Would you consider formal names for Lainey – or Laney? Maybe even Lainie?
The baby name Lainey rocketed into the US Top 100 in 2023. Credit to country singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson, who appeared on smash hit television series Yellowstone.
It’s a new name that feels like an old name.
But when parents try to decide if their baby girl needs a formal name? It’s not always clear what works best.
To be clear: there’s absolutely no need to name your daughter anything other than Lainey. Plenty of good reasons argue for putting the name you plan to use straight on your child’s birth certificate. If you don’t love the formal name, then it’s fine to skip it in favor of the nickname.
But if you’d like to build in some options?
This list of thoughtful suggestions for getting to the name Lainey is for you!
ADELAINE
It’s a subtle twist on Adelaide. It looks almost like Ada with the middle name Laine. But Adelaine is an invention that might work nicely.
ALAINA, ALAYNA, ELAINA, ELENA
One of the most obvious formal names for Lainey. The challenge? The most common spelling, Elena, is visually distinct. A first name like Alaina or Elaina includes more of the logical letters, but it will likely require regular spelling across your daughter’s lifetime.
BLAINE
Laine-with-a-B.
DELANEY
The sound is built right in to this stylish surname choice. It’s an obvious option on this list of formal names for Lainey, though the spelling suggests Laney instead.
ELAINE
A traditional choice from Arthurian legend, Elaine is a perfect way to get to the first name Lainey.
GHISLAINE
Intriguing French rarity Ghislaine might be an obvious choice, but the crimes of Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes cast a long shadow.
HELEN, HELENA, HELAINA
The name Helen is an enduring choice. In Greek mythology, Helen was the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda. Paris fell hard for the lovely Helen. Some accounts say he kidnapped her. Others suggest she ran away with him. Either way, it sparked the Trojan War. Helen’s name endures as a classic choice. Ellen is another form, but it doesn’t lend itself to Lainey. Helena is the Latinate form, with at least three distinct pronunciations, one of which might work. And Helaina? That’s a sort of Helen-meets-Alaina compromise.
LAINA, LENA
Lena can be short for lots of longer names. Pronounce it with a long A sound, though, and diminutive Lena can be shortened even more, to Lainey. (Which isn’t shorter at all, but does feel more casual.)
LAINE, LANE
Laine looks familiar and feminine thanks to traditional names like Elaine. Lane, on the other hand, is a surname far more common on lists of boy names. Worth noting: Gilmore Girls gave us a female Lane, Rory’s BFF. Either has potential for a daughter. Just like Rose becomes Rosie, it follows logically that Laine would become Lainey.
LEILANI
We’re all living in Hawaii lately, at least when it comes to naming our daughters. Kehlani, Kailani, Kaylani, Alani, Nahlani, Jaylani, and several more -lani names all rank in the current US Top 1000.
LILIANE, LILLIAN
Any Lillian would logically be Lily, but the letters and sounds for Lainey are almost there, too – especially with the French form, Liliane.
MADELAINE
Another name in the key of Helaina and Adelaine. With so many spellings of Madeline/Madelyn and so on in use, it’s easy to imagine one more fitting right in – especially if it comes with a less-expected nickname than Maddie. This is one of those formal names for Lainey that’s both obvious and rare, though 24 girls were named Madelaine in 2023 alone.
MARJOLAINE
The Latin word maiorana became marjoram, the herb often used in cooking. In French, it became marjolaine. It’s used as a given name in France today, though it was most popular circa 1990. Today it’s a very rare choice that would lend itself to the nickname Lainey. One more herbal fun fact: Marjorie is a re-spelling of the medieval Margery, the English form of Margaret. It, too, is a reference to the herb.
MALANI, MILANI
Probably names inspired by Melanie and Melanie, but with a healthy dose of those Hawaiian -lani names, too.
MELAINA
A Melanie-adjacent name with the right sounds.
MELANIE
With the letters Lanie embedded in this name, it seems like it ought to be an obvious formal name for Lainey. But the sound isn’t quite there, so it’s not a common association.
ROSELAINE
We’re so used to Roseanne and Rosemary. Names like Rosalind and Rosamund aren’t common, but they’re delightful finds in history and literature. But dozens and dozens of Rose- names have been heard over the centuries. Roselaine might be a cousin to Rosalind, a Rose-Elaine smoosh, or even a combination of Rose with any other name ending in -laine.
VIOLAINE
A gorgeous and unexpecting -laine name, Violaine was invented by an early twentieth century French playwright, Paul Claudel. The play was originally titled in 1892 La Jeune Fille Violaine. It’s not clear if Claudel’s inspiration was the name Violante – a French form of Yolanda – or something else. To an American ear this sounds more like a Violet-Lainey mash-up with a few letters dropped.
YOLAINE
Yolanda became Yolande in French, and might’ve evolved to Yolaine from there. It’s slightly middle aged in France now, but might feel fresh to an English-speaking audience.
Would you consider any of these as a formal name for Lainey?
First published on June 1, 2018, this post was revised substantially on February 26, 2025.
The first version of this post was a response to a reader request for #namehelp. They named their daughter Alaina “Lainey” West!
This might be a random comment but I plan to honor an Elaine with the name Eliane Same letters, different combination. And it means sun, which I feel surely must be related to the “ light” meaning of the helen and Eleanor’s .
Meg, that’s lovely!
Going against the grain here and voting for just Lainey Grace. It’s spunky and sweet , sounds great with Alyssa and Brianna. Helena nn ‘Lainey’ works but it will be tough to enforce. She would probably either get the full package of Helena or Lena before Lainey.
I think Helena Grace is gorgeous! My first instinct would be to pronounce it the way you prefer, but I wouldn’t be sure because there are multiple acceptable pronunciations. I wouldn’t worry about the need to clarify your preferred pronunciation, but it also wouldn’t bother me too much if it were occasionally pronounced differently. If you think this will bother you, that might be something to consider.
Helena (Lainey) Grace sounds fantastic, I think your original instincts are correct.
The more I think about it, the more I agree with Helena Grace. And I think you could pronounce it either way and still derive Lainey as a nickname.
I have only ever heard the HELL en ah pronunciation. You could still honor both Helen and Elaine with the name Delaney Helen. Lainey is a perfect nickname for Delaney and I think it is the ideal choice for the sister of Alyssa and Brianna.
Any of these would be lovely, but how about Adelaine or Eleanor? I think one or the other of those is how I would arrive the nickname Lainey from a more formal name.
I personally prefer the name Laine. It is elegant, distinctive, and unusual, and with a longer middle I think it reaches perfect balance.
I like
Laine Veronica
Laine Matilda
Laine Margaret
Laine Elise (my fav)
Laine Elizabeth
Laine Diana
Laine Olivia
I agree with most posters – Helena and Laine/ Lainey are absolutely fine with sisters Alyssa and Brianna.
Helena might get mispronounced or misspelt sometimes, but it’s a traditional/standard spelling. While both HEL-en-uh and he-LAY-nuh are standard spellings, my intuition is that the latter is more common in the US (I’ve always thought of HEL-en-uh as primarily British, with he-LAY-nuh being more common in the Americas and parts of continental Europe).
I agree with Abby that Helena is uncommon enough to handle a fairly common middle name, and Helena Grace is lovely. I think Helena Bell(e), Helena Blythe and Helena Faye are great suggestions, too, and all of those middles could also work well with Lainey.
Some more thoughts for middle names:
Joy
Maeve, May
Fern
Wren
June (especially if she’s due this month!)
Joan
Sage
Erica or Heather might be sweet middles to tie in to your name.
Good luck, and congratulations!
“…both HEL-en-uh and he-LAY-nuh are standard *pronunciations*”
Whoops!
I wouldn’t worry about people spelling Helena incorrectly. If you use the classic spelling and they don’t know it really that is on them. You say that there is a special Elaine in your life so I wonder if her name influenced your family because I doubt many people would spell Helena that way.
I panicked in the hospital because the nurse spelt my son’s name wrong (a new testament standard), literally noone else has ever done that! I’m glad we didn’t change his name as a reflex.
Do you like Helena Mary or Helena Beth?
I’m all for Helena! I think it’s gorgeous, and it’s on my name list as well. I like the idea of pairing Helena with a short, strong name. Here are some suggestions:
Helena Claire
Helena Kate
Helena Quinn
Helena Fay