Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed.
We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight!
Carrie writes:
We have a beautiful 3 year old daughter named Alina Mary Rose. Our second daughter is due at the end of January. My list of names I love is long, and yet … all of them sound a lot/too much like Alina!
Before our daughter was born, we had narrowed our names list down to:
- Aria
- Eliana
- Elena
- Amaya
- Alivia/Olivia (I don’t really like it when people say it with an OH sound)
- Lia/Leah/Liana
The other problem is that Mary and Rose are the names of lots of women in both of our families (or some similar form of the name) and we don’t really have any other good middle names left. We could use Barbara, Beverly, Carol, Michelle, Nancy, Laurie, and Colleen.
Our last name sounds like Rez-Nick.
Can you help us find a name that goes with Alina Mary Rose?
Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
Abby replies:
Congratulations on your new daughter!
I think lots of us fall in love with similar-sounding names. When we named our daughter Clio, we knew we’d never have a Theo.
But then again, some families embrace the close-but-not-the-same sounds of sibling names. I’ve come across siblings with names like Mylah and Maliyah, Jaden and Jackson. The what’s-too-close-line is, ultimately, up to you.
I’d say that Alina and Elena are way too close to consider. And my instinct is to rule out Eliana, too, as well as Lia and Liana.
Alivia/Olivia works, but given that you have strong feelings about pronunciation, it might be better avoided.
That leaves Amaya and Aria … and I think either would work nicely as a sister for Alina.
Of course, it does give you something of a pattern. Are you hoping for a big family? Because while you have lots of options for naming Alina’s sister, your choices might feel more limited if you’re naming a sibling for Alina and Amaya.
So let’s look at more names that share the flowing, liquid sounds of Alina … but maybe seem a little more distinctive and different.
A SISTER FOR ALINA MARY ROSE
ARIEL
Alina and Ariel share a first initial, but the different ending sounds keep the two names distinct. The spelling Arielle is also popular; Ariella is more common still. But somehow Alina and Ariella seem more similar than Alina and Ariel/le.
BELLA
Brief and lovely, Bella makes a perfect since name for Alina.
EVERLY
You’ve chosen family middle names, but would you be open to honoring Beverly with an Everly?
KAIA
A Scandi nickname for Katherine, Kaia shares sounds with the names you love. But the K makes it clear which sister is which.
LILIA
Lilia might be a little close to Alina, but I think it just works. Lily, too, could be an option.
LYLA
Similarly, Lyla fits in the same Aria/Amaya/Lilia category, at least to my ear.
SIENNA
One of the quintessential liquid names for girls, and a possible pair for Alina.
TESSA
Tessa feels a little more traditional than Alina, but still very much a compatible choice.
ABOUT THOSE MIDDLE NAMES
If Everly is out, it still seems that Eve (or Eva) could honor Beverly, at a stretch. Other names that have potential include:
- Caroline, from Carol
- Elle or Ella, from Michelle
- Lauren or Laurel, from Laurie
- Lena, from Colleen
- Anne, from Nancy
- Bea, from Beverly and Barbara
I’m surely missing more, and I think something like Barbara Eve would work, too.
POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS
There are so many options! A sister for Alina Mary Rose could be:
- Amaya Caroline Eve
- Bella Everly Anne
- Everly Lauren Elle
- Sienna Ella Bea
I could go on. From my list, I really love the sound of Bella with Alina, especially because it uses Everly – which also strikes me as a perfect sister name.
Alina Mary Rose & Cara Lily Grace – my favorite, Cara honors mother Carrie and Carol, and I like how Mary Rose and Lily Grace have symmetry.
Alina Mary Rose & Carissa Lily Grace
Alina Mary Rose & Lara Carissa Grace – honors Laurie, Carrie and Carol
Alina & Cara Michaela Grace
Alina & Katya Michaela Grace
Alina & Lara Michaela Grace
Alina & Laura Nancy Colleen
Changing the vowels in Carol makes Coral, which is such a gorgeous name. 🙂
How about Luana? I spotted it on a popularity list for Peru but it is used in Europe as well and has been used in the U.S. since the 1800s. It could be a combination of Lucy and Anna or Hawaiian or Roman, etc. You seem to like names that sound pretty and are still fairly modern sounding: Anissa, Aurelan, Aurelia, Brielle or Brielle, Calla, Calista, Dahlia, Dalila, Delia, Kateri, Karina, Kira, Lara, Lula, Lyra, Lyric, Mara, Mila, Mira, Miri,, Selina, Tali, Talia, Talitha.
Liriel
Liliosa
Alma
Estella
Tallulah
Alba
Hi and Congrats!
I have a four year old Alina Sofia and my second child is a boy, we named him William Alexander.
We chose Alina because it was a pan European German/Russian/Romanian name like my name, Jana, and it was cross cultural to South America. My husband is from VZ. I also wanted a name that ended in -na like mine as well.
Other name I considered before I knew my second was a boy were:
Emilia
Eva or Ava
Bianca
Anastasia
Svetlana
Veronica
Valeria
Maybe you will like one of these 🙂
Bella Colleen Lorraine
Kaia Bea Michelle
Alma Beverly Anne
Vada Colleen Laurel
I really like Colleen as the first middle name for some reason. I think it works for the long vowels that you like in the first name.
I think Everly is brilliant. It might feel more modern, but as a tweak of Beverly, and with the nickname Evie, it really does fit with Alina. You could even put one of your Love list options in the middle, since Everly could be seen as one of the honour names – Everly Aria Ann. That sounds very pretty to me?
Otherwise, I wonder if you just add or cut letters off your Love list that makes names that distance it from Alina?
Maya or Maelle
Maria or Daria (I would LOVE to hear these names on a child!)
Helena (although, so many pronouncations)
Livia or Lydia (as suggested)
Diana
Clea or Thea
For middles, I think it would be amazing if you could honour yourself – then second daughter has one of your names to be her special thing. Whether that’s your middle, or Carrie, or Carys, etc. BUT I do love patterns, so something like Helena Carys Bea sounds amazing for a sister!
I wonder if you would like Emilia or Lydia with Alina? They both contain that liquid L sound but sound different enough from Alina plus Lydia is a nice alternative to Olivia. I also really like the suggestions of Sienna, Rosalie, Felicity, and Fiona. I want to suggest Leona as well but I’m not sure if it’s too much of a tongue twister when calling out Alina and Leona together
I agree Amaya could work. It sounds a little matchy matchy …but not in a bad way.
If you wouldn’t mind repeating the Rose – I think Rosalie or Rosemary would be a perfect sister name.
I also thought of Amity or Avery if you wanted to keep the same first letter or Felicity, Emmeline, Coralie, Vivian, Cecily, Brielle, or Bellamy.
As for middles I think Colleen goes with a lot of names.
Amaya Colleen
Rosalie Colleen
Felicity Coleen
Second Rosalie, Emmeline, and Coralie!
I actually love Liana with Alina, but if it’s really too similar for you perhaps changing up the vowels a bit will solve that. Leona is also gorgeous with Alina. Ariella rather than Ariel, Lillian rather than Lilia and Teresa rather than Tess would go nicely as well.
It seems like your looking for a name that IS similar, just not too much. In that vain:
Eleanor
Milena
Fiona
Liora
Analiese
Lorena/Laurena
Micheline