Hello berries! My husband and I had decided on names for our twinnies, and we are super happy with our choices. Except recently, my grandma, who I have always loved very dearly, got diagnosed with cancer that can’t be gotten rid of or cured. Instantly my mind went to the thought, should I be naming one of my babies after her if one or both is a girl? My grandma’s name is Janet Ann. I don’t like the name Janet, but I love my grandma. I thought, well what about Janet Annabel, and calling her Belle? But it just feels to simple for what we love. Or is there a boy name that honors her as well? I can’t make up my mind. I also considered Annabella, but our last name ends with an ‘uh’ sound, so it clashes a lot. I don’t even know if we WILL go with this sudden idea, but just in case, or maybe for future babies (hopefully)?
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]? [name_m]Or[/name_m] [name_f]Janna[/name_f]?
I’m sure Grandma would want you to pick a name you love. You could put [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_f]Janet[/name_f] or [name_f]Ann[/name_f] in the middle name. Maybe [name_m]Jan[/name_m] for a boy middle name?
We honored family with our kids’ middle names. We gave them names we loved as firsts. Objectively, one of the honor names is a name I wouldn’t say I LIKED, but I think it sounds dignified in the middle AND the satisfaction we had in honoring that person outweighed my initial opinion of the name. And that person is still living, and is thrilled with the honor. If you wish to honor your grandmother, especially while she’s still with you to enjoy it, I am sure you won’t regret it at all.
Either [name_f]Janet[/name_f] or [name_f]Ann[/name_f] would be a great middle.
Dont go with name you dislike. You can use [name_f]Janet[/name_f] as middle name, but im sure your gradma will understand if you dont pick her name.
That said, i wouldnt feel honored if my grandkid picked my name but showed dislike for my name. Your grandma wasnt [name_f]Belle[/name_f].
You could ask her what she feels about you wanting to honor her, but disliking her name, but its easy to offend in this case.
That said, i dont see reason for using a [name_f]Janet[/name_f] as first name, it can easily be a middle…
We briefly thought about Janner, which is similar. But I’m more worried that it just doesn’t fit with our name likes. We were going to do:
G/G: [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]June[/name_f] & [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] [name_f]Imogen[/name_f]
B/B: [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] [name_m]Eliaz[/name_m] & [name_m]Noah[/name_m] [name_m]Bear[/name_m]
G/B: [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f] & [name_f]Calvary[/name_f] [name_m]James[/name_m] (CJ)
Most of these names already have significant meanings behind them, so I just don’t know what more I can do? Should I just wait and see if I can do an honor name with a future kid? I’m stuck
If you don’t like the name [name_f]Janet[/name_f], I wouldn’t use it as a first. Maybe [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f] [name_f]Janet[/name_f] / [name_f]Annabella[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]?
Still, I think [name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f] gives you lots of options…
[name_f]Antonia[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Juliet[/name_f] [name_f]Anabella[/name_f]
[name_f]Juno[/name_f] [name_f]Alessa[/name_f]
[name_f]Etta[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]
[name_f]Josette[/name_f] [name_f]Arabella[/name_f]
[name_f]Anouk[/name_f] [name_f]Jasmine[/name_f]
[name_f]Joni[/name_f] [name_f]Rosanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Anja[/name_f]
[name_m]Evan[/name_m]
[name_m]Jett[/name_m] [name_m]Antonio[/name_m]
[name_m]Ivan[/name_m] [name_m]Jude[/name_m]
[name_m]Ianto[/name_m] [name_m]Jett[/name_m]
I definitely don’t think it’s necessary, especially since you hadn’t considered it until her diagnosis and already have names picked out that you love (plus with added meaning), but I think there are ways to do it if you don’t love parts of her name 
I wouldn’t suggest using the full Janet Ann if you aren’t sure about honoring her, but using one of those as a middle would be great, as others have said. We honored my late dad by giving our son the same middle name. We honored two living grandmas by giving our daughter a middle name that’s similar to their first names, so similar names work just great too, I think! Jana, Annie, Anna, etc. for a girl. Another option to honor her is using her maiden name or a variation of it in some way for a middle for a boy or a girl. If you do decide to honor her with a baby name, do it because you want it, not because you feel like it’s an expectation of some kind 
Good luck and congrats!
I’m big into honor names, but I also feel like no one should ever use a name they don’t like. If you really want to use her name, maybe you could do [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] or [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]. But I don’t think you should feel obligated to do that. As you said, the names you already picked have a lot of meaning.
[name_f]Janet[/name_f] is a short version of [name_f]Johanna[/name_f].
How about [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]Joana[/name_f] or [name_m]Noah[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m]. Take a different version of the name. It still has the same meaning.
How about you ask your grandmother for a name advice for one kid. Ask her is she can give you a name for a boy or a girl. Use that name as first or middle Name for one of the kids. Maybe use a different family name for the second twin.
[name_f]Love[/name_f] you chosen names
G/G: [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]June[/name_f] & [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] [name_f]Imogen[/name_f]
B/B: [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] [name_m]Eliaz[/name_m] & [name_m]Noah[/name_m] [name_m]Bear[/name_m]
G/B: [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f] & [name_f]Calvary[/name_f] [name_m]James[/name_m] (CJ)
Looking at your previous post i can see that honour names have real meaning to you…
G/G: [name_m]Honour[/name_m] name, anniversary & [name_m]Honour[/name_m] name, name love
B/B: Name love, honour name & Biblical, name love
G/B: Biblical, honour name & Biblical, honour name
If you are not a fan of [name_f]Janet[/name_f] you could use it’s variation of [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_f]Jeanette[/name_f] or [name_m]John[/name_m].
[name_f]My[/name_f] suggestion for you then if you truly feel you want to add an honour for your grandmother would be…
G/G: [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]June[/name_f] & [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]
B/B: [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] [name_m]Eliaz[/name_m] & [name_m]Noah[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m]
Please use Janet in the middle spot. If you’re not going to call the kid Janet, then that gives them a lot of unnecessary difficulties (e.g. roll call, paperwork, having to explain that they go by their middle name nearly all the time).
Annabelle Janet could work!
That way you get to honor your grandma but use a name you prefer in the first slot. Or alternatively, use any name you like with the middle name Janet - that’s the general rule for honor names in my family.
Also, how about Annabelle instead of Annabel as a bridge between Annabel and Annabella? That way you get the length and vibe of Annabella without the -uh sound at the end - and I feel it makes the nickname Belle more likely.
Good luck!
Note: I just read through the replies and saw Annabelle Janet was already suggested - seconding that!
I agree with others who said that bringing your grandmother into the naming process may be a nice way to honor her. You could also consider names of people she loves (her parents, siblings, partner, maiden names) or things she loves (flowers, water, cities/towns).
[name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f] could be a nice middle name, it’s quirky but sweet and certainly works as an honor name.
[name_f]Bella[/name_f] [name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f], [name_f]Dahlia[/name_f] [name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f], [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] [name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f]
You could put one twin’s middle name after [name_f]Janet[/name_f] and the other after [name_f]Ann[/name_f] so both share a part of her name. [name_m]Or[/name_m] if there is another relative you are extremely close with on either side of the family have one twin honour them while the other honours your grandma
I also get with not wanting to use [name_f]Janet[/name_f] since you don’t love the name because I similarly feel that way with some of my grandparents’ name (my one grandma who’s still alive doesn’t even like her own name)
What about finding other names to represent your grandma like using a name with a similar look to [name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f] like
[name_f]Ana[/name_f] / [name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_f]Ariana[/name_f] (for girls you could do any name with Ann/Ana there’s so many options)
[name_f]Ettie[/name_f]
[name_f]Etta[/name_f]
[name_f]Jana[/name_f]
[name_f]Janai[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Janelle[/name_f] /
[name_f]Janette[/name_f]
[name_f]Janie[/name_f]
[name_m]Jay[/name_m]
[name_f]Jean[/name_f]
[name_f]Jeanette[/name_f]
[name_f]Jeannie[/name_f]
Another way you could go is through meaning. [name_f]Janet[/name_f] means God’s [name_f]Gracious[/name_f] [name_m]Gift[/name_m] and [name_f]Ann[/name_f] means [name_f]Grace[/name_f] so you could just use [name_f]Grace[/name_f] if you wanted. Other names with the same or similar meanings are
Boys - [name_m]Eoin[/name_m] / [name_m]Evan[/name_m] / [name_m]Iain[/name_m] / [name_m]Isidor[/name_m] / [name_m]Jack[/name_m] / [name_m]Jesse[/name_m] / [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m] / [name_m]Sean[/name_m] / [name_m]Shai[/name_m] / [name_m]Shane[/name_m] / [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] / [name_m]Zane[/name_m]
Girls - [name_f]Cleodora[/name_f] / [name_f]Dana[/name_f] / [name_f]Dara[/name_f] / [name_f]Gia[/name_f] / [name_f]Gianna[/name_f] / [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] / [name_f]Isadora[/name_f] / [name_f]Jasmine[/name_f] / [name_f]Mila[/name_f] / [name_f]Sinead[/name_f] /
I have also seen people honour loved ones through characteristics of loved ones (names honouring if they were kind, or if they were a teacher, etc). If you look up SJ Strum on YouTube or search her podcast [name_f]Baby[/name_f] Name [name_f]Envy[/name_f] she gives out a lot of ideas that could further go down that route
And a final option could be just to ask her for advice on what names she likes for a boy or girl. Maybe she’ll say something you guys also like and you could use that and have that node of her “picking” one of the baby’s first or middle names be a way to honour her
I definitely don’t think you have to name your child after any family member. I think middle names are a great way to go though rather than finding a first name you like that does the job. If you don’t love [name_f]Janet[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f] I don’t think you’re stuck with only that because there’s so many ways to honour someone with a name!
I don’t think you should feel obliged to use her name / I would only do it if using it trumps the meanings of other names. Then if you do decide to honour her, I would 
not use her full name - that would be a burden, I think, to your child who would have the same name as someone who has/had a certain role in your life and sadly passed when they were young. I don’t think honours should replicate the name, just be a small tribute, usually in second spot.
If you have girl twins and your grandmother is super significant, you could use Jane/Annie/Etta etc as middle names so both have a connection to her. Eg [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] & [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] Ann; [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m] & [name_m]Noah[/name_m] Antony; [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f] [name_f]Janet[/name_f] & [name_f]Calvary[/name_f] [name_m]John[/name_m] (CJ). But she’d have to be beyond important for you to do that (just really to give you ideas).
You could at least in some of the pairings, have two middles.
So sorry to hear about her Grandma’s diagnosis.
I wouldn’t use a name you dislike upfront as she’ll be known by that name due to the name being the most intuitive. If I was you I would go with your options but have [name_f]Janet[/name_f] or [name_f]Anne[/name_f] as a middle name.
From your options [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]Janet[/name_f] isn’t a huge switch up for the g/g combination. For the g/b [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] or [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f] [name_f]Anne[/name_f] would work. With the boys I think [name_m]Noah[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m] would work.
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps
I see a simple solution here. Adah June becomes Adah Jane for grandma Janet.
If it’s B/G either Hadassah becomes Hadassah Jane or Calvary becomes Calvary Jan- still getting you the nn CJ.
If it’s b/b combo I would add Jan into Noah Jan Bear which rounds it up to five syllables, the same as Shepherd Eliaz.
Hope that helps
I want to suggest [name_f]Annette[/name_f] because I love that name
How about:
[name_f]Adah[/name_f] Johanna/Joanna and James/Jack [name_m]Otto[/name_m].
That way your daughter will be named after your grandmother and your son will be named after your husband’s grandfather and after your husband?
I’m so sorry about your grandma, that’s so tough! I think the most important thing is to use names you love. That being said, I think a middle name is a good honour spot if you want to (I would 100% keep the first name you love regardless). So I’d say Janet, Jane, Ann, Anna, Anne, Annie, Anya, Annabelle as middles could all work. Or you could pick any J or A middle name as a subtle nod, but again I think in the middle spot. It would be different I think if you loved the name, but as you don’t stick with a first name you love!