Laura writes:
I was hoping you could help me! I am expecting my 4th child in January and just found out she is a girl. We have chosen, re-chosen and, scrapped her name completely many times. We have a short German last name that starts with “K” and rhymes with “fish”. We love our girls’ names (Anneliese and Genevieve) and our son is a 5th generation Stephen (after my husband, etc.). After reading your blog, it seems like we have some similar favorites. We are Irish and German.
Until the ultrasound a week ago, our girl name was Lorelei (with the intention of using the nickname Lila). This is our big issue as our families don’t really seem to be respectful of what we want our child called (Genevieve’s intended nickname is/was Eve, but family insists on calling her Jenny–My husband and I mostly call her the full name or Eve). We realize that we are likely going to hear this baby called Lori and Lora half the time, so it is kind of putting a huge damper on the name for me (my name is Laura and besides not wanting the baby “named” after me, I am just not a huge fan of those names–probably because of people calling me the wrong name!)
Anyway, we have considered other options like Madeleine, which I love, but worry it is way too overused. I also like Scarlett, Fiona, and Cecilia, but not much feels quite right. Our families act like Anneliese and Genevieve are weird and exotic (and I know we will get a pained reaction with anything we choose, unless it’s in the top 5! haha) On the plus side, my husband and I are usually on a similar wavelength!
We are also trying to avoid any J-sounding names because I have long wanted to use the name Jude if we ever have another boy and I don’t know if I’m ready to decide against a 5th just yet (which eliminates Josephine, another one I love).
Sorry if this was long! I appreciate your help!
Lorelei sounds like the perfect name for her, but I see your point about your families and nicknames: it would be easy to say “Just MAKE them use the nicknames you’ve chosen!!”—but we have to work with the reality we’ve got.
I wonder if there would still be some hope in this case, with this particular name, because of the confusion with your own. You know your families and I don’t, so picture this and tell me if you see any possibility of it working: “Her name is Lorelei! We’ll be using Lila as her nickname—Lora and Lori would be too confusing with my name.” “What? Oh, I thought you were saying Laura! We’re going with Lila for her nickname: otherwise it’s way too close to my name.” Your irritation with those particular nicknames (I have a similar feeling about the name Kristine) may give you the strength to persevere.
But if you are shaking your head and thinking that’s never going to fly, let’s turn our attention to the other possibilities. Madeleine does seem so much more common than the other two choices—but if you love it, I think it’s a very nice fit: Anneliese, Genevieve, and Madeleine. How do you feel about the nickname Maddy, though? The families are bound to use it, and with all the Madisons and Madelyns (plus the similar popularity of the nickname Addy), that may tip the name over the popularity edge.
It is too bad about Josephine, because I think that’s an even better fit. Although maybe the sound of it is too similar to be right after Genevieve anyway: both have the same starting sound and two of the same vowel sounds.
Another name from my own list (if you don’t mind alliteration with the surname) is Clarissa. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Clarissa.
Juliette would be pretty, but carries the same J issue as Josephine.
I love Francesca, though I wonder if the -ca ending would be choppy with the K- surname. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Francesca.
For awhile my mom’s favorite French name was Lucienne. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Lucienne.
That makes me think of Vivienne. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Vivienne.
Winifred is so underused. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Winifred.
Isadora, too. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Isadora.
I also love Willemina, and I think the Dutch spelling is easier than the German (Wilhelmina). Anneliese, Genevieve, and Willemina.
I wanted very badly to use Millicent. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Millicent.
Maybe Rosalie? Anneliese, Genevieve, and Rosalie.
Or Emmeline. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Emmeline. Maybe it shares too many sounds with Anneliese.
Philippa would be pretty. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Philippa.
I like Philomena, too. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Philomena.
Or Meredith. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Meredith.
Eliza looks a little short next to the other two names, but it has the same number of syllables and it’s a name I’ve WEPT over not being able to use. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Eliza.
I like Cecily even better than Cecilia. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Cecily.
Oh, or Felicity? Anneliese, Genevieve, and Felicity. That’s my favorite for you if Lorelei is out. Otherwise I still vote for Lorelei, if you think you can stand the irritation of the family/nickname situation.
I like your kids’ names and think they go very well together and with your surname.
I’m wondering if Anneliese has a nickname — and also what extended family call her. That might factor into your decision. Is she mostly called “ah-ne-LEE-zə (German)”, “Ann – Elise”, Annie, Lisa? Lisa and Lila would be very close.
With the name Genevieve, I’ve known older women with this name who are mostly called “Gen”, as Gen/Genny was the usual nickname for this name until very recently. Still, it would be nice if your relatives respected your choice of nickname for her.
I noticed the coordinating name structure of the two names: 3 syllables, with the same rhythm (unless you’re saying “Anna-Lisa”), and both names ending in “i e (s/v) e”. Madeleine fits that pattern so well that I would be tempted to use it even though your relatives most likely will shorten it to Maddy. A cute German nickname could be “Lena” (“layna”).
Since your relatives persist in calling your children their own preferred nicknames/shortenings, I would use Madeleine rather than Lorelei and avoid the confusion with your name. When your girls go to school, YOU can determine what they’ll be called. I imagine you’re already doing that with your friends who mostly likely call Genevieve by her full name or “Eve”, as you do. it seems that eventually extended family will defer to what they hear you and your daughters’ siblings and friends calling them. And if not, your daughters will still be known mostly by the names and/or nicknames you introduce them by.
Best wishes!
PS One of my sons is married to a woman from a hispanic family in which it is common for some members to go by their middle names. Thus I was startled — until this was explained to me — to hear my sons first two sons, when they were babies/toddlers, being called by their middle names by their maternal grandparents. Yet eventually that was dropped as my son and his wife and everyone else was calling the boys by their first names. You may find that happening eventually with your relatives too.
I think this is a very good point. You may not have noticed it yet if your kids are still young, but it seems like the non-preferred nicknames might gradually go away once your kids start calling themselves by the nicknames you use at home. Alternatively, I know a spunky pre-schooler who decided she didn’t like the cute nickname for her first name and is now known exclusively by her longer, more mature legal first name. So don’t discount the opinions of the little people themselves!
On the other hand, I know plenty of people who are known among their extended family as one thing and the rest of the world as another. I’ve always found that way more endearing than confusing.
I agree. If your kids aren’t already expressing a preference, perhaps some gentle encouragement will help things along. :) I know my son (William) stopped all the people who tried to call him Billy dead in their tracks by the time he was 2 or 3.
Personally, I think Lorelei is a great match for the sibset. I actually like that this could be considered “named” after you, since your son is named after his father. And I do think the similarity of Lori/etc. with your name will be a benefit to you getting the nickname you want. It might take some persistence & perhaps acting a bit overly confused about who is being spoken to/about when the wrong nickname is used for your daughter, but I think it will happen.
In fact, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if insisting on Lorelei/Lila might not even provide you with an opening to insist on the nicknames you want for the other children. “Lori is too close to my name & I don’t really like it. In fact, since we’re talking about nicknames, can you please not call Genevieve Ginny? I don’t really care for Ginny at all.” Get your daughter to start expressing this too, and I imagine it’ll stop pretty quickly.
Lorelei is beautiful and fits well with the names of your other children. One of my family members gave my daughter a nickname that I can’t stand, but it hasn’t made me regret my name choice, but if the nickname issue is a real deal breaker for you, then my vote is for Swistle’s suggestion, Cecily, an all time favorite of mine. Common nickname being CeCe….
Cecily Lorelei Fish-with-a-K
Regarding the Lorelei nicknames: it’s up to you to decide if Lori/Lora bother you to the point where you would rather sacrifice your favourite name. Considering you can’t keep your family from calling your other daughter Jenny, it looks unlikely that you will be able to impose Lila on them. Bottom line is you can’t control what other people will call your kids.
Another option is to introduce the baby as “Lila” and keep Lorelei for formal/legal contexts only. If she goes by Lila all the time it’s unlikely people will call her Lori or Lora; if she goes by Lorelei, occasionally Lila, other nicknames are bound to appear.
Your 3 kids names all strike me as classic, farily traditional and almost European (Irish and German indeed!) — frankly I think Madeleine fits perfectly in this sibset (better than Lorelei, even). If popularity bothers you, May or Maidie or Leni are more unusual nickname possibilities. Cecilia would be lovely as well, but Scarlett and Fiona don’t fit as well in my opinion.
More name ideas:
Madeline (mad-a-LINE)
Magdalen
Magdalena
Madalena
Clementine
Hermione
Charlotte
Philippa
Seraphine/a
Delphine
Emmeline
Lillian
Lucille
Caroline “Lila”
Bridget
I think Emmanuelle, nn Emmy or Ellie, would fit perfectly with your girls’ names.
Anneliese, Genevieve and Emmanuelle.
All the best!
I really like Vivienne and Magdalene “Leni” from the suggestions! Here are mine: Louisa/Luisa (Luisa is currently popular in Germany, keeps the L connection with your name but not quite so close, Lula would be a great nickname and similar to Lila), Hannelore (another multi-syllable German compound name like Anneliese), and Delilah (the only name I could think of that lends itself to nickname Lila).
I really enjoy many of the suggestions already made but I’m commenting just to say UG. WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE?
I am a Katherine. I cannot believe how many people in my life call me Kathy. Countless cashiers will hand me back my credit card and say “thanks Kathy!” which what the heck? I am a member of an organization where we all wear nametags and there are people there who call me Kathy. UG UG UG.
My own in-laws, and my parents to a lesser degree do this as well. My MIL told us while I was 8 months pregnant that her close friend had a new granddaughter and they had considered using the name Victoria but hadn’t bc of the fear that everyone would call her Vicki and my MIL said “Well of course people would call her Vicki! Just like I would call anyone named Margaret, Maggie!” Which took the name Margaret off the top of my list. :( So mostly I just wanted to vent a little and let you know at least you are not alone with family members who refuse to respect name choices.
But FWIW, I think you need to consider the nickname possibilities bc one day the child may decide to use a nickname the parents doesn’t care for. I know many little boys who entered school over the last few years and came home asking to be called Andy instead of Andrew or Pete instead of Peter which is not such a big deal except their mothers had spent years correcting other adults. Of course a child may someday ask to be called most anything, but nicknames that come from their given names should be considered.
I agree with this. If you strongly dislike the main/traditional nickname for a name, then consider not using it. Like, a Frederick has a 99% chance of being called Fred at some point in his life, even if he’s Fritz or Rick at home.
Oh please, please use Lorelei! It is such a beautiful name, meshes really well with your other children’s names, and is all around perfect! I was going to use it for my own daughter until a family member used it first (rats) so I’m a touch biased. But having a Lorelei in the family made me realize that it is possible to “set” a nickname from the get-go. My relatives spent the first month driving it home with us that by no means was Lorelei going to be nicknamed. And she is never called anything but Lorelei. It takes patience and a bit of tooth gnashing but if you’re stubborn as an ox people will listen. I think you have a major advantage in that YOUR name is so close to a potential unwanted nickname. With “Jenny” they didn’t have that excuse but here I think you are more than justified in laying down the law.
PLEASE USE LORELEI! It’s beautiful, and I hate to say it but I am sick to death of the name Madeleine. I know SEVEN under 5 in my circle of acquaintances.
I, too, think Lorelei is a pitch perfect choice, and agree with others that your trump card here is your own name–of course her nickname will need to be Lila and not Lori or Lora, even if you have to jump up and down about it at first. The nickname thing is annoying, but the names you are choosing for your children are elegant life long gifts.
Two names that are widely used in German-speaking Switzerland that remind of Lorelei are Leonie and Noemi. Both of these might also be options.
Good luck with everything!
I think lorelei is just about perfect. I also like Lauren with your names, but it’s very close to your name and a little plainer…so Lorelei is great! Otherwise, I would suggest Celeste or Angelica…I think they sound very pretty next to your other names. but it looks like you have plenty of suggestions already. ;)
Good luck!
I love, love, love the name Cecily. It seems perfect for you guys. Anneliese, Genevieve, and Cecily. Swoon.
Have you considered Rory? On the TV show Gilmore Girls one of the main character’s was named Lorelei with the nickname Rory. I think it’s a nice alternative to Lore/Laura etc.
Why do relatives have to be so silly sometimes? Ugh.
I love the name Genevieve! But I think if she had a sister named Vivienne, that might be too close, but perhaps I’m wrong. You’re wanting to use the nickname “Eve” for Genevieve and my own Vivienne is often Vivie so that might be too close.
I think Lorelei is gorgeous and if your only hangup with that name is because of relatives, then hopefully you can just nip that one in the bud from the get-go. Correct them every time. Make a big stink, and use Swistle’s phrases if you think it would help. It would be such a shame to not use a name that YOU love, simply because some relatives are silly and aren’t complying with your nickname of choice.
Here are my favourites:
Vivienne or Vienne
Isadora – I LOVE this name and have been trying to find someone to use it. I think it is unique and it fits perfectly with your other two girls and it has many possible nicknames
Emmaline. I think this also goes really well with the sib set.
Seraphina. I like this name as it isn’t very common although would be concerned with your relatives simplifying it to Sara.
What about Penelope? If you liked the nn Penny, this would be too close to Jenny and perhaps your relatives will adjust Genevieve’s nn back to Eve. Two birds with one stone?
Good luck and keep us posted.
I kind of love this suggestion of Penelope. It fits stylistically very nicely with you other girls’ names.
I was also going to suggest Serafina, or just plain Fina. But Lorelai is lovely!
Love Lorelei, but I see the issue :(
The first name that came to mind for me with your kids names was Rosamund, or how about Rosalind or Rosemarie? Others I thought of for you after the Rose names are;
Margaret
Veronica
Elisabeth or Elsbeth
Matilda
Or my favorite German girls names are Adelheid and Hildemara, those may seem a little clunky with your other girls’ names though :(
If you love Lorelei, I would go with it. As others have mentioned, as the children get to be school-age, they will likely introduce themselves by the nicknames used at home. That is, unless they insist on going by their full given names like one poster mentioned.
If the nickname confusion is too much of a distraction/concern, I really like Swistle’s suggestion of Philippa with the sib set and the nickname Pippa is so spunky.
Anneliese, Genevieve, and Philippa.
Best of luck!
Both of your daughter’s names have made it to my shortlists during my pregnancy (only had boys so far though). The other names on our short lists were:
Helena
Rosalind
Rose
Imogen
Juliet (J problem for you)
I generally think you shouldn’t pick a name if you don’t like the more common nicknames, as you cannot control what the child will eventually be called. Even if you can sort your family out, I always imagine how I will feel hearing a future son-in-law or daughter-in-law using the nickname I don’t like for my child – cause you sure as heck can’t do anything about that!
I was going to suggest Felicity too!
WDYT of:
Anneliese, Genevieve, Stephen and…
Penelope (Penny, Polly, Poppy, Nellie)
Emmeline (Emmy)
Caroline (Carrie, Connie)
Harriet (Hattie)
Eloise (Ellie, Lola)
Eleanor (Nora, Ellie)
Helena (Nellie)
Matilda (Mattie, Millie, Tillie)
Best of luck! I love your children’s names.
I like Lorelei too, but understand your concerns. I know a Genevieve with sisters Corinne and Liana. I know an Anneliese with a sister Eleanor if those help.
I agree with others that the similarity to your name could give you a nice avenue to nixing the Lori, etc nicknames IF you’re up for that. I know a Genevieve who goes by Vivi, so Vivienne seems too close to Genevieve for me.
Magdalena seems like a lovely alternative to Madeleine, if you’re looking for one. I also like Eloise and Eliza. So many good suggestions!
What about Gretchen or Vera?
I am strongly in the camp that you should not use a name if you are not OK with the obvious nicknames, and Lori is an “obvious” shortening of Lorelei. This is even Even if you talk your family out of Lori, your daughter might choose to use it some day and then you will have all the confusion etc you don’t want.
Felicity is a personal favorite of mine, as is Verity. Both would work nicely for you. The other things that pop to mind: Mirabelle, Virginia, Eloise, Brigitta, Katerina, or Magdalena.
I also do not think Josephine eliminates Jude. They are two very different names even if they share a “J”. I guess the question is how important is the “unique” initial to you? Do you use initials a lot in your family?
I love the name Lorelei, and think it goes well with your sibling set. My concern is that you want to avoid nicknames that sound too similar to your own name. I actually think that Lorelei as a full name sounds very similar to Laura. If this is a purposeful nod to you as the mother, I think its great. But…if you want to avoid a name that’s too close to your own, then only the nickname Lila separates the two, and I could be wrong, but it seems that this is a much less common nickname for Lorelei. So, the common nicknames Lora and Lori, as well as the full legal name, will be very very close to your name. Will it bother you if your daughter chooses to go by Lorelei rather than a nickname, as you don’t want her named after you?
I thought right away of Evelyn, (I’m sure there are alternate and possibly better spellings), and I think it’s so pretty. It does have the eve part of Genevieve, so she would i imagine to by lyn or lynnie. I like the way it pulls sounds from the other two names. Good luck, you claerly pick fantastic names though so I don’t think you need it!
I absolutely love the name Lorelei–beautiful, German, fits lovely with your other names (which are also gorgeous). Which is why I’m mourning with you as I say that I would give it up, if I were you. For two main reasons: 1) I am of the opinion that you should not name a child a name if you hate one of the most obvious nns of it. You can do your best to set the nns in a different direction, or insist on the full name. But, as you’ve discovered already, it will not be fully in your control. You may have obstinate relatives, the kid may chose the nn herself one day, or school friends choose it and she loves it, etc…you have to be prepared for these possibilities. (We’ve had to discuss this ourselves, as my husband doesn’t prefer what, to me, is the most obvious nn for our fav girl’s name. However, there are a variety of other good nns for it, and he claims that he will be okay with others using the obvious one someday, but we will try to emphasize another and hope it sticks.) Honestly, to me, Lora/Lori are much more obvious nns for Lorelei than Lila. Lila is pretty, but seems like kind of a stretch off of Lorelei…it really only has the double L s in common. (Eve out of Genevieve is more obvious than Lila/Lorelei to me, and we see how that has worked…)
2) One of my other main naming principles is that I hate confusion. This may not be an issue for you, as your son is named after his father…and, obviously, that was a family naming tradition that maybe took precedent. But, personally, I like to minimize name overlap amongst near family members. And Lorelei is SO close to Laura, really, even without the nns Lora/Lori. Now, if you wanted to honor a Laura but have a more unusual name, I would say Lorelei is PERFECT for that. However, you say yourself that you DON’T want to be naming her after yourself, and part of why you want to avoid Lora/Lori is to avoid confusion. I just don’t think the confusion disappears, even if you successfully avoid those nns.
My two cents.
Swistle’s alternatives:
I love the suggestion of Winifred nn Winnie (or Fred if you want to be quirky.)
I love Wilhelmina (though, unlike Swistle, I really prefer the German spelling, as my family heritage is also German. Willemina may be easier, though.) nns Willa or Mina are both adorable.
(Anneliese, Winifred, Wilhelmina, and Josephine are all on our list as well :))
I also like Isadora (Izzie, Dora, Dory), Rosalie, Cecily.
Eliza seems too close to Anneliese to me, especially depending on what nn you use for Anneliese’s nn.
2 Suggestions I haven’t seen yet:
Susanne or Susannah (my Swiss German aunt has this name and it’s lovely in their accent)
Dorothea or Theodora (Thea, Dora, Dory)
Please do post an update when she comes! I’m so curious what you chose for your beautiful sibset.
Lorelei seems perfect and I hope you use it. Wonderful name and a wonderful match with her sisters!
But if you decide the nickname issue makes it impossible– how about Rosalie?
Other ideas:
Vivian (great w/ your surname and other kiss, as others have already said)
Amalia (if you don’t mind another A name)
Cosima (Coco is a cute nickname though maybe too dippy for some people)
Melisande
Imogen
Clarissa (great suggestion, Swistle)
Elspeth
Catriona (traditional Irish spelling of Katrina)
Bronwen
Elena
Liliane (gets you to Lila)
Mirabelle
Marguerite
Corinna
Emilia
Nerissa
Calliope (this could get you to Lila as well)
My favorite out of the bunch with the rest of your children’s names is Liliane, the French form of Lillian pronounced Lil-lee-ANNE (like Vivienne) or Lee-lee-ANNE . I think it is a more natural route to Lila and it is very pretty and matches Stephen, Genevieve, and Anneliese without being too matchy.
I love all of the names you have already chosen and are considering. My only observation is that Lila is not a natural nickname for Lorelei, so I would get why people wouldn’t use that to refer to her. Rory, Lora, Lori are all more obvious.
If you love the name Lila, what about Delilah, Lilith, or Eliana? Leonie is also cute.
Some other ideas-
Rosalie
(E)Leanora
Susanna
Beatrice
This was so much fun to read! Your two girls’ names sound so wonderful together, and Swistle’s suggestions were so good it made me think you’ll need to have several more girls just to use more of them! I also absolutely love “Lorelei” — though I myself wouldn’t use a nickname at all but would want to savor the full name! My favorite from the Swistle List is “Rosalie” — though it’s very hard to bring it down to one favorite. I also love Lucienne and Felicity. Well, and Emmeline!
I think your name choice of Lorelei is perfect and, perhaps I am a bit stubbourn, but you shouldn’t have to change it because of your family not being respectful. My first son is named Carter with the middle name Jay. Family tried calling him C.J. to which I replied that we named him Carter for a reason. Any further attempts at C.J. were politely shot down in a non-negotiable fashion. Perhaps a stern, but friendly discussion with your family surrounding your name wishes is in order. Maybe if they knew how bothersome you found a particular nick name they would stop out of common decency? Someone commented that you cannot control what people are going to call you child. I agree, but this being said I believe your family SHOULD respect your wishes as the parent. If the child later on decides they want a particular nick name, then by all means they have the right to their name. Until then, it is your call as Mom and Dad.
Good luck!
Some one may have already suggested this, but have you considered just naming her Lila? It’s a perfectly fine stand-alone name.
Willemina makes me swoon but I really like Lorelei as well as Emmanuelle and Magdalena
I really like Lorelei and think it works so well with the sib set – Anneliese, Genevieve, and Lorelei (and Stephen and Jude). Because your family seems to default to the most commonly used nicknames from their youth, I would expect that you will have trouble getting them to use Lila. Lori and Rory seem to be the more “expected” nickname choice for Lorelei.
What about these names? I think people would potentially default to some of the nicknames I’ve listed in parenthesis. I’ve listed the names in my order of preference, but love them all.
– Beatrice (Bea). Anneliese, Genevieve, Beatrice, Stephen.
– Matilda (Tilly, Mattie). Anneliese, Genevieve, Matilda, Stephen.
– Magdalena (Lena, Maggie, Magda). I LOVE this name though I can imagine that certain religious families may be appalled by this name, so I listed it lower. Magdalena seems so much fresher to me than Madeleine. Anneliese, Genevieve, Magdalena, and Stephen.
– Wilhelmina (Mena, Willa). Anneliese, Genevieve, Wilhelmina, and Stephen.
Spunky Fiona from your list seems a bit out of place next to the lacy Anneliese and Genevieve. Given your family’s love of slightly dated nicknames, I worry that they may find “Carla” to be an acceptable nickname for Scarlett, but I may be overthinking it.
I do think that the family’s use of the wrong nickname or your/your daughter’s feelings about that will morph at some point. In my family, it wasn’t uncommon for my grandmother to toss out a nickname that was totally unrelated to the given name as a term of endearment. Lorna turned to Liza. Geraldine turned to Peach. Jess turned to Lulubeth. I thought it was sweet for my grandma to have her special name for me. My sister didn’t dig it and after asking, “Can you not remember my name, grandma?” her fake nickname sort of disappeared.
Much as I ADORE Madeleine, I’m concerned that the spelling will be a problem for your three girls. With AnneLIEse and GeneVIEve, you’ve got i-before-e, but MadeLEIne reverses that spelling. And because Madeleine is less common than Madeline or Madelyn, I worry that your relatives and friends will end up misspelling one or all three of the names.
Lorelei seems like a great choice for your family. I also thought of Henriette or Henrietta.
I didn’t read all the comments but I have an idea. What if, before the birth, you tell people that her name will be Lila? They will get used to that name. Then when the baby is born you can announce her full name is Lorelei. Hopefully everyone will be so used to thinking of her as Lila that the nickname Lori will never come into their minds but if it does, you can always do what swistle suggested and explain how it is so close to your name that it would be confusing. I say go for your favorite! Lorelei!
This is a good idea.
So many great suggestions here already! There’s a name in just about every comment that makes me swoon.
I love the name Lorelei, and I also like the suggestions to name her Lila or introduce her as Lila.
You’ve probably already seen this, but Appellation Mountain featured Lorelei as the baby name of the day earlier this week: http://appellationmountain.net/lorelei-baby-name-of-the-day/#more-341
I like her suggestion of using Lola as a nickname – it kind of splits the difference between Lila and Lora (although it’s still phonetically very close to Laura). (And I hear you on the in-laws. Mine do the same thing. My father-in-law once insisted, “His name’s not James; it’s Jimmy!”, which almost made me lose it.)