We named our first child [name]Eliana[/name] and love that it’s an unusual name with a more familiar nickname ([name]Ellie[/name]). As she grows she will have the option of being more distinctive or blending into the crowd depending on her age and personality. We are now pregnant with our second and would like to continue in the same vein for this baby. Ideally, we would like our names to meet the following criteria:
Unusual in its long form, but not too out there.
Common nickname
Spiritual meaning ([name]Eliana[/name] means “The [name]Lord[/name] has answered”)
We like [name]Matthias[/name] ([name]Matt[/name]) and [name]Josiah[/name] ([name]Joey[/name]) for a boy but are still open to suggestions.
For a girl, we are having a little more trouble. We like a few names but none of them quite fit the bill:
[name]Annalie[/name] ([name]Anna[/name] or [name]Annie[/name]) – tempted to spell this name [name]Analie[/name] to make it a full anagram of [name]Eliana[/name], but that version has the potential to be said in an unflattering way. A little too cutesy for us, but we are considering it.
[name]Arabella[/name] – love this name but have no common nicknames for it.
[name]Amadea[/name] – same as #2, and also might be a little bit too unusual.
[name]Annaliese[/name] nn [name]Anna[/name] (more stylish now than [name]Ann[/name]/[name]Anne[/name]
[name]Arabella[/name] nn [name]Bella[/name]
[name]Mattea[/name] nn [name]Mattie[/name]
[name]Kalila[/name] nn [name]Lila[/name] (Arabic, means beloved, found it on unusual international names for girls list-look up [name]Eliana[/name] on "Check Out a Name-blue box on the left of this screen, scroll down to find this list and others that might be helpful)
[name]Cordelia[/name] nn [name]Delia[/name]
[name]Minerva[/name] nn [name]Minnie[/name]
[name]Mirabella[/name] nn [name]Mira[/name]
[name]Luciana[/name] nn [name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Tatiana[/name] nn [name]Tati[/name]
[name]Sylvia[/name] nn [name]Sylvie[/name]
[name]Veronica[/name] or [name]Veronika[/name] nn [name]Vera[/name]
[name]Paolina[/name] nn [name]Polly[/name] or [name]Lena[/name]
[name]Melina[/name] nn [name]Lena[/name]
Raffaella nn [name]Raffi[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] nn [name]Lola[/name]
[name]Viveca[/name] nn [name]Vivi[/name]
[name]Nicolette[/name] nn [name]Coco[/name]
[name]Louisa[/name] nn [name]Lulu[/name]
[name]Leonora[/name] nn [name]Nora[/name]
[name]Luca[/name] nn [name]Luke[/name]
[name]Dashiell[/name] nn [name]Dash[/name]
[name]Desmond[/name] nn [name]Desi[/name]
[name]Asher[/name] nn [name]Ash[/name]
love your boy name choices! I did not look up the meanings of all these names. If you like one of my suggestions, you can check out its meaning using the “check out a name” box. [name]Hope[/name] this helps! I like [name]Amadea[/name], but I can’t think of a common nickname for it. There’s [name]Mandy[/name], but it is kind of dated. I really like the name [name]Amandine[/name]. It would be a fun middle name.
We must have very similar naming styles!!! I love [name]Eliana[/name], and my son is [name]Josiah[/name]. If we have another son, I want his middle name to be [name]Matthias[/name]!!! Since we seem such similar tastes, I’ll throw out a few of my favorites:
I we have a girl, my current fav. is [name]Naomi[/name] (with the ‘Na’ pronounced ‘Nay’, not ‘[name]Nye[/name]’ or ‘Ni’) I think [name]Eliana[/name] and [name]Naomi[/name] would be cute sisters. I like Omi or [name]Nomi[/name] as a nn.
I also like [name]Amariah[/name] - even though in the Bible this was a male name, I think these days it sounds very feminine.
As for a boy, [name]Josiah[/name] wins hands down!!! but you might want to get an unbiased opinion - I have no regrets about calling my baby boy [name]Josiah[/name], and still adore the name.
My vote is for the previous poster’s [name]Annaliese[/name], nn [name]Anna[/name]. I think both full names and nicknames would match very well without being too similar.
[name]Eliana[/name] is a beautiful name. [name]Even[/name] though you plan to use [name]Ellie[/name] as a nickname, she may want to be called [name]Ana[/name]/[name]Anna[/name]. For that reason, I probably would not use a form of [name]Anna[/name] for her sister. [name]Arabella[/name] could be [name]Bella[/name], [name]Belle[/name] or [name]Ara[/name]. [name]Amadea[/name] could be [name]Maddie[/name] or [name]Addie[/name]. [name]Both[/name] names are uncommon and go well with [name]Eliana[/name]. I love both [name]Matthias[/name] and [name]Josiah[/name] for a boy. [name]Hope[/name] this helps.