Thoughts on Joanna?

My husband has fallen in love with the name [name_f]Joanna[/name_f], but I’m having such a hard time coming on board. And every name I love, he doesn’t like. Ugh…girl names are so hard!

  1. What do you think about [name_f]Joanna[/name_f]? She’ll be a sister to [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m].

  2. [name_m]Feel[/name_m] free to give suggestions! We’d like her name to:

  • be a bit “uncommon”, but still recognizable/easy to say and spell
  • go with the middle name Hwin
  • prefer no Rs in the name
  • I’d prefer a name that doesn’t give way to people shortening it (like [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m]). The thought of people calling her “[name_u]Jo[/name_u]” makes me anxious, as I know a couple unpleasant [name_u]Jo[/name_u]'s. (But I think the name is so pretty! [name_m]Just[/name_m] have a negative association. My husband says, if we name our girl [name_f]Joanna[/name_f], she’ll be the one to break the negative association but…)

Thanks for your time!

I personally don’t like the name [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] very much, but if you like it, I say go for it! Your husband may be right - she could be the one to break your negative association with the name. She could also go by [name_f]Ann[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f] if you don’t like [name_u]Jo[/name_u] as a nickname. If you’re still not entirely on board with [name_f]Joanna[/name_f], you could use a similar sounding name like [name_f]Joella[/name_f] or [name_f]Joetta[/name_f].

Thanks for your response!

Ohhh, I love [name_f]Joanna[/name_f]! I really do – I think it’s very underused, classy, timeless and just understatedly beautiful. I’m not crazy about [name_u]Jo[/name_u] either, but I know a little [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] (with the H as they have [name_m]German[/name_m] roots) nicknamed [name_f]Joni[/name_f], which I think is fab!

If you don’t know her already, I’d recommend you listen to some of [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] Newsom’s beautiful music to get you into the [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] zone :wink: And top it off with a little bit of [name_f]Joni[/name_f] [name_m]Mitchell[/name_m], of course.

I think it it’s a nice name with classy vibes. I do think it would be tough to avoid ‘[name_u]Jo[/name_u]’ as a nn though, unless you specify another nn you like more.
Suggestions:
[name_f]Alma[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Tilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Tula[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]

I prefer [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] to [name_f]Joanna[/name_f]. [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] seems softer and more feminine to me.

The best way to prevent a nickname is by giving a name that doesn’t have one (like [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m]), but you can also give an alternative. My name is [name_f]Stephanie[/name_f], but I hate being called [name_u]Steph[/name_u], so I go by [name_u]Stevie[/name_u]. People call me either [name_u]Stevie[/name_u] or [name_f]Stephanie[/name_f], but no one calls me [name_u]Steph[/name_u].

Bascially, you could call her [name_f]Anna[/name_f]/[name_f]Ann[/name_f]/[name_f]Annie[/name_f] to avoid [name_u]Jo[/name_u].

Others that fit your criteria:

[name_f]Celeste[/name_f]
[name_f]Susanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Sabine[/name_f]
[name_f]Maeva[/name_f]
[name_f]Annabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Felicity[/name_f]
[name_u]Eloise[/name_u]
[name_f]Annelise[/name_f]
[name_f]Imogen[/name_f]
[name_f]Dahlia[/name_f]
[name_f]Winona[/name_f]
[name_u]Simone[/name_u]
[name_f]Juliet[/name_f]
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f]
[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f]
[name_f]Viola[/name_f]
[name_f]Cecilia[/name_f]
[name_f]Helena[/name_f]
[name_f]Junia[/name_f]
[name_f]Jessamy[/name_f]
[name_f]Daphne[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvia[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucille[/name_f]
[name_f]Jasmine[/name_f]
[name_f]Olivet[/name_f]

[name_f]Joanna[/name_f] reminds me of an elderly women knitting. I think [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] is slightly better, but still very old fashioned. I think it would be hard to avoid the nickname of [name_u]Jo[/name_u] with this name. I would suggest
[name_u]Eden[/name_u]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Heidi[/name_f]
[name_f]Nell[/name_f]
[name_u]Jules[/name_u]