Sibling for Eliana/Ellie

Name Advice
1

Our daughter is [name]Eliana[/name] (Hebrew, “God answers”), called [name]Ellie[/name] almost exclusively (bright, shining one - totally suits her).

We ended up selecting her name at the last minute when nothing on our long-standing list seemed quite right. Now we’re back to a slightly modified version of that same list. We are adopting our 2nd child from [name]Africa[/name], but we’re not sure how much ethnicity should play into the process.

Anyway, here are our current ideas:

Girls:

[name]Eden[/name] (this is our standout favorite so far, coordinates because it’s biblical/hebrew, but not matchy. Two Es wouldn’t be my first choice, but they names are quite different…We like [name]Sophia[/name] as a middle name with this.
[name]Shiloh[/name] - another Hebrew, biblical place, but is it bizarre next to [name]Eliana[/name]/[name]Ellie[/name]? This was my original choice for a girl name, but when the celebrity baby was born shortly before our daughter was, I felt like the name was ruined for me. Now I’m trying to decide how much I still like it. [name]Michaela[/name] was our original middle name choice for Shiloh.
[name]Sophie[/name] - (greek “wisdom”) I love this name (my husband likes [name]Sophia[/name] better), but I don’t like that it is so popular, although we don’t actually know any little [name]Sophie[/name]'s. Does this go better with [name]Eliana[/name] than the first two?
[name]Piper[/name] - My husband really likes this, but it’s so different than [name]Eliana[/name], right?

I love [name]Imogen[/name], [name]Charlotte[/name], [name]Lucy[/name], [name]Evangeline[/name], [name]Adeline[/name], & [name]Cecily[/name], too.

Boys:

[name]Silas[/name] (would have been [name]Eliana[/name]'s name if she had been a boy)
[name]Isaiah[/name] is my husband’s current favorite.
[name]Barnaby[/name] - my husband also loves this, but we’ve gotten weird looks in mentioning it to people. Not sure…
[name]Liam[/name]- love this, but it’s quite popular…
[name]Miles[/name] - my husband likes this but I’m not sure…

Others we’ve discussed are [name]Malachi[/name], [name]Jude[/name], [name]Levi[/name], [name]Ezra[/name], [name]Owen[/name], [name]Judah[/name], [name]Asher[/name], [name]Noah[/name]

Insights appreciated!

2

Congratulations on your adoption! I personally think it’s very sweet whenever parents honor their adopted child’s ethnicity giving them a middle name from their original home. Where in [name]Africa[/name] are you adopting from?

I found a list of [name]African[/name] names here, at http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php I think quite a lot of them would work well for a middle name, or even a first if you so choose, for a child in an English speaking country. In fact, some are very similar to the names on your list.

Some combos I like:

[name]Eden[/name] [name]Amara[/name]
[name]Shiloh[/name] [name]Ebele[/name] (not sure how it’s pronunced, but I think ‘eb-[name]EL[/name]-e’ would be cute, even if it’s a little close to [name]Eliana[/name])
[name]Sophie[/name] [name]Kamaria[/name]
[name]Piper[/name] [name]Imani[/name]

[name]Silas[/name] Ekene (eh-[name]KEN[/name]-ee)
[name]Isaiah[/name] Kirabo
[name]Barnaby[/name] Imamu
[name]Liam[/name] Khamisi
[name]Miles[/name] [name]Amadi[/name]

Good luck!

3

[name]How[/name] funny - I have a son named [name]Silas[/name] and have been considering [name]Eliana[/name]/[name]Ellie[/name] should our next child be a girl.