My husband wants to use family names for our children’s middle names, which I completely agree with, but the two he wants to use the most are AWFUL. Any suggestions for how to update these names would be EXTREMELY helpful.
[name]Leona[/name]
[name]Larry[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name]
[name]Martha[/name]
Oh, and our last name is Bean.
Of those four, the only one I think is the least bit “old fashioned” is [name]Leona[/name] (which makes NJ bred me think of Helmsley) I’d update her as [name]Leonie[/name]. Feels lighter & more “now”. [name]Larry[/name], I’d just lengthen to [name]Laurence[/name] and then nickname him [name]Ren[/name]. I’ve always liked [name]Martha[/name] and see nothing old-fashioned about her, she’s timeless to me. [name]Marilyn[/name] is one dear to my own heart. I think she’s as current as any other -lyn ending name. I would love to meet a little [name]Marilyn[/name]! It’s a great name!
I actually think [name]Martha[/name], [name]Laurence[/name], [name]Leonie[/name] & [name]Marilyn[/name] would make a really awesome sibling set. A teeny bit themey, with two M’s & two L’s but still, very nice indeed. Very lovely.
Of course, I’m someone who has 22 year old boys named [name]Leo[/name] & [name]Simon[/name] and you should have heard the flak I got back then for naming them that! I still love their names and can happily report that they like them too. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt. 
I like [name]Marilyn[/name] pretty middle name
I have to disagree on one point: The one I have the most trouble with is [name]Marilyn[/name]. Popular a little too recently, plus so tied to [name]Monroe[/name]. The solution: Save that one for last. It’s going to take you a while to get to four kids, right?, and by then maybe you’ll like it and maybe he’ll change his mind. [name]Leona[/name]'s got all kinds of great newly-stylish versions: Besides [name]Leonie[/name], a lovely one that [name]Lola[/name] mentioned, a great one is [name]Leonora[/name].
My really big idea is to use the female names for boys and male names for girls, so that [name]Leona[/name] becomes [name]Leon[/name] or [name]Leo[/name], [name]Martha[/name] becomes [name]Martin[/name], [name]Larry[/name] becomes [name]Laura[/name] or [name]Lauren[/name], and [name]Marilyn[/name] becomes…[name]Marlon[/name]? That way you have a better justification for altering the names and people’s feelings get less hurt.
You could always go the exotic route with [name]Larry[/name]-- [name]Lorenzo[/name] (the Italian form) for a boy and [name]Laurence[/name] for a girl (it’s a fairly common name for girls in [name]France[/name] and sounds yummy when pronounced correctly).
I’m 31 and [name]Leona[/name] Helmsley doesn’t have any meaning for me at all. Instead, I think of the beautiful singer [name]Leona[/name] [name]Lewis[/name], which isn’t a bad associationg at all!
[name]Leona[/name]-what about [name]Leonora[/name]? Although I do like [name]Leona[/name]
[name]Larry[/name]-that’s as bad as my family’s ‘family names’ [name]Henderson[/name] and [name]Maurice[/name] (we pronounce it [name]Morris[/name], it’s Irish, as is [name]Henderson[/name])
[name]Marilyn[/name]-I like this one, feminine and traditional, but I can’t see it on a little girl…
[name]Martha[/name]-what about [name]Marietta[/name]?
Update [name]Leona[/name] to Leonne ([name]Long[/name] O sound)
[name]Larry[/name] to [name]Lars[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name] to Arilyn
[name]Martha[/name] to [name]Marta[/name]
[name]Leona[/name]
Girl- [name]Leigh[/name], [name]Lea[/name]
Boy- [name]Lee[/name], [name]Leo[/name]
[name]Larry[/name]-
Girl- [name]Lara[/name], [name]Larren[/name] (pronounced [name]Lauren[/name])
Boy- [name]Lawrence[/name] nn. [name]Law[/name], [name]Larsen[/name]/[name]Larson[/name]
Either- [name]Larkin[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name]- [name]Marin[/name], [name]Marina[/name], [name]Marley[/name]/[name]Marlie[/name], or just [name]Marilyn[/name] nn. [name]Ari[/name]
[name]Martha[/name]- [name]Mara[/name], [name]Thalia[/name] nn. [name]Tali[/name]
Good luck!
[name]Leona[/name] - For a girl, this name doesn’t seem to old-fashioned because of its associations with singer [name]Leona[/name] [name]Lewis[/name]. However, I like this name for a boy in the forms of [name]Leon[/name] (my pick), [name]Leo[/name], [name]Leopold[/name], or even the dusty [name]Leonard[/name]. I’m not thinking [name]Leonard[/name] will be a good one for you, though! For a girl, you could use [name]Lena[/name], [name]Leni[/name], [name]Helen[/name], [name]Helena[/name], or [name]Leila[/name] - all have similar sounds.
[name]Larry[/name] - What about its full form, [name]Laurence[/name] (or [name]Lawrence[/name])? For a boy, that is really my only suggestion. Girls, however, could use [name]Laurel[/name], [name]Lauren[/name], [name]Larissa[/name], [name]Lainey[/name], or [name]Lara[/name]…
[name]Marilyn[/name] - Any form of [name]Mary[/name] - and their are tons - would work for this one! [name]Mary[/name], [name]Marielle[/name], [name]Marisol[/name], [name]Marisa[/name], [name]Mariana[/name], [name]Marni[/name], [name]Marcy[/name], [name]Mercy[/name], or the 80s favorite, [name]Lynn[/name], work here! For a boy, I honestly don’t know.
[name]Martha[/name] - I sort of like this one, with its old-fashioned comfortable feel and Biblical charm, but you could substitute [name]Martin[/name] or [name]Thad[/name] ([name]Thaddeus[/name]) for a boy and [name]Martina[/name], [name]Marta[/name], [name]Matilda[/name], [name]Mathilde[/name], [name]Marni[/name], or [name]Thalia[/name] for a girl!
Best of luck!
[name]Leona[/name] is the best name on this list, in my opinion, and doesn’t need updating. ([name]Leona[/name] Bean sounds and looks better to me than [name]Leonie[/name] Bean)
[name]Martha[/name] updated to [name]Mathilda[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name] updated to [name]Mariella[/name]
[name]Larry[/name] updated to [name]Henry[/name] or [name]Laurence[/name]
[name]Leona[/name]: I love [name]Leona[/name], and think it would work beautifully with other vintage names. (Then again, [name]Leona[/name] Beans sounds like “[name]Lee[/name] own a bean.”)
Names close to [name]Leona[/name]:
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Eleanora[/name]
[name]Leonora[/name]
[name]Leah[/name] (Has Bean’s ee sound, though)
[name]Cleo[/name] (ditto)
[name]Larry[/name]: Poor [name]Larry[/name]!
[name]Lawson[/name] (for [name]Lawrence[/name])
[name]Lorenzo[/name]
I think that [name]Lawrence[/name] could work as a middle name…
Girls:
[name]Laura[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name]:
[name]Marielle[/name]
[name]Marin[/name]/[name]Maren[/name] (although it has Bean’s n ending)
[name]Margot[/name]
[name]Miriam[/name]
(I think any [name]Mar[/name] name could work…)
[name]Martha[/name]: Ditto…
Good luck!
[name]Leona[/name] becomes :
[name]Leo[/name], [name]Leonine[/name], [name]Leopold[/name] or [name]Leonard[/name] for a boy
[name]Larry[/name] becomes :
Boys :
[name]Laurence[/name] (the full name it is a nn for)
Girls :
[name]Lara[/name]
[name]Larisa[/name]
Larita (lar-ee-ta)
[name]Lark[/name]
[name]Laura[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Lauren[/name]
[name]Lorna[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name] becomes :
[name]Linden[/name] for a boy
[name]Martha[/name] and [name]Marilyn[/name] become (although I do love [name]Martha[/name]) :
[name]Mae[/name]
[name]Maia[/name]
[name]Malia[/name]
[name]Mamie[/name]
[name]Manon[/name] (a French name; the last N is barely pronounced)
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Maria[/name]/e
[name]Marisa[/name]/[name]Marissa[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]May[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Miriam[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Polly[/name]
[name]Rosemary[/name].
[name]Larry[/name]- [name]Lawry[/name],[name]Laramie[/name], [name]Lars[/name], [name]Larson[/name], [name]Lorenzo[/name]
[name]Leona[/name]- [name]Alanna[/name], [name]Liora[/name], [name]Fiona[/name], [name]Helena[/name],[name]Lola[/name], [name]Liana[/name], [name]Lana[/name],[name]Elena[/name]
[name]Martha[/name]- [name]Mariah[/name], [name]Mara[/name],[name]Mira[/name], [name]Marta[/name],[name]Mattea[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name]- [name]Marlo[/name], [name]Marley[/name], [name]Mariana[/name], [name]Marielle[/name], [name]Meredith[/name], [name]Maren[/name], [name]Meryl[/name], [name]Madeline[/name], [name]Melaina[/name], [name]Melina[/name]
I love the name [name]Leona[/name] just as it is. If you want to change it I would go with [name]Leonie[/name] or (at worst, in my opinion at least) [name]Lee[/name]. The only drawback that I have ever seen with the name [name]Leona[/name] is that it’s an anagram of alone. [name]Ariel[/name] has a simillar meaning as [name]Leona[/name].
My best friend in grade school was named [name]Laryssa[/name]. We called her [name]Larry[/name] for short, though as she got older she always saw the nickname as an unfortunate side effect of being called [name]Laryssa[/name]. So you could make it [name]Laryssa[/name], [name]Lauren[/name], [name]Laurel[/name], [name]Laura[/name] or [name]Lawrence[/name] for a guy.
[name]Marilyn[/name] is I think lovely. I once met a girl named [name]Mari[/name] ([name]Mary[/name])- [name]Lin[/name], so that is one route you can go. You could also use [name]Marlin[/name] (lyn), [name]Mary[/name], [name]Maria[/name].
[name]Martha[/name], well, as much as I am for older names, this one has never been one I liked. Though, I do like the name [name]Marta[/name]. [name]Kyra[/name] and [name]Donna[/name] have the same meaning as [name]Martha[/name].
Why not find the origins of these names and pick a name with that same origin.
I love [name]Leona[/name] and [name]Marilyn[/name] as they are! They’re beautiful!
However, if you want alternatives, I would suggest:
[name]Leonie[/name]
[name]Marina[/name]
[name]Lara[/name]
[name]Marin[/name]
[name]Leah[/name]/[name]Lia[/name]
And for [name]Larry[/name]:
[name]Leo[/name]
[name]Larson[/name]
[name]Lachlan[/name]