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[Opinions] Opinions on Alana?
I was looking through some of my past favorites recently - Elaina, Alaina, Ariana, Agalaia - and it occurred to me that I had never given any thought to Alana, which is very similar. It's definitely growing on me. It has a couple things going for it that I really like: 1. It's usable! No matter how much I like Sophronia, I would never use it on a real child. Alana definitely could be used outside of our little BtN world. (I've known an Alannah and an Ilona, but never an Alana, which I think is the prettiest spelling.)
2. It falls into the 3-syllable beginning with A category, which I love. That category gives us gems such as Amelia, Aria, Arcadie, and Allison.
3. Possible stretch, but could it be used as a way to honor my great-grandma Anna? I can't use Anna because it rhymes with my own name. Annabel, my other favorite Anna name, is too close to my name. Alana, on the other hand, has the "ana" component, but sounds different. Here are the combos I came up with: Alana Bridget
Alana Carmen
Alana Catherine - I like Catherine in this combo, but prefer Katherine Alana with a K... I'm picky. ;)
Alana Charlotte - I've been looking for the perfect Charlotte (MN) combo for ages - could this be it?
Alana Frances - Don't love it, but very sassy
Alana Joy
Alana July
Alana VivianAudrey Alana - Honors my mom
Katherine Alana - See Alana Catherine
Jacqueline Alana
Margot Alana
Vivian Alana - I can really see these two as a sibset. WDYT?WDYTO these? Any favorites? Least favorites? Also, can you come up with some more in this style? (I've already gone through my PNL to create this list, so feel free to use whatever names come to mind.) Thank you SO much!
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I was almost named Alana - mMy Dad wanted a namesake but not a Junior due to the confusion. My parents decided had I been a boy they would have named me Alan, my Dad's middle name (and my younger brother). They contemplated using Alana for a girl but decided to save Alan for a possible future boy, but they decided, incase they never had a boy that the name should at least begin with A and named me Angela. When I was younger I used to really hate that they didn't name me the more unique Alana. I much prefer the simple look of Alana over Alaina. I like all of your first name combos. For the middle name combos I like most of them except for Audrey Alana - but I like how it honors your Mom, just not the repetitive A.
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I like Alana Katherine the best.
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Alana is very pretty. From what I've read from your post, it sounds like you are pronouncing the ending ANN-a (like Anna) rather than AH-na. Either pronunciation is pretty, but I think Alanna would be less likely to be mispronounced. I definitely think it could be used to honor your great-grandma especially with the spelling Alanna.Out of your combos, I like these the best:
Alana Bridget
Alana Vivian
Alana July - I rarely see July used as a name. It would be nice to see it actually used.Alana and Vivian make nice sister names, but I think they sound great as a FN/MN combo as well.Other names you might like:
Ariadne
Calantha
Calandra
Vianne
Adelia
Adina
Adara
Adrienne
Arabella
Arabelle
Isadora
Amity
Alaia
Alastriona
Alessandra
Alessia
Althea
Elodie
Elodia
Alodia
Amina
Amandine
Amara
Amira
Annora
Acantha
Acacia
Aurora
Anthea
Artemis
Ambrosia
Elspeth
Cassia
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I say ah-LAH-nah.
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I know an Alanna who pronounces it Ah-LAH-na and not Ah-LANN-na
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I think Alana is too feminine and comes out sounding whiny...probably because of all the AH sound in it. If you want to honor an Anna, I'd personally go with Annelise/Analise (or some other variation) or the Spanish Analisa.
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