So we are down to the following for our unknown gender baby:
All 3 names honor family members.
[name]Charlotte[/name] Melili (meh-LEEL-y) - love this name, but [name]Charlotte[/name] is so popular, and so long with our long last name
[name]Dinah[/name] Melili - love this too, but slightly less than the sound of [name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Dinah[/name] [name]Charlotte[/name]
or maybe even
[name]Dinah[/name] Melili-[name]Charlotte[/name]??
Our 1st DD only has one middle name, but I haven’t ruled out 2 with a hypen for this baby.
[name]Do[/name] you like nicknames? I prefer [name]Dinah[/name] with either of your middle names, but if you’re set on [name]Charlotte[/name], maybe it would seem less long if she was usually [name]Lotte[/name] or [name]Carly[/name].
I prefer [name]Charlotte[/name] over [name]Dinah[/name], but since I peeked at your signature and saw that your daughter’s name is [name]Sonia[/name], I think I like [name]Sonia[/name] and [name]Dinah[/name] better than [name]Sonia[/name] and [name]Charlotte[/name]. [name]Dinah[/name] Melili is my pick.
I adore [name]Dinah[/name], completely underused, much like [name]Sonia[/name]. I prefer it mildly to [name]Charlotte[/name]. [name]Charlotte[/name] is beautiful, you can see it’s on my list as a middle (like [name]Dinah[/name]). I really think you’re doing well with either, but I agree with PP that [name]Dinah[/name] is a bit of a better match to [name]Sonia[/name], and you’ve said it’s a better match with your last name, I think you just need to warm to it more.
As to the middle, does [name]Sonia[/name] have an unusual middle? If so, Melili’s great. If not, while I like Melili, the flow of [name]Dinah[/name] [name]Charlotte[/name] is better, and it’d be better matched to [name]Sonia[/name] + middle if [name]Sonia[/name]'s middle is more common.