]Ellison[/name_u] - Stepdad’s middle name is [name_u]Ellis[/name_u], and even though I’m not emotionally close to him, I don’t mind it as a LN.
Feldman
[name_u]Finn[/name_u]
[name_m]Fleming[/name_m] - My maternal grandmother’s and mom’s maiden name (until my grandpa adopted my mom and changed her LN to his), but my hesitation with it is how the first syllable sounds like something else.
[name_m]Hammond[/name_m]
[name_u]Harper[/name_u] - Hate as a FN or MN, but fine as a LN.
Hoffman/Hoffmann - Paternal great-grandmother’s maiden name was Hoferica (The e was silent), so I found another name from the first syllable.
[name_m]Keller[/name_m]/Zeller
[name_m]Martin/name_m/[name_f]Marin[/name_f]/[name_m]Marino[/name_m] - M”rtiņš is the Latvian form of [name_m]Martin[/name_m] (I’d anglicize it as [name_m]Martin[/name_m] or Martins to avoid pronunciation issues and because I’m not fluent in Latvian) and [name_f]Marin[/name_f] and [name_m]Marino[/name_m] sound similar.
Modell/O’[name_u]Dell[/name_u] - Modell is my maternal grandfather’s last name. I’m just concerned about the sporting goods store reference.
O’[name_m]Connor[/name_m]
[name_m]Penn[/name_m]/Pennington - [name_m]Penn[/name_m] was one of the streets I lived on as a child.
[name_u]Riley[/name_u]/[name_u]Reilly[/name_u]
[name_u]Rhys[/name_u] (pronounced like [name_u]Reese[/name_u])
Recke (Reck-ee) - My paternal grandmother’s maiden name.
[name_u]Sage[/name_u]
[name_m]Tanner[/name_m] - I love the show Full House, so the name is really awesome.
[name_m]Thayer[/name_m] - From a [name_f]Danielle[/name_f] [name_u]Steel[/name_u] novel.
[name_m]Tomlinson[/name_m] - After a teacher I had in middle school.
[name_f]Whitley[/name_f]
Whitfield - From another [name_f]Danielle[/name_f] [name_u]Steel[/name_u] novel
[name_m]Whitman[/name_m] - After a bridge in [name_u]Philadelphia[/name_u] where I grew up.
I saw your blog post! I was going to respond there, but I guess here works just as well
I think [name_f]Helena[/name_f] is a great first name for you. It allows you to keep a nickname you already like and use, which will probably make the transition much easier for those who already know you. I think [name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Janet[/name_f] works great, but if you don’t like the combo so much, a [name_f]Janet[/name_f] variant could work. There are dozens- [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_u]Jean[/name_u], [name_f]Sioned[/name_f], [name_f]Ioanna[/name_f], [name_f]Sian[/name_f]… plenty to choose from.
Any particular reason you’re changing your last name? Or do you just not like that as well? I think [name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_m]McDonald[/name_m] and [name_u]Laney[/name_u] [name_m]McDonald[/name_m] both sound great. If you’re not into it, perhaps combining a few surnames from your family tree would work. It’d be a cool way to incorporate multiple branches of your family history, and you could end up with something really unique!
I wanna change my last name because it triggered a lot of teasing and bullying when I was younger (the restaurant jokes and that horrible kids’ song) and I am still embarrassed by it.
As for my first and middle name, I’m changing my first because [name_f]Amanda[/name_f] is very common for women my age and I find it boring. I feel like it isn’t “me”. With [name_u]Lynn[/name_u], I don’t consider it feminine and it’s overused as a MN. Then there is the issue of the FN/MN combination. One of my cousins actually asked my dad: “Why did you name her after an instrument/kitchen gadget?” lol
Interesting idea to combine some of the LN’s from my family! That might work if I can come up with anything. I’m kind of creative, but not that much.
Some other names that could work as a full name for [name_u]Laney[/name_u] -
[name_u]Delaney[/name_u]
Philena, Phileine
[name_f]Alaine[/name_f]
[name_f]Milena[/name_f] - has the same meaning as [name_f]Amanda[/name_f]!
[name_f]Celena[/name_f]
Marilena
I think Philena would suit you very well, but I also like [name_f]Helena[/name_f].
Out of your LN-options I would definitely pick [name_m]Fleming[/name_m]. It’s your moms maiden name and it’s the last name of [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_m]Fleming[/name_m], which I think is very cool.
You could also pick [name_m]Malone[/name_m], [name_m]Janssen[/name_m] or [name_m]Jackson[/name_m], which is LN in the [name_m]John[/name_m]/[name_f]Janet[/name_f]-family.
My favourites are [name_m]Fleming[/name_m] and [name_m]Malone[/name_m].
Some names related to [name_f]Janet[/name_f]: [name_f]Jolene[/name_f] (although if McDonalds bothers you, [name_f]Jolene[/name_f] might not be any better), [name_f]Johanna[/name_f], [name_f]Jeanine[/name_f], Siobhán, [name_u]Jean[/name_u].
Also I want to coin [name_f]Amandine[/name_f], [name_u]Valentine[/name_u], [name_u]Love[/name_u], Esmée, [name_f]Aphrodite[/name_f], [name_f]Cara[/name_f] (meaning) and Amarantine (sound) as possible MN options to give a nod to your FN. I also like [name_u]Love[/name_u]. I would like that, but I don’t know if you’d rather sever all ties.
