See the results of this poll: Which is worse?
Respondents: 53 (This poll is closed)
- Naming one child a name starting with a different letter then the rest of the family. : 18 (34%)
- Naming sisters with similar names (Lilyana and Luciana).: 35 (66%)
Keep in mind that your third child could be a girl, which means you would be facing the same dilemma again with TWO older daughters with names that start with L AND end with -ana, and no L names left that you like.
Couldn’t [name_f]Lucia[/name_f] or [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] be an option? I think the best compromise would be to go for a L-name without the -ana ending. 
I grew up with a girl who had the only non-K name in her family and it might have been a coincidence, but she had a pretty rocky relationship with her family. It’s dramatic to say that using a non-L name would cause a rift and make her feel separate from you, but at the same time tweens & teens can be pretty dramatic and who knows how she might feel. I am not a huge fan of the all-one-letter thing, but I would continue the trend in this case.
However, if you are certain that you will having more children in the near future, like before the ABCs are even mastered by her, I think it’s fine to ditch the Ls cause she will have a non-L sibling so she won’t be able to internalize a feeling of “otherness”
You could choose something like [name_f]Allegra[/name_f] or [name_f]Helene[/name_f]…still an L in there. Nothing wrong w/being a little different!!! In any case, [name_f]Luciana[/name_f] is one of my favorite names–I just would have hated a name so close to a sibling, since you all share a surname anyway.
I think [name_f]Luciana[/name_f] and [name_f]Lilyana[/name_f] are [name_m]WAY[/name_m] too close. I’d pick a name that has an L in it, but doesn’t start with an L, perhaps something like [name_f]Eloise[/name_f] or [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f].
I think lilyana and luciana sound pretty different. I know I would feel left out if I was the only one in the family whose name started with a different letter. Maybe look into some other names that have -luci in it but don’t end in ana like lucinda.
In reality I don’t think the kids would ever feel left out in this situation. But I’m sure she’d joke about it just enough to get on your nerves. Not to mention the jokes friends or family might make! I would stick with the L theme, especially if your next one is definitely an L____ [name_m]JR[/name_m]. if he’s a boy. I do think the names are too similar though. Would love to see you use [name_f]Lucia[/name_f] or [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] instead.
For what it’s worth, my grandparents and uncle have J names while my dad does not. It’s never bothered him in the least. I wouldn’t use [name_f]Luciana[/name_f] for [name_f]Lilyana[/name_f]'s sister. That’s just way too matchy for me.
My mom, dad, and sister all have names beginning with S, while mine begins with an L. It’s less than a nonissue – I actually barely even realized this was the case until this post made me think about it.
[name_m]Hi[/name_m]!
I think if you are planning to have 3 kids in total ditch the L matchy thing.
I come from a family of three siblings where we all have different sounding and starting letter names and it makes you feel a lot more of an individual. If you went for a name like [name_f]Eloise[/name_f] (like daisy451 suggested) they could still have a name with a strong ‘l’ sound in it…also kids like to know there name was loved by their parents - not the only one they could both agree on starting with a certain letter they decided to stick to. In some way that would make me feel less special than not being in the ‘L’ club.
Side note: one of my sisters is named [name_f]Eloise[/name_f] and we all love her name - it also comes with lots of nn options.
Another thought could be to have some sort of connective-ness between sibling girl names the middle name could be floral/botanical in nature - rose, flora, [name_f]Fleur[/name_f], belle, briar, lilac, iris, ivy etc so lilyana and the new arrival have that similarity as a family connection/discussion point?! [name_m]Just[/name_m] an idea!
Good luck
Thank you all or the input, it is much appreciated. Keep it coming!
Other options I like are [name_f]Aliyah[/name_f] and [name_f]Julia[/name_f]. They still contain an L and they are not as similar as [name_f]Luciana[/name_f]. However my stubborn husband is not a fan of either. He prefers [name_f]Lara[/name_f] or [name_f]Lana[/name_f]. We have 3 1/2 weeks to figure something out.
I really dislike [name_f]Aliyah[/name_f] but think [name_f]Julia[/name_f] could be a viable option for you. [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Luciana[/name_f] could work, or [name_f]Juliana[/name_f] with nickname [name_f]Lana[/name_f] for your hubbie.
I also would suggest [name_f]Alaina[/name_f], [name_f]Alana[/name_f] or [name_f]Milana[/name_f] with nickname [name_f]Lana[/name_f].