Hello berries,
We’ve been trying for our second baby for a while now, and I can’t stop obsessing over names, mainly girls names, as I think we’d find it quite easy to choose a boys name (our front runner is [name_m]Ronan[/name_m]), but I just love too many girls names to be able to choose just one!! I tend to have a favourite for the month, and then when we don’t get pregnant I start second guessing and searching all over again until I come up with a new favourite (hubby thinks I’m mad!).
Anyway, this month, my favourite has been [name_f]Oriana[/name_f]. It’s been on our list for a while, and always a strong contender, but this month I’ve just totally fallen for it. I absolutely love the meaning (golden dawn, and she’d be very likely to have golden hair!), and also love the nickname [name_u]Rio[/name_u] which we’d use for it, as well as [name_u]Ori[/name_u].
I’d just really like to know what other people think about it? [name_m]Will[/name_m] it be well received by most people? I know the most important thing is that we love it, and that there isn’t a name that absolutely everyone loves, but I’d prefer to give her a name that she gets compliments on, rather than weird looks. I know that the similarity to [name_f]Ariana[/name_f] might cause some confusion, but we much prefer [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] and I don’t think it’d cause too many problems.
(Sorry for the long rambling just to ask what you think about [name_f]Oriana[/name_f]!)
Thank you!
[name_f]Oriana[/name_f] is lovely indeed - nice meaning and cute nn’s you’ve got picked out. I do think it will get confused with [name_f]Ariana[/name_f]… but that’s fine. Also makes me think Oreo cookies - not really a bad thing, I can just see that as a silly nickname her friends might call her. (I think Oreos are universal? But if they’re not a thing in [name_m]New[/name_m] Zealand disregard )
I personally prefer the ‘au’ names that mean ‘gold’: [name_f]Auriel[/name_f], and [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f]/[name_f]Aurelie[/name_f]. BUT, I do think [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] would be cute on a little girl. Oreo is a precious nickname, too!!
I think it’s pretty and definitely usable; as long as you don’t mind the correction-potential ([name_f]Oriana[/name_f] vs. [name_f]Ariana[/name_f]) of the name then it is a great contender!
[name_f]Oriana[/name_f] is really pretty. I think the similarity to [name_f]Ariana[/name_f] actually puts it right in the sweet spot of “familiar sound, unusual and distinctive name.” Sort of the best of both worlds. I personally think of the [name_m]Tennyson[/name_m] poem in which the character [name_f]Oriana[/name_f]…throws herself off the battlements, or something? It’s been a while since I’ve read it, haha. The most memorable thing about it is actually just the repetition of the name [name_f]Oriana[/name_f], which sounds very poetic and romantic to me as a result. I don’t think too many other people will know the poem, though.
[name_u]Rio[/name_u], [name_u]Ori[/name_u], and Oreo are all fabulous nicknames. I agree with previous posters who say that if you’re cool with the similarity to [name_f]Ariana[/name_f], then there’s absolutely no reason not to use [name_f]Oriana[/name_f].
I’m not real keen on [name_f]Oriana[/name_f], though I think the nickname [name_u]Rio[/name_u] is cute. I like some other names on your list more: [name_u]Ember[/name_u], [name_f]Freya[/name_f], [name_f]Lyra[/name_f], [name_f]Pandora[/name_f], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], [name_f]Willow[/name_f]. I like these more with your son’s name too.
I had never heard of [name_f]Oriana[/name_f], it is beautiful and so much better than [name_f]Ariana[/name_f], I think. I love the meaning too and think that it is perfectly usable, especially if it’s the name you and your husband love.
[name_f]Oriana[/name_f] strikes me as a sophisticated beauty - strong, feminine, confidently different and intriguing. Everyone knows [name_f]Ariana[/name_f], but [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] has some mystery. [name_f]Ariana[/name_f] makes me think frilly and feminine, light and airy with the [name_u]Ari[/name_u]- first letters. [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] feels just as feminine to me, but with an awful lot of strength behind it too - honestly I think my mind is associating “iron ore” with the [name_u]Ori[/name_u]- part :rolleyes: I think both names are really lovely, but definitely different feels to them.
My daughter is named [name_f]Oriana[/name_f]. She will be 16 in [name_u]July[/name_u]. I fell in love with the name when I was 15. The meaning can’t be beat! My [name_u]Ori[/name_u] was born with golden auburn hair and still has that color now. A few of her uncles do call her Oreo, but it transformed to Cookie as an affectionate nickname, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that!
[name_f]Oriana[/name_f] is delightful and has a GLORIOUS Meaning!! I particularly love the Nicknames [name_u]Ori[/name_u] and Oreo (so sweet! ;))!
When I try to visualise [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] I see a glorious [name_f]Autumn[/name_f] [name_m]Forest[/name_m] arrayed in a splendour of [name_u]Golden[/name_u], [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f], [name_u]Orange[/name_u], [name_f]Claret[/name_f], [name_f]Mahogany[/name_f], and [name_u]Auburn[/name_u] leaves! Beneath this vibrant canopy strides a Medieval [name_f]Princess[/name_f] in a golden gown with a golden circlet on her fair brow and her golden tresses cascading down her back!
I like the name so much that I’m going to add it to my own list of middle name contenders with this little bean I’m growing now I much prefer it to a PP suggestion of [name_f]Aurelie[/name_f] (which to me, sounds like Orally…) though for non-English speaking countries, it would be beautiful.
When I hear [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] I think of a little warrior, almost like [name_f]Merida[/name_f] in the animated movie Brave (though I can’t say I’ve seen it!). A strong, yet beautifully feminine name that’s no fuss. I picture a confident young woman but at the same time, a playful little girl who can keep up with the boys. I can see a grandmother holding her grandchild on her lap and reading them stories… It seems like a timeless name that future generations would love to honor. A beautiful choice that pairs well with your [name_u]Toby[/name_u]! It also has the nickname potential for [name_f]Ana[/name_f] if she prefers to go with something more common in the workplace or at school one day, so you can’t go wrong
[name_f]Oriana[/name_f] is breathtaking. I think of a golden-tinted dawn scene with lush sunset-coloured flowers swaying, and a watercolour brush of blue in a sunflower sky. Then it changes and I think of whispering, thick-brushed fir trees, and a deep blue ocean over a white cliff covered in clover, It’s both a dawn-maiden and ocean-nymph name to me, for some reason.
But [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] could also be a royal maiden, who lives in cream-coloured castle high up in the mountainous forests, with dark midnight hair and a face like pearl and dark cornflower eyes, calm and lovely and wise and serene . . . and then she rides to the shore, to the golden beach, in the evenings, and her hair flushes deep gold with the evening sun flashing off the sparkling waves, and her eyes warm to amber, and she wades into the sea without looking back, and her dark hair slips and slides from its braided crown and tumbles down her back, glinting with glory.
She gathers wildflowers from the meadows, the open meadows of waving grass that are open to the skies, and comes home with a song humming in her throat and garland of blooms in her hair, and her arms are softly blushed with the scent. The hem of her dress trails along the cold white marble of the palace floors, leaving a faint, sweet tang of the meadows, and next day there’s dried stems lying on the silken sheets of her bed and she feels full, replete, ripe with the richness of the prevous day, as if she had stared into the sun without blinking and seen the glorious land which lay behind.
You did ask for imagery . . . sorry if I’ve got a little carried away! I love this type of thing and [name_f]Oriana[/name_f] is so gorgeous that she can be so many things all at once!
I thin its pretty and I know an [name_u]Orion[/name_u] an aria an [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] an avianna an arrabella the list goes on, no one gets many weird looks I thinknyoull be fine
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