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I didn’t get the Pelagia-appreciation gene, but I think Larisa is very nice. I especially like that, while the name contains softer sounds and has a gentle feel, it’s meaning is one of profound strength. Perhaps this is why the combination, Larisa Hedy, came to mind. It isn’t anything like your pairings, but I thought you might like it. My favorites from your list are Larisa Marianthe and Larisa Amalthea. :)

I used to hate Pelagia for a long time. It has a really geriatric feel here in Poland and I guess it's one of those names you either love or hate. But it's grown on me some time ago and now I'm very close to loving it, I'd love to see a revival of it some time soon in Poland, but I guess we'll have to wait some more for that to happen. Larisa is beautiful and sophisticated, I like it a lot, it has a lot of stately elegance to me just like Pelagia but also some subtlety that I love about it. I prefer it pronounced lah-REE-sah than like Marissa with an L, but I do like the Larissa spelling as well, and our Polish Larysa. I think I prefer the similar sounding Clarissa, but Larisa is really great. From your combos I like Pelagia Delphine, Pelagia Helen (I love Pelagia Helena or even Pelagia Helene more), Pelagia Lucy, Larisa Melpomene, Larisa Nephele and Larisa Philomela.

Pelagia: a lovely, unearthed gem, which I'd consider using, since it honours an ancestor. However, I'd only go with it as a middle name. While it's also Polish, it's extremely dated, and there are about as many Polish girls called Pelagia as there are English ones called Ermintrude, and I imagine it'd be mispronounced as "pə-LAY-gee-ə" or "pə-LAY-jee-ə" in English (it's "peh-LA-gya").
Larisa: I like it too. I prefer it spelt (and pronounced) Larisa in Russia, and Larissa (rhyming with Marissa) in English-speaking countries.

Pelagia is part of a family I created years ago that I use in questions on the tests in my Introduction to Psychology classes. :)

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I first created "little Rosalind" who plays the tuba and her Uncle Ozburn who hates tubas. I went on to add Rosalind's twin sister Amphelisia, their baby brother Mostyn, their parents John and Mary, Ozburn's girlfriend Zorilda, and finally Ozburn's sister and Rosalind's aunt Pelagia, who features in questions on the tests about eating disorders.

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30 years ago I often had students complain about that the names on my tests were too weird and made the tests too difficult. It's interesting that I haven't gotten that complaint in the last decade or so. I think we're now at the point where people around age 19 are part of a generation where names are more varied and can deal with unusual names better. The test banks that textbook publishers put out now contain lots of suggested exam questions that use Asian or Hispanic names like Mei-Ling, Praveen, and Juan.

This message was edited 5/24/2019, 6:36 AM

I love Pelagia. I have some basic-bitch-type associations for Larisa but I like a lot of those combos that emphasize the ancientness. But I still think Pelagia should have a stronger mn and Larisa should have an airier one, so I stole some of the names I thought were "stronger" from Larisa and put them in my Pelagia ideas :p

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I like:

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Pelagia Delphine (also Delphi)
Pelagia Edith (based on sound alone)
Pelagia Helen (also Helene and Helena)
Pelagia Hester (also Hesper)
Pelagia Iris
Pelagia Joan
Pelagia Sibyl

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Larisa Alcyone
Larisa Amalthea
Larisa Antigone
Larisa Eulalia
Larisa Euphemia
Larisa Euthalia
Larisa Hermione
Larisa Ianthe
Larisa Iolanthe
Larisa Iphigenia
Larisa Marianthe
Larisa Melpomene
Larisa Nephele

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This message was edited 5/23/2019, 11:07 AM

Larisa is nice but too gentle for me. Pelagia is very pretty. And these here are lots of nice combos, but my favourites that you list are Pelagia Lucy, Pelagia Sophie, and Larisa Diotima.

Pelagia I don't like because it makes me think of either a disease, like pellagra or paraplegia, or like some cousin to tilapia.

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Larisa is nice enough. I would like it better spelled with two s's. It's not my favorite issa name but it isn't bad at all.