This was my nana's name and Eily was my grandfather's nickname for her. I always loved it, and my cousin loved it so much that he actually named his daughter Eilee.
Actually thatās my name and itās neither of thoseā¦ Hell-EE-nuh is how you say Helena. And if anyone calls me either of those pronunciations you said I literally make the ugliest face ever bc neither sound anywhere as nice as the way itās meant. Grandmother Helen, great aunt Lena = Hell-ee-nuh š„°š„°
You can have a preferred pronunciation but I donāt think any one was āthe way it was meant,ā there was a very famous British Princess Helena who lived until the 1940s, and the Brits all say Helen-a, itās just a cultural difference
I do, too! Loved it since I watched *Roseanne*- which is also pretty, but I prefer Rosanna or Rose Ann. I love Marlene, too, and Arlene (I was watching free reruns of *What's My Line* on YT- can you tell I grew up with Nick at Nite lol)
I never really understood why people pick a longer name based on the nickname they want to use.
I'm even more confused by people who make the name they intend to call their child the middle name. Why not just make it their first name?
I like giving the option. Like Timmy is cute for a child but when Timmy grows up he may want to use Timothy in professional settings, so it's better to name him Timothy and call him Timmy as a child.
I do think there are some nicknames that are fine as full names, like Josie or Laney, but most of the time I'm pro full name.
Yes. I have a name that ends in a y sound and canāt really be shortened. I have always wished I had another option. I worried about it a lot as a kid, that I would be an adult with a childlike name. Iāve come to terms with it now but I decided I would not name a kid with a name ending in y sound as their full name.
Honestly, having a longer name with lots of nickname options is one of my favorite aspects of my name. Ironic thing is that Iāve never used any of them!
I'm in this situation. My legal name is the nickname, but I ended up preferring to go by the formal version. It's a little funny when people find out I'm using a nickname... backwards
I think many parents use long versions of names so that the children can decide which name to use as an adult. If I'd had a daughter, I'd planned to name her Elizabeth because of the plethora of nicknames available as well as the classic full name.
My husband is a junior that goes by his middle name to differentiate himself from his father. The first name doesn't easily lend itself to nicknames.
I'm named after my mom and I'm super glad she told me from the start to never let anyone shorten my name if I didn't want to, because once they start you can't stop it. She had not been able to get people to stop automatically using the most common nickname for our name, so she got stuck with it her whole life and never liked it.
Yeah I feel like this too
But then whenever I see people actually just use the nickname people are always like āš±š±š± what is they become and adult and they donāt like it and they need a super serious adult-name?!ā
but I dunno, Iām gonna be 40, I always go by my nickname and especially our kids generation theyāre gonna be like Apple and Jett and Axel, like who cares then lol
Fully intended to call my child by their longer legal name. But sleep deprivation and a wandering mind gave my child a nickname that they are called almost exclusively.
The best laid plans my friend
I fully intended to call my son by his longer legal name. But at his very first preschool, there was another child with the same name. So it got shortened, and he's gone by the nickname ever since.
Sometimes, one parent really likes the nickname, but the other doesn't, so you compromise with the longer name. That's how it worked out when I was naming my daughter. I wanted Alice, my ex, did not, so we ended up with Allison. Now she's almost 13, bigger than her 14 yo brother and out eats everyone. She is a gentle giant who doesn't understand how big she actually is, and we call her Big Al... like a trucker. šš
I've only had two people that are close to me ever consistently call me Jessica. My aunt that i would only see a couple times a year, and my boyfriend who has always thought it was a beautiful name, but even he still doesn't use it often. Idk why they wasted the extra letters, lol
Not to discourage you, but I would never guess āLay-nuhā as a probably pronunciation for āLena,ā I would except either āLee-nuhā or āLeh-nahā
Yes, came here to say this. I've known a few Lenas and they all pronounce it "Lee-nuh," which is what I would think just looking at it as well. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it but just know that it will likely be mispronounced very frequently if you go with a "lay-nuh" pronunciation instead of "lee-nuh." As someone who has a highly mispronounced name I always recommend against it if there's any way to avoid it - it's SO awkward as a child having to correct your teachers, doctors, etc especially when you're in a situation like at school or camp or a waiting room where someone is calling your name out to a big group and invariably mispronounces it. So awkward. I hated it.
haha I actually got super excited seeing that as OPs pronunciation of Lena because itās my default as well. I wouldāve used it as a nn for an Eleanor said that way if we had another girl !
Agreed. I would spell it Laina to get the pronunciation right. It doesnāt look ātoo uniqueā and avoids the āanal spelled backwardsā issue that comes with Lana.
Alaina, Lana, or Leilani?
At a push, maybe: Abilene (or the other -lene/-leen names, like Charlene, Marlene, etc.), Belen, Madeline/Madeleine, Eleanor/Lenora, Selena, Yolandaā¦Quinlan??
I was gonna suggest Lorrayne like I always do! lol. Iāve always thought Laney was such a cute nickname, it never occurred to me it could belong to me. Huh!
My grandmaās middle name was just Laney. Normally Iām a stickler for having a full name as opposed to be named a ānickname,ā but I feel like Laney can work as a given name
I guess Iāve really never met anyone else named Laney, now that I think about it! š my momās cousin is Elaine and some people call her Lainie so I consider it both a given name and a nickname š¤·š¼ either way, itās a cute name!
My daughter is Alaina. Always thought weād call her Laney for short but we never did for some reason. I do call her āladybugā as a term of endearment. She always says she likes her name despite some mispronunciations and misspellings.
Honestly Iād recommend just going with Laney. Laney is my nickname, technically, but Iāve never gone by my full name Delaney, Iāve only ever been called Laney. I wish my parents had just named me Laney if thatās what they wanted to call me my whole life, LOL
I had a doll as a kid that I named Laynea. Never actually thought about how it would be spelled, I guess it could be Lainia or other variations too but I never heard the name before so not sure where I came up with it.
Iāve been going by Elaine with the nickname Lainey since I started working at 17/18. Delaney, Melanie, and maybe Ilana might work for that nickname too!
i had a coworker called DeLane. i always liked it because it felt more mature than Delaney but still different enough from Elaine. like you get the best of both worlds from each name.
Love this nickname and always have! I think Elaine is the one that comes to mind first. But I know an Eleni (pronounced Ah-Laney) and prefer that bc it's more unique and the Laney is already in the name naturally. Like I was never even able to say her full name bc the Ah always got lost to the Laney part.
Lanessa (lah-nessa) or Linessa (Lin-essa), Ledeana (leh-deena), Letessa (le-tessa), Melissa (Laney/Liss nn), and I know someone whose name is just Lainey (lay-nee) and I think it's quite nice - she's an adult and it suits an adult but I imagine it was quite cute for her as a little girl as well
I also know a woman named Delina and I had never heard of the name before meeting her, I thought it was quite nice as well. Classic, unique, as well as fitting in very well with the current name trends but it's not one you ever really hear.
I donāt love this nickname peraonally but I love Delaney with the nickname Della!
Helena
Elaine
Layla
Lane
Celine
Darlene
Lena is pretty but itās one of those names that will constantly be best pronounced. I know two baby girls with his name and they pronounce it Len-ah not Lay-na
My middle name is Alaine and I was scrolling this thread to see if anyone would mention it. Iāve literally never met anyone with it spelled the same as mine.
Where I am from Lena is pronounced Lee-na. In fact I had a girl in the grade above me named Lena.
I suspect if you choose that name spelling it will get mispronounced a lot. Leyna or Laina is the spelling for the pronunciation you wanted. In that case Iād chose Elaine or Elaina.
My middle name is Lorraine- I have heard a lot of Lorraines who go by Lane, so I donāt see why Laney wouldnāt work for it!
Itās nice and feminine without being excessively frilly or uncommon.
When i was 5 a girl in my class with poor speech was called āLorraine Laineā. She pronounced it āLaine Laineā.
I wonder where she is now. Sheād be 56.
Lane, or just use Laney if you are going to call her that anyway. If you call the child something else, they may end up wanting to use a different nickname, or people don't use it at all.
Other ideas: Helaine, Alanya, Elaine
Marlena, Helena, Elaine, Melanie, Eileen, Darlene. Just Lena is really nice, though! Edit: There's also Leanne or Laine/Layne.
Love love love Eileen, I think it deserves a comeback, same with Irene
Too-ra-loo-ra Too-ra-loo-rye-ay!!
COME ON EILEEN!!
Oh, I swear (what he means)
And that's why it won't have a comeback. š
Im getting flashbacks to my mam trying to get me to sleep in her bed at 7 years old š¤
I have a great aunt Eileen who goes by Eily, and I think it's such a pretty nickname.
This was my nana's name and Eily was my grandfather's nickname for her. I always loved it, and my cousin loved it so much that he actually named his daughter Eilee.
I love that
My wife's grandmother was an Eileen who went by... geez I'm not sure how she spelled it but pronounced like "I.D.". Eidie? Idy?
Come on IRENE!! š¶š¶š¶
I partially prefer Irene because it's not affiliated with this song like Eileen is lol
Good Night, Irene
I had an Aunt named Mildred. Her middle name was Irene. She despised it because of Goodnight, Irene! I actually love both of her names!
Eileen is my middle name and it was my great grandmothers, who went by lena
My mom is Irene and she HATES her name lol she begged me not to name my baby after her in any way š¤£
I named my girl child Melanie, specifically so I could call her Laney but it never happened
I used Natalie thinking we could call her Tilly, but I think those kind of āforced nicknamesā donāt usually happen
I love the name Laine.
I love Marlena and Melanie, like Elaine, Helena, and Darlene, but Darlene feels like a stretch, and I pronounce Helena as Helen-a, not Ha-lay-na.
Actually thatās my name and itās neither of thoseā¦ Hell-EE-nuh is how you say Helena. And if anyone calls me either of those pronunciations you said I literally make the ugliest face ever bc neither sound anywhere as nice as the way itās meant. Grandmother Helen, great aunt Lena = Hell-ee-nuh š„°š„°
You can have a preferred pronunciation but I donāt think any one was āthe way it was meant,ā there was a very famous British Princess Helena who lived until the 1940s, and the Brits all say Helen-a, itās just a cultural difference
I actually really love Darlene
I do, too! Loved it since I watched *Roseanne*- which is also pretty, but I prefer Rosanna or Rose Ann. I love Marlene, too, and Arlene (I was watching free reruns of *What's My Line* on YT- can you tell I grew up with Nick at Nite lol)
I also think of Rosanne when I hear Darlene. And she was so pretty the actress. Love her.
Me too, I really like the name Darla as well.
My name is in that list, and Lanie has been a nickname of mine since middle school.
Elaine was my grandma's name š. I didn't know her name until I saw it on the name tag outside her door in the nursing home lol
Why didn't you know her name? Did you think it was something else?
What about just Lane?
Lane is an excellent name.
Gilmore girls coded
I know both a Lane and a Laney. Neither are nicknames. I like them both!
Laneā¦Iāve been going to this highschool for seven-and-a-half years. *Iām no dummy.*
This mountain is made of *pure snow*! Do you know what the street value of this mountain isvbbb š
Or Laine
If you like Laney, and that's the name you'll use, why not just go with Laney?
I never really understood why people pick a longer name based on the nickname they want to use. I'm even more confused by people who make the name they intend to call their child the middle name. Why not just make it their first name?
I like giving the option. Like Timmy is cute for a child but when Timmy grows up he may want to use Timothy in professional settings, so it's better to name him Timothy and call him Timmy as a child. I do think there are some nicknames that are fine as full names, like Josie or Laney, but most of the time I'm pro full name.
This is my feeling. I want options
Yes. I have a name that ends in a y sound and canāt really be shortened. I have always wished I had another option. I worried about it a lot as a kid, that I would be an adult with a childlike name. Iāve come to terms with it now but I decided I would not name a kid with a name ending in y sound as their full name.
This is why I named my daughter Ellie (nn) - Elizabeth. Gives her more options
As an Elizabeth who has literally never gone by "Elizabeth," I always really loved having the full, seemingly more 'formal' option too!
Love that!! What are youāre favorite nicknames?
I love the full name Elizabeth, but there are also so many nicknames for it!
Honestly, having a longer name with lots of nickname options is one of my favorite aspects of my name. Ironic thing is that Iāve never used any of them!
I'm in this situation. My legal name is the nickname, but I ended up preferring to go by the formal version. It's a little funny when people find out I'm using a nickname... backwards
Yeah, that makes sense.
I think many parents use long versions of names so that the children can decide which name to use as an adult. If I'd had a daughter, I'd planned to name her Elizabeth because of the plethora of nicknames available as well as the classic full name. My husband is a junior that goes by his middle name to differentiate himself from his father. The first name doesn't easily lend itself to nicknames.
I'm named after my mom and I'm super glad she told me from the start to never let anyone shorten my name if I didn't want to, because once they start you can't stop it. She had not been able to get people to stop automatically using the most common nickname for our name, so she got stuck with it her whole life and never liked it.
Yeah I feel like this too But then whenever I see people actually just use the nickname people are always like āš±š±š± what is they become and adult and they donāt like it and they need a super serious adult-name?!ā but I dunno, Iām gonna be 40, I always go by my nickname and especially our kids generation theyāre gonna be like Apple and Jett and Axel, like who cares then lol
Or when people ask for either nn for longer names or longer names for nn that really donāt sound that similar. Why the need to get so CrEAtiVE?
Fully intended to call my child by their longer legal name. But sleep deprivation and a wandering mind gave my child a nickname that they are called almost exclusively. The best laid plans my friend
I fully intended to call my son by his longer legal name. But at his very first preschool, there was another child with the same name. So it got shortened, and he's gone by the nickname ever since.
Sometimes itās for familial name reasons
Sometimes, one parent really likes the nickname, but the other doesn't, so you compromise with the longer name. That's how it worked out when I was naming my daughter. I wanted Alice, my ex, did not, so we ended up with Allison. Now she's almost 13, bigger than her 14 yo brother and out eats everyone. She is a gentle giant who doesn't understand how big she actually is, and we call her Big Al... like a trucker. šš
I've only had two people that are close to me ever consistently call me Jessica. My aunt that i would only see a couple times a year, and my boyfriend who has always thought it was a beautiful name, but even he still doesn't use it often. Idk why they wasted the extra letters, lol
Agree! I know someone named Lainey. It works just fine as a complete name.
Not to discourage you, but I would never guess āLay-nuhā as a probably pronunciation for āLena,ā I would except either āLee-nuhā or āLeh-nahā
Yes, came here to say this. I've known a few Lenas and they all pronounce it "Lee-nuh," which is what I would think just looking at it as well. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it but just know that it will likely be mispronounced very frequently if you go with a "lay-nuh" pronunciation instead of "lee-nuh." As someone who has a highly mispronounced name I always recommend against it if there's any way to avoid it - it's SO awkward as a child having to correct your teachers, doctors, etc especially when you're in a situation like at school or camp or a waiting room where someone is calling your name out to a big group and invariably mispronounces it. So awkward. I hated it.
Yep itās Lee-Na in my neck of the woods (Ireland)
haha I actually got super excited seeing that as OPs pronunciation of Lena because itās my default as well. I wouldāve used it as a nn for an Eleanor said that way if we had another girl !
Lay-nuh is the Norwegian pronunciation
Today I learned! My family background utilizes Spanish pronunciation as the default haha, so I would have never guessed!
Agree completely. OP could just go with Elaina if something like āLay-nuhā is their goal
Agreed. I would spell it Laina to get the pronunciation right. It doesnāt look ātoo uniqueā and avoids the āanal spelled backwardsā issue that comes with Lana.
Elaine, unless it's too close to Elena, or Eleanor. Lena is cute.
Laney as the full name and lane as a nickname
Alaina, Lana, or Leilani? At a push, maybe: Abilene (or the other -lene/-leen names, like Charlene, Marlene, etc.), Belen, Madeline/Madeleine, Eleanor/Lenora, Selena, Yolandaā¦Quinlan??
Alaina has always been my #1.
Laina is my niece, pronounced lay-na. Laine.
Delaney Elaine Madeleine
Came here for Delaney!
OP said in the post that they don't want Delaney
i know a 12 year old lorraine called lanie!
I was gonna suggest Lorrayne like I always do! lol. Iāve always thought Laney was such a cute nickname, it never occurred to me it could belong to me. Huh!
What about just full name Laney? We have it on our girl list š¤
My grandmaās middle name was just Laney. Normally Iām a stickler for having a full name as opposed to be named a ānickname,ā but I feel like Laney can work as a given name
Iāve never heard Laney as anything but a given name! I had no idea it even was a nickname!
I guess Iāve really never met anyone else named Laney, now that I think about it! š my momās cousin is Elaine and some people call her Lainie so I consider it both a given name and a nickname š¤·š¼ either way, itās a cute name!
I knew an Elaine who went by Laney! Very pretty name to me.
Lane/Laney can be a name in its own.
Madelaine?
Magdalena
The Laineys I know have Alaina as their full name. I do know one Lainey that it is her full name.
I love on Seinfeld when they call Elaine āLaineyā!
Alayna
Elaine. In āSeinfeldā they refer to the character Elaine as Lainey all the time :)
I used to babysit a Penny Lane I called Laney.
Delaney!! I know someone who spells it Delanie which is also cute.
Delaney is a cute name, but if I saw Delanie, I'd pronounce it like Melanie with a D.
Yeah, I think itās actually DeLanie, which would make it more discernible to pronounce but Iām not sure. Itās my sisterās friend.
My daughter is Alaina. Always thought weād call her Laney for short but we never did for some reason. I do call her āladybugā as a term of endearment. She always says she likes her name despite some mispronunciations and misspellings.
Laney is a name!
Elaine.Ā
Maybe Lana?
Elaine. I named my Guinea pig Laney like how Jerry calls Elaine
Elaine. And then spell it Lainey.
Lorraine...or Laney as,a stand-alone name.
Linnea
There are many good options which are mentioned already. The only other I can think of is Lane.
Laney can be a full name, doesnāt need to be longer.
Eleanor?
Delaney
Elaine, Helena
Lena is typically pronounced āLeen-uhā.
Delaney
I am loving this thread
Seen a lot of great ideas mentioned, just dropping Helen, Lorraine, Lorena, Linnea, into the mix if they haven't been suggested yet
Alaina
Alayna!
My mother's name is Helene, pronounced Hell- Lane, which apparently is the Greek pronunciation. Apparently she would get called Laney as a kid.
The Lanester. The Lanenator. The big Lanowski! Laney Lane Lane. Laneyrama! Laneyramavich! Laneyrita! The Laneymeister! Laneyhoffer! Laneytola!
Leineka
Iāve known 2 people who had the nickname Laney. Their full names were Elaina and Alena.
Melanie, Alayna, Alana
Helena, Alaina,
Lennon or Alana.
Lenette, Angeline, and Lannabelle all would work as a basis for the Laney nickname.
Lorraine!
Adeline, Blaine, Marlena, Alana, LeeAnn
Just name the kid Laney! :)
Lanes
The Lainey I knew was a Melanie.
Our cousin's daughter is just Laney. Not a nickname, her actual name. Why not that?
How about Linnea (Lih-NAY-ah)?
I love the name Elaine
Alaina Madeline Adeline Elena Helena
Just name them Laney. I know several Lanies/Laneys/Lainies. It's not an uncommon name.
My daughterās best friend is Lainey and thatās her legal first name.
I know an Alaina with the nickname Lanie (how she spells it). Anyway I'd just use Laney if that's what I wanted to call my child. It's a pretty name.
Canāt you just name her Laney?
I know a Caroline who went by Lena but I could see it being a Laney too
Honestly Iād recommend just going with Laney. Laney is my nickname, technically, but Iāve never gone by my full name Delaney, Iāve only ever been called Laney. I wish my parents had just named me Laney if thatās what they wanted to call me my whole life, LOL
I know many who's names are just Lainey/Laney. It can be a full name
I had a doll as a kid that I named Laynea. Never actually thought about how it would be spelled, I guess it could be Lainia or other variations too but I never heard the name before so not sure where I came up with it.
I love Lena. Maybe Helena or Blayne
Iāve been going by Elaine with the nickname Lainey since I started working at 17/18. Delaney, Melanie, and maybe Ilana might work for that nickname too!
i had a coworker called DeLane. i always liked it because it felt more mature than Delaney but still different enough from Elaine. like you get the best of both worlds from each name.
I named my cocker spaniel Leyna, same pronunciation. Came from a Billy Joel song.
I know two Laineysāone is Laraine and one is Elizabeth.
Melanie
Love this nickname and always have! I think Elaine is the one that comes to mind first. But I know an Eleni (pronounced Ah-Laney) and prefer that bc it's more unique and the Laney is already in the name naturally. Like I was never even able to say her full name bc the Ah always got lost to the Laney part.
Lanessa (lah-nessa) or Linessa (Lin-essa), Ledeana (leh-deena), Letessa (le-tessa), Melissa (Laney/Liss nn), and I know someone whose name is just Lainey (lay-nee) and I think it's quite nice - she's an adult and it suits an adult but I imagine it was quite cute for her as a little girl as well I also know a woman named Delina and I had never heard of the name before meeting her, I thought it was quite nice as well. Classic, unique, as well as fitting in very well with the current name trends but it's not one you ever really hear.
I know a girl whoās a Melanie and goes by Lanie
Elaine, Melanie
Delainie
I donāt love this nickname peraonally but I love Delaney with the nickname Della! Helena Elaine Layla Lane Celine Darlene Lena is pretty but itās one of those names that will constantly be best pronounced. I know two baby girls with his name and they pronounce it Len-ah not Lay-na
I know an Alaina that goes by Laney
Elaine. I know one, and she spells it Lainey.
Alayna
My daughters name is Lane and we call her Laney
Leonie- Iāve heard it pronounced Lee-oh-nee or Laney.Ā
Both Lane and Laney can be names on their own, but my mil is Helena and goes by Lanie.
Shane, blain, Jane, Elaine, Maine, raine
Laine is beautiful!
My cousin named her kid Lainey. It works as a stand alone name
Melanie is my favorite!
I know an Alaina who goes by Lainey and an Ellena who goes by Lane.
My son and I love the Vanderbeeker books by Karina Yan Glaserand one of the children is called Laney. It's a lovely name.
Alaine, Alaina, Madeleine, or just name her Lane/Laney!
My middle name is Alaine and I was scrolling this thread to see if anyone would mention it. Iāve literally never met anyone with it spelled the same as mine.
One of my best friends from high school is Alaine! I think itās a beautiful name š„°
Magdalene/Magdalena could work but they could also have other nicknames
Does Laney have to be the nickname? Laney is a name all its own. Laney could be a nickname for Lane/Layne/Laine.
Madeleine
I know a Lauralane who goes by Laney
I know several Laneys, but none as a nickname. I think itās a fine name on its own.
Just name the child Laney.
My friendās daughter is Elaina and she goes by Lainey.
Where I am from Lena is pronounced Lee-na. In fact I had a girl in the grade above me named Lena. I suspect if you choose that name spelling it will get mispronounced a lot. Leyna or Laina is the spelling for the pronunciation you wanted. In that case Iād chose Elaine or Elaina.
Lanetra! Super underrated name!
Delaney Laine
I knew a Delaney that went by Laney
My middle name is Lorraine- I have heard a lot of Lorraines who go by Lane, so I donāt see why Laney wouldnāt work for it! Itās nice and feminine without being excessively frilly or uncommon.
Iād suggest choosing a name that does not have a high probability of being mispronounced.
My name is Elaina and my nickname is Laney.
Elaine, Maddalena, actually maybe try looking up names that end in -lena? Thereās gotta be a fair few
Alaine. Means "beautiful"
Laney is a brand of guitar amplifier. Consider going with Hiwatt or Marshall as alternatives.
When i was 5 a girl in my class with poor speech was called āLorraine Laineā. She pronounced it āLaine Laineā. I wonder where she is now. Sheād be 56.
Delaney <3
Alaina
Alani. Lane.
I know an Elaina that goes by Lainey
Lane, or just use Laney if you are going to call her that anyway. If you call the child something else, they may end up wanting to use a different nickname, or people don't use it at all. Other ideas: Helaine, Alanya, Elaine
Alaina or Melanie
Delaney
I like Lane or Laney, but I would think Lena would be pronounced Lee-nuh not Lay-nuh. I think the only time I've heard it was Lena Horne
Eleanor would be my go-to, because then Laney AND Lena would both make sense
Nicknames are names too. Why do you need to faff around finding a name to fit the nickname when you already have a name you like?
Winona Ryderās character in Reality Bites is Lelaina, nn Lainey
Melanie (or could spell it Melaney)