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Help[Opinions] Alaina
Thank you for all your suggestions! I made a list with names that Lainie could be short for, could you please rate/comment on them and tell me which one you like best and which one(s) you don't like at all?
Delaney
Alaina
Elaine
Elaina
Lana
Lane
Melaina
Also would you change the spellings of Lane and Lana to Laine and Laina if you wanted to use Lainie as a nickname?
My favorite is Alaina, wdyt? I thought most people here would dislike it and say it's trendy and made up so I was surprised many seemed to like it. Could you tell me how you'd pronounce it? ah-LAY-na? al-LAY-na? eh-LAY-na?
Delaney
Alaina
Elaine
Elaina
Lana
Lane
Melaina
Also would you change the spellings of Lane and Lana to Laine and Laina if you wanted to use Lainie as a nickname?
My favorite is Alaina, wdyt? I thought most people here would dislike it and say it's trendy and made up so I was surprised many seemed to like it. Could you tell me how you'd pronounce it? ah-LAY-na? al-LAY-na? eh-LAY-na?
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Replies
My favorite is Elaine. I love it. It's so Arthurian, so half sick of shadows and looking down to Camelot, and yet nicely mid-century at the same time. Imo, that's a neat mix.
The rest of them don't appeal to me. Lana, nn Lainie, doesn't work for me at all. Every Lana I've met was a LAH-na not LAY-na. Lani or Lonny (LAH-nee) would be a more intuitive nickname.
"Trendy and made up" pretty much sums up my feelings for Alaina and Elaina. I'm not a fan. There are so many similar names with real history and heft, like Alana, Elaine, Elena, that I like so much more. Alaina and Elaina look like faux names by comparisons, like knock-offs of the originals.
I definitely would not change the spelling of a proper name to match the spelling of a nickname. Not ever. Would you change Michael to Mikeal just because you intended to call him Mike? Does a Jenny need to be short for Jennyfer? No nickname needs to be spelled out in the proper name to be usable.
Eta: I pronounce Alaina as ah-LAY-na.
The rest of them don't appeal to me. Lana, nn Lainie, doesn't work for me at all. Every Lana I've met was a LAH-na not LAY-na. Lani or Lonny (LAH-nee) would be a more intuitive nickname.
"Trendy and made up" pretty much sums up my feelings for Alaina and Elaina. I'm not a fan. There are so many similar names with real history and heft, like Alana, Elaine, Elena, that I like so much more. Alaina and Elaina look like faux names by comparisons, like knock-offs of the originals.
I definitely would not change the spelling of a proper name to match the spelling of a nickname. Not ever. Would you change Michael to Mikeal just because you intended to call him Mike? Does a Jenny need to be short for Jennyfer? No nickname needs to be spelled out in the proper name to be usable.
Eta: I pronounce Alaina as ah-LAY-na.
This message was edited 3/19/2012, 6:56 PM
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My favourites:
Delaney - it's so uncommon and Del would be a fun nickname too
Alaina - kind of a spunky version of Alana
Worsts:
Lana - at least with the nickname Lainie, because I pronounce Lana LAH-nah, not LAY-nah.
Melaina - because it looks like a type-o of Melania
Yes, I'd spell Lane Laine
And I'd spell Laina that way if I wanted that pronunciation.
ah-LAY-na
Delaney - it's so uncommon and Del would be a fun nickname too
Alaina - kind of a spunky version of Alana
Worsts:
Lana - at least with the nickname Lainie, because I pronounce Lana LAH-nah, not LAY-nah.
Melaina - because it looks like a type-o of Melania
Yes, I'd spell Lane Laine
And I'd spell Laina that way if I wanted that pronunciation.
ah-LAY-na
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Elaine is my favourite, followed by Delaney. I also really like Alaina and Elaina, but I just can't decide what the best way to spell it would be.
Lana, Lane, and Melaina are nms.
If I were going to use Lainie as a nn, I would change the spellings of Lane and Lana to Laine and Laina.
For me, Alaina = ah-LAY-nah and Elaina = e-LAY-nah.
Also, I completely agree with you that Helena nn Lainie makes no sense at all. Ellie or Lena would make sense, but Lainie would just confuse me. I would think I were pronouncing her name incorrectly.
Lana, Lane, and Melaina are nms.
If I were going to use Lainie as a nn, I would change the spellings of Lane and Lana to Laine and Laina.
For me, Alaina = ah-LAY-nah and Elaina = e-LAY-nah.
Also, I completely agree with you that Helena nn Lainie makes no sense at all. Ellie or Lena would make sense, but Lainie would just confuse me. I would think I were pronouncing her name incorrectly.
This message was edited 3/19/2012, 12:02 PM
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I'd go with Helena. It is worlds more dignified than the others, which are mostly undignified.
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Helena doesn't have an AY sound in it, at least not the way I pronounce it. It's also too common here, I know three at the moment.
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Why do you need an AY sound, or any sound at all for a nickname? Nicknames should not dictate formal names. Allowing them to do so is tacky.
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It's not tacky at all. There's no AY sound in Helena (my pronunciation). Nicknaming a Helena 'Lainie' is like nicknaming a Persephone 'Lainie'. It makes no sense to me at all and I'm pretty sure it doesn't make sense to most people. It's not a nickname like Buttercup that I would use when we were alone, she will actually be called that most of the time. And I don't want to make it hard on her. I would hate to have an illogical nickname that I constantly had to explain to people.
This message was edited 3/19/2012, 11:22 AM
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Completely agree.
Personally, I would think I were pronouncing it incorrectly. They're different sounds. It'd be like "Hi, my name is Robin, but you can call me by my nn Rube." I would think his name were Reuben instead of Robin.
I greatly prefer nicknames that make sense phonetically when you look at their full names.
Personally, I would think I were pronouncing it incorrectly. They're different sounds. It'd be like "Hi, my name is Robin, but you can call me by my nn Rube." I would think his name were Reuben instead of Robin.
I greatly prefer nicknames that make sense phonetically when you look at their full names.
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Well, my daughter Robin has the nn of Roo and no one's ever confused by either name.
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Well, I would be. My first question would be "How'd that nn come about? Is her favourite Winnie the Pooh character Roo?"
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It was just one of those ridiculous baby endearments that stuck. Consequently, only for in-family use.
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Thanks, it's a pet peeve of mine and I'm glad I'm not the only one. I mean it's perfectly fine for someone else I just don't like the idea at all.
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What?
Helena at least has similar letters. Persephone doesn't.
I know you can pronounce Helena hel-LAY-nuh (how i pronounce it). I think you could get the nn Lainie no matter how you say it though. I don't think it's confusing at all. And there would be no reason for you to constantly explain it to people unless she introduced herself as, "Hi, I'm Helena but you can call me Lainie" and the other person was dumb enough to get confused by something so straightforward.
Helena at least has similar letters. Persephone doesn't.
I know you can pronounce Helena hel-LAY-nuh (how i pronounce it). I think you could get the nn Lainie no matter how you say it though. I don't think it's confusing at all. And there would be no reason for you to constantly explain it to people unless she introduced herself as, "Hi, I'm Helena but you can call me Lainie" and the other person was dumb enough to get confused by something so straightforward.
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Mmmhmm @@
Yes. I really can't imagine people being caused confusion (lol) from encountering a Helena nn Lainie unless they had serious BtN mania (seek help). This thread is edging toward OCD.
I have an aunt whose name is Manijeh. Everyone calls her Kiki. Has this ever been a huge problem for her? Um, not so much. I have an aunt named Soraya who is called Ghinny (hard G). I referred to my grandmother as "Bobb" until I was about 9 (her name is Alice). Some people call me "Brer." I had a teacher once whose name is Eleanor who went by Bunny. And let's not forget Bonnie Blue Butler from Gone With the Wind whose real name was Eugenia Victoria.
A nickname can be any name that sound like a diminutive whether or not it traditionally suggests a first name. I know a Maggie who is a Mary Agnes.
Lainie could also be a nickname for Magdalene. Or Eléonore.
The constant discussion of nicknames on this site is dreadfully uninteresting to me.
Yes. I really can't imagine people being caused confusion (lol) from encountering a Helena nn Lainie unless they had serious BtN mania (seek help). This thread is edging toward OCD.
I have an aunt whose name is Manijeh. Everyone calls her Kiki. Has this ever been a huge problem for her? Um, not so much. I have an aunt named Soraya who is called Ghinny (hard G). I referred to my grandmother as "Bobb" until I was about 9 (her name is Alice). Some people call me "Brer." I had a teacher once whose name is Eleanor who went by Bunny. And let's not forget Bonnie Blue Butler from Gone With the Wind whose real name was Eugenia Victoria.
A nickname can be any name that sound like a diminutive whether or not it traditionally suggests a first name. I know a Maggie who is a Mary Agnes.
Lainie could also be a nickname for Magdalene. Or Eléonore.
The constant discussion of nicknames on this site is dreadfully uninteresting to me.
This message was edited 3/19/2012, 3:50 PM
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Not too surprising, since it's mentioned just once in the novel, and after that she's always called Bonnie. And actually, it's EugeniE Victoria, not EugeniA Victoria. I knew it, but then, I bet I could best everyone here in a GWTW trivia contest. What happened, see, is that it was decided she'd be named Eugenie Victoria "after two queens", but then Rhett said her eyes were going to be pea green, at which point Melanie opined that they were going to be blue, "as blue as the Bonnie Blue Flag", at which point Rhett laughed and said, "Bonnie Blue Butler" and after that she was called Bonnie, until even her parents forgot she was named after two queens, much the same way that Pittypat had supplanted Sarah Jane (Aunt Pittypat Hamilton, you remember) many years before. Pittypat got her nickname from her fond father because of the sound her feet made as she ran around as a child. Whew! Enough GWTW for ya?
Anyway, I made this post to correct that small error and to say that I far prefer both Eugenie and Victoria to Bonnie (yuk), so I think this fictional nickname choice was a poor one!
That, and for some reason, I can't sleep.
Anyway, I made this post to correct that small error and to say that I far prefer both Eugenie and Victoria to Bonnie (yuk), so I think this fictional nickname choice was a poor one!
That, and for some reason, I can't sleep.
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I love the interesting names and nicknames in GWTW. I always thought it was interesting that both of Scarlett's sisters went by mash-up names. Suellen's real name was Susan Elinor and Carreen's was Caroline Irene. I feel like Margaret Mitchell must have been a name nerd.
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lol me too. Nicknames should be spontaneous and fun, I think.
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Actually, it IS confusing. It's not straightforward at all. Nicknames make sense when they relate phonetically to their full names: Sam for Samuel, Greg for Gregory, Mel for Melanie, etc.
If we changed them to Same for Samuel, Greyg for Gregory, and Mail for Melanie, they don't make sense one bit.
I would immediately think that I were pronouncing the person's name incorrectly
If we changed them to Same for Samuel, Greyg for Gregory, and Mail for Melanie, they don't make sense one bit.
I would immediately think that I were pronouncing the person's name incorrectly
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Peggy for Margaret?
Not all nns have to be phoenetic. And I think Lainie is for Helena. I still think it makes sense. Changing the spellings of already establish nns doesn't make sense and doesn't really fit. I could see how phoenetically Lainie isn't for Helena if it's prn hel-uh-nuh but I still think it works because of how it looks.
Not all nns have to be phoenetic. And I think Lainie is for Helena. I still think it makes sense. Changing the spellings of already establish nns doesn't make sense and doesn't really fit. I could see how phoenetically Lainie isn't for Helena if it's prn hel-uh-nuh but I still think it works because of how it looks.
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But that has an etymological explanation and history of use.
This message was edited 3/19/2012, 1:04 PM
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Peggy nn Margaret, Elizabeth nn Lily etc were thought of at a time when there were usually several girls with the same name in a family. There wasn't such a huge variety in names and it was normal to have 5 Marys in the family. As they had to differentiate them somehow nicknames such as Molly and Mamie were thought of. At least that's what I read. To each their own it's just not for me.
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Yeah, I don't think so. I never said you couldn't do it so you can calm down. I know some people pronounce it with an AY sound which is why I wrote it doesn't make sense to me when I use MY pronunciation of it. I don't know anyone who pronounces Helena with an AY sound and I know three girls named this. In English it's usually HEL-eh-na and in other countries either that or he-LEH-na (the EH is long but still doesn't sound like an AY at all). And of course most people would get that you got Lainie from the -len part in Helena but to me it's like Persephone 'Poppy' or something like that. I obviously used Persephone 'Lainie' to emphasize the fact that I'm not a fan of far fetched nicknames.
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There's no need to calm down since I'm not riled up. And, by the way, telling someone to calm down usually has the opposite reaction.
I know a mix of Helena pronounced both ways and I'm from the USA--it just depends on what's popular where you are. I was not at all saying you had to use Lainie as a nn for Helena, I was just agreeing with Guru that it could be used. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the name Helena regardless of how it's pronounced. I was just commenting on the fact it isn't that far fetched as a nickname. At all.
Also, just stating this: I get why you used Persephone as an example for a far fetched nn but I felt it was over the top. Actually stating Persephone and Poppy vs Helena and Lainie makes it much more clear and concise.
I know a mix of Helena pronounced both ways and I'm from the USA--it just depends on what's popular where you are. I was not at all saying you had to use Lainie as a nn for Helena, I was just agreeing with Guru that it could be used. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the name Helena regardless of how it's pronounced. I was just commenting on the fact it isn't that far fetched as a nickname. At all.
Also, just stating this: I get why you used Persephone as an example for a far fetched nn but I felt it was over the top. Actually stating Persephone and Poppy vs Helena and Lainie makes it much more clear and concise.
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