Need help with first/middle combinations for baby, Jane.

I am expecting our second daughter in a few weeks and we are still undecided on the name. Our 17 month old is Violet Claire.

We have decided we are going to call this baby Jane.

Violet and Jane.

Since Violet is named after my husband's grandmother, I really feel that I want this baby to have a name with familial signifigance as well. However, we aren't crazy about any of our family names paired with Jane.
They are: Marie, L (the letter only - ex. Jane L K****is), Adaleen, Charity, Ruth, Nora.

We DO love the name Nora Jane - however, I am a bit hesitant due to what I believe is Nora's surging popularity. Also, I am concerned about the confusion of calling the baby only by her middle name (school, teams, etc), and I really wanted to use Jane as the first name as it 'feels' so much more common as a middle name. (Maybe that is silly).

One thing we had thought of was to combine two family names - Marie + l. And call her Jane Mariel. (I think Marielle is the more common spelling) Do you folks think the signifigance of the name gets lost when altered?

I love your daughter's name, and I adore Jane, too! :-)

Marie:

Jane Marielle (I love this, and just saw that you like Mariel...) :-)

L:

Jane Louisa

Adaleen:

Jane Adelia/Adeline (not the best flow...)
Jane Avaline (not the best flow...)
Jane Rosaleen (Irish name)

Nora:

Jane Eleanora/Eleanor

Charity:

Jane Felicity
Jane Verity
Jane Clemency


I personally don't think that the significance of a name is diminished when it's updated to your preferences, because in the end you're still honoring your loved one. I'm named after my grandma via her initials, for example.

I think Nora Jane is beautiful, but I personally share your issues with using a middle name as a child's first name. That said, people do it all the time without trouble, so I wouldn't give up on Nora Jane just yet. I also love Jane Eleanora. :-)

Best wishes to you! :-)

Edited: To add a few more ideas... :-)

I think Jane is a great first name.

Jane Eleanor would be a nice substitute for Nora Jane
Jane Charity sounds cute to me
Jane Adelaide is similar to Adaleen but a better match with Jane in my opinion
Jane Louisa was already meantioned and is beautiful
Jane Leona

And my favorite:
Jane Leonora - - - covers "L" and "Nora"!!

Are two mn's an option? Jane is such a short name, I don't think it would be too much.

Jane Lila Marie
Jane Lia Marie
Jane Lola Marie

Good luck!

I'm so happy to see someone else using Jane as a first name -- that is our daughter's name (Jane Audrey - the Audrey is after a dear friend/mentor) and we know of no others where we live. We do know a Nora Jane though! Very cute name, but I really like Jill and Jemma's suggestions. I think the three syllable middle name ending in an a sounds really good - Jemma's three name combinations accomplish this too -- something to soften the strong and straightforward Jane (and strong and straightforward is what I most love about Jane!).

I love the name Jane too! Funny enough, my first daughter was very close to being Dorothy Jane, but on the last week we decided on Dorothy Violet!

Part of me wants to pair a very classic name with Jane:

Jane Elizabeth
Jane Olivia
Jane Katherine
Jane Isabella
Jane Abigail
Jane Victoria
Jane Rosalind
Jane Caroline
Jane Lauren
Jane Sophia

and the other part of me wants something a little more unexpected...

Jane Willow
Jane Poppy
Jane Hazel
Jane Scarlett
Jane Iris
Jane Ruby
Jane Lillian
Jane Estella
Jane Savannah

etc... What do you think?

internetfruit wrote:I am expecting our second daughter in a few weeks and we are still undecided on the name. Our 17 month old is Violet Claire.

We have decided we are going to call this baby Jane.

Violet and Jane.

Since Violet is named after my husband's grandmother, I really feel that I want this baby to have a name with familial signifigance as well. However, we aren't crazy about any of our family names paired with Jane.
They are: Marie, L (the letter only - ex. Jane L K****is), Adaleen, Charity, Ruth, Nora.

We DO love the name Nora Jane - however, I am a bit hesitant due to what I believe is Nora's surging popularity. Also, I am concerned about the confusion of calling the baby only by her middle name (school, teams, etc), and I really wanted to use Jane as the first name as it 'feels' so much more common as a middle name. (Maybe that is silly).

One thing we had thought of was to combine two family names - Marie + l. And call her Jane Mariel. (I think Marielle is the more common spelling) Do you folks think the signifigance of the name gets lost when altered?

I agree that Jane deserves the first spot rather than the middle. It's much fresher up front.

Jane Isadora is one of my favorites.

Have you thought of other Mary/Marie variations besides Mariel (which is lovely)?
Mariette
Marian
Mariela
Manette
Marita
Maryse
Marika

or, as I think someone else mentioned, another name beginning with "Ada-"

Adalaide
Adala
Adalena
Adalia
Adalina
Adara
Adaya

I think the middle names ending in "-a" work particularly well with Jane.
Good luck!

Have you considered using a family surname as a middle name?

First names in the middle name slot are, of course, beautiful, but last names can go there, too. For example, I have my mother's maiden name as my middle name. My sister got a family surname that was found on both sides of the family as her middle name. Fortunately, we both like our 1st names so we never needed a middle name as a "backup" name. I don't think Jane requires a "backup" either, as a) it is beautiful and b) in an absolute pinch, your daughter could go by Jennie, which is an old-fashioned nn for Jane.

Anyway, using a family surname would be another way to give your daughter a family name. I agree that the choices you gave do not flow that well with Jane, although Jane Charity is sweet.

Also, last names as first names are a growing trend in naming.

I forgot to also suggest a feminized version of a masculine family name. There are often great possibilities. If you want help working out the possibilities, let us know ...!

I like Jane Marielle. At the end of the day the middle name is only used occassionally anyway. I don't think it matters that much if they are a perfect match. It is more important to honour the relatives that you want to honour.

I had thought about the surname issue as well, especially as my husband's mother's family is surname Rowen and I think it is lovely.

However, we have already honored that portion of the family with my first daughter's name, Violet.

On the other side of the family the surnames are less 'attractive'. I happen to like one of them (Dixon) but since I am from the South originally and now live in the NW, I think my husband doesn't like the picture it conjures up (Dixie). The other names are Hornaday (ack!), Carpenter (kinda dull), and then my maiden name is difficult to pronounce and I don't think it could be made pretty.