Variants of Irene please

[Harebellmeadow]

FIL subtly mentioned he would be honored if we used (would be a middle name) the name of his mother, Irene for our next DD. The name is pronounced in the German way - Ireneh - i.e. the e is pronounced, which I like better than the “magic e” pronounciation of Irene.

Does anyone have any variants or related names? There is not pressure for us to use the name, it would be a sweet gesture though and she passed away a few years ago, was a lovely old brave lady and saved a life or two during WWII.

renee? (pronounced Renay)

Irini or Irina.

I think that Irene pronounced in the German way is probably the nicest version you'll find, OP. There is also the more Eastern European/Russian Irina though.

Much prettier than eye-reen or, worse, eye-reen-ee.

I'd probably think carefully about how you spell your daughter's name if you're in the UK though because the German pronunciation just won't occur to people.

The only other thing I can think of is something like Elena, but it's just not the same name, so what's the point?

Irena. Iraina. Reenie. Irini.
Would you not consider Irene. It'd be very refreshing in a class full of Avas and Islas

Eireen, Eirini, Irina/Irena?

Irene means peace, so other names with the similar meanings:
Serena, Jemima, Paloma.

Eirene is an accepted variant that's closer to the original Greek. Irina is very popular in Russia and Eastern Europe.

I've hear that Irene used to be pronounced with 3 syllables here in the UK, in the same vein as other Greek names that end in -e. So "Ir-een-ee."

I knew someone called Irena from Eastern Europe, it was pronounced more like Irrenna.

For a middle name I’d go with straight honouring the person and use it as is, with the pronunciation your MIL had.

I love Eirene pronounced ee ray nee.

When my sisters were young they had a neighbour called Niree which I thought was a lovely name but have never heard anywhere else.

Just go for Irene!

It's lovely when you look at it objectively. Could even be the next one to come around now that Isla is passe.

Ok most folk won't pronounce it as FIL would, but you can, and FIL can, and so can your DD.

Also, it works really well as a middle name - it will go well after most names I'd think.

I think Rena is pretty !

Renee - (Renay)

My middle name is spelt Irene but pronounced Irenee

I like Irene just as it is. It was my Grandma's name - she was a wonderful woman. I really don't understand why it hasn't come back with the granny chic style names. It's lovely.

Irene is lovely as it is.
I also like Irina.

If you search the first few letters of a name on babynamespedia.com you can often find nice variants. IRE comes up with

Irea - apparently means rainbow :)
Irenka - love this, means peaceful
Iretta - possibly too far from the original but means serene

Thanks everyone. My favourite is Iryna, otherwise the original Irene, as a middle name it would rarely be said out loud anyway but would be a nice link 😍

Irene - pronounced Eye-reenee

My German friend’s Irene is pronounced I(short I as in snip)rain-a, which I think sounds miles better than Eye-teen or Eye-Trent.

Oh bugger - Eye-reen/ Eye-reeny.

I'd keep it as is for a middle. It's a nice name, and has a lovely family heritage in your case. What a role model for your DD!

I like the German name as it is. You could make the pronunciation clear by spelling it Irena or Iraina.

Much prefer It to the English versions of Ireen and Ireenee which are awful.

my families Irene is pronounced I ree nee and I think its nice

I'd just use it as it is. Otherwise you're sort of honouring her and sort of saying you don't like her name.