Please help !DHs brother died last week and need middle name

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Hi name experts :) sadly my Dhs brother died suddenly last week of a massive brain haemorrhage . We have dd3 due in 2 weeks and dh would like to give her a middle name which honours his brother . His brothers name was Ian so not the easiest to come up with a nice female version.
Googling has come up with 2 options both of which I'm not sure how to pronounce and I'm not sure I like
Ianna
Ianthe

Her first name will be Elise and surname is Quinn .

All suggestions gladly accecpted !!!

Usually, on baby name threads i would say your baby, your choice, however in this instance, please don't give her a boys name as a middle name, whilst its a lovely idea, it's the name of a man she'll never meet and means nothing to her, but could give her years of ridicule.

There are some lovely ideas on her, your dh will know the significance of the name and so will your family, let her have her own name

Thanks again for all the replies . I showed the thread to DH and he was very impressed that so many people took an interest and took the time to offer a suggestion :) His preferred name having read them all is Ianna .
I suppose it's the most simple and straightforward option and he is a man after all ;)

I think Ianthe is a lovely name. You can google it and find lots of refs, including different pronunciations. Here's just one ref from the google index to give some idea:

www.sheknows.com/baby-names/name/ianthe

In Greek the meaning of the name Ianthe is: Violet flower. SoulUrge Number: 6. People with this name have a deep inner desire for a stable, loving family or ...

What about Ina ( my mum has a mate called this ) Nia or Ani even as anagrams?

I too have a "male " middle name (well as surname as it's my dad's mums maiden name ) it's taken me near half a century to come round to it and use it so I wouldn't try that...

I work with a lovely lady called Ivana.

I like Ianna the best and I think it works well as a middle name to Elise. :)

Ianna is good and in years to come you can share your reason for calling her this. A special name for a special reason,! My daughters name is a relatively "normal" name but contains both her late nana and grandas name as a tribute to the people she did not get a chance to meet!

I think Elise is gorgeous and quite like Ianthe as a middle name.

My youngest's Grandad died just before he was born so I agreed to youngest having his middle name. It is a truely awful name but it very rarely gets used and it meant a lot to my (now ex (DP's family) so I live with it (and youngest doesn't seem bothered).

Nia - Welsh - means radiance

Another Welsh name - Rhian.

(or Rhiannon?)

Ani

So sorry to hear that OP.

How about Lianne or Iona?

Actually I think Nia is a brilliant suggestion.

Lovely idea,my dd2 is named after my dh's grandma who died 2 weeks before her birth - Rachel.

My dc are all gaelic speakers - from what I know of their friends, Ianna, Joanna, Shona, Seonas, Shonna, Siona, Seonnaidh (boy but can be used for girls), Sealias, Iain, (as Seonnaidh), Iona, Jan, would all fit.

So sorry for your loss at such a young age xx

That's such a lovely idea.

My suggestions would be Nia or Ani - both very sweet and fairly simple and would go with the first name you have chosen.

I worked with an Iana, pronounced Ee-ah (like car without the r) -na

I was going to suggest Iana - I think it is the same as Jana, the eastern European name, pronounced 'yah-na'.

I taught a little girl called Ian, it didn't seem too odd. Maybe you could stick with Ian?

DH suggested Elysian for the first name.