I'm trying to rename myself because I really hate my name. My birth name is Amanda Lynn McDonald, but I go by Laney. I wanna keep that nickname. I'd like Helena (Hel-ay-na) to be part of my new name, either as a FN or MN to honor my maternal grandmother whose middle name was Helen and I also have a great-aunt on my dad's side with Helen as a first name. I've considered Janet as a possible MN as well. It's my mom's name.
I eventually want to have an official name change, but for now I can't afford it so I'll use my new name informally.
I am Irish (on both my mother's and father's sides), Latvian (on my father's side), and a little Scottish (on my mother's side), but that's not a requirement. There is also some German, Pennsylvania Dutch, Czech, and French in my maternal grandfather's ancestry and Polish and Italian are present on both sides. My immediate family isn't either of those. An aunt and some of my cousins married people with Polish or Italian last names. lol
FN/MN Rules:
1. Gender specific! I strongly dislike boys' names for girls.
2. Not in the top 200 for a FN either in 1986 (the year I was born) or currently. Nothing obviously trendy. If it is a middle name, it's okay if it's a little more common, but not a filler.
3. Traditional spellings preferred. No "kre8tive" spellings or anything ending in -lyn or -leigh unless that's how it's originally spelled. International variants are fine too as long as they aren't hard to spell or pronounce.
4. Either one or two middle names is fine. I like long names if they aren't excessive and they flow well.
I found a bunch of last names that I like. I need help to make FN/MN/LN combinations and narrow the LN's down.
LN ideas:
Adler
Arrington/Carrington
Alderman
Brennan
Barrett/Bartlett
Carson/Carlson
Dalton/Dawson
Ellis/Ellison - Stepdad's middle name is Ellis, and even though I'm not emotionally close to him, I don't mind it as a LN.
Feldman
Finn
Fleming - My maternal grandmother's and mom's maiden name (until my grandpa adopted my mom and changed her LN to his), but my hesitation with it is how the first syllable sounds like something else.
Hammond
Harper - Hate as a FN or MN, but fine as a LN.
Hoffman/Hoffmann - Paternal great-grandmother's maiden name was Hoferica (The e was silent), so I found another name from the first syllable.
Keller/Zeller
Martin(s)/Marin/Marino - Mārtiņš is the Latvian form of Martin (I'd anglicize it as Martin or Martins to avoid pronunciation issues and because I'm not fluent in Latvian) and Marin and Marino sound similar.
Modell/O'Dell - Modell is my maternal grandfather's last name. I'm just concerned about the sporting goods store reference.
O'Connor
Penn/Pennington - Penn was one of the streets I lived on as a child.
Riley/Reilly
Rhys (pronounced like Reese)
Recke (Reck-ee) - My paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Sage
Tanner - I love the show Full House, so the name is really awesome.
Thayer - From a Danielle Steel novel.
Tomlinson - After a teacher I had in middle school.
Whitley
Whitfield - From another Danielle Steel novel
Whitman - After a bridge in Philadelphia where I grew up.
Here's a pic of me to give you extra help:
Helena Rosalie is pretty too! I quite like Fleming, Adler and Sage for your surname.
