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[Opinions] Helena, Susanna, Eva & Astrid
Recently, I've really come to love Helena. I think it's feminine without being too frilly, elegant, intelligent and lends itself to some adorable nicknames (among them Leni). I pronounce it hel-len-uh, by the way (as in H. Bonham-Carter).
The only drawback: my last name starts with an H as well! (sounds like Hill). Normally, I dislike alliteration, but Helena Hill doesn't sound too bad to my ears - or does it?
Alternative names would be Susanna and Eva, and if my husband lets me, I'll also put in Astrid somewhere (not in the first name spot, though), honoring my favorite author Astrid Lindgren.So what are your favorite combos out of my 4 favorites, and what do you think of the names? And does Helena work with a one-syllable surname starting with H?Thanks a lot for your replies!
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I really like all 4 names. I like Helena pronounced the way you mentioned (as way as heh-LAY-nah), but if your last name is a word name, like Hill or Hall (etc.), it might not work--sounds too much like "hell on a hill" or "hell in a hall". :-/ I prefer Eve to Eva (I prefer EE-vah to AY-vah), but Eva is lovely. I like Susanna (prefer Susannah) as well. I like both a little better than Astrid. How about Susanna Eve / Evelyn? Or Susanna Astrid, Eva Astrid?
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I love them all with the exception of Astrid which I want to like but I can't get past the 'ass' beginning. Re: alliteration, I love it --especially h alliteration! I'm not kidding. My dd used to have a friend named Hilary H. and I loved her name. ;-) It's quite memorable. It reminds me of actress, Helen Hunt. I love her name also.Susanna Hill sounds lovely as does Eva Hill. Astrid Hill just doesn't flow as well, imo, as the other three options.
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I am about to have a surname beginning with H and I find it so stressful because I don't like how it sounds with names ending in "a" ("uh" sound). I don't mind Helena Hill because it's a double H, but rather because I find the "h" in "Hill" difficult to say after the "uh" of Helena. Same goes for Eva and Susanna...That said, I think Helena is lovely and I have always had a thing for Astrid. Susanna and Eva are nice as well, but a bit plain for me.I am waaaay too particular about sounds running together, so I have a bit of trouble with Eva Astrid as well. If I ignore my (dumb) peculiarities, I would say my favourite combos are - Susanna Astrid Hill
Eva Astrid Hill
Astrid Eva Hillor maybe - Astrid Helena Susanna Hill
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I love all the names.My favorite combos:
Eva Susanna
Helena AstridI think Helena would work with your surname, so long as it isn't Hunt.
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I love name alliteration myself, and I think Helena is a beautiful name.
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If you love Helena, but don't want to alliterate, why not drop the H, make it Elena, still a lovely name, and you can still use the same NNs.
Personally, I love how Elena Astrid sounds, flowing and definitely oldschool feminine.
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Elena is prn. eh-LAY-nah and she is prn. Helena HELL-en-ah.
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