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Sure thing you can.

This message was edited 11/16/2014, 4:56 PM

Lilou is like Buster, IMO, if you don't speak French. It's that cutesy in English. A familiarity bordering on an endearment. You can nickname anyone Lilou, even if her name is Gertrude or Damaris. It might make you feel better about it if there's a prominent L sound in the name, but it's not necessary. I think it's cheesy to require that her name have a lee or loo sound in it in English... it's a French nickname so it's already artificial. Leona would not have a lee sound in it in French but who cares?? Just own the artificiality. I call my daughter Leeloo sometimes. So what if her name isn't the slightest bit French and has no lee or loo sound in it. What's going to happen - people gonna judge me? lol.

This message was edited 11/15/2014, 12:31 PM

Yup, Lilou is a great nickname for Leona - regardless of the middle name. I really like the idea of a Lou- middle name, but if you don't like any there's not much you can do about that!

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Here's just a few more, in case you haven't considered them all:
Louisette
Marilou
Lourdes
Louella
Lou
Luna
Luanna
Luanne
Luca
Lucy
Lucia
Lucille
Lucienne
Lucinda
Lucretia
Lucrezia
Lulu
Lumi
Lux

Sure! Lou sounds like a cutesy nickname element (not that this is a bad thing), so you can use it in a nickname without the real name(s) having anything to do with "Lou".

Yep, seems to me like Lilou would work for any name starting with a Lee- sound. I've looked after an Olivia and called her Livi Lou and a Lisa and called her Lee Lee Lou, so it makes perfect sense to me (their middle names were Claire and Zoe).

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So I'd say yes. Nicknames don't have to make perfect sense.

I'd say yes. Sometimes nicknames aren't related to names at all. And if you love it, use it. If you look at Lilou's related names there are names like Annabella and Marisa, which wouldn't even make me think they're related ( http://www.behindthename.com/name/lilou/related ).

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If you're pronouncing Leona with a starting LEE sound, then I think especially it'll be alright.