Names like Elowen

[BunnyWilliams]

Our daughter's middle name (third child, other two are boys) is Elowen. I think it's the most beautiful name and have regretted not using it as her first name. I didn't want her to have the nickname Ellie but now I wish we'd have gone for it.

We are now very happy to be expecting baby number 4. I have a strong feeling it is also a girl. Can you help me to think of some names with a similar vibe? I love the soft and natural feel of the name Elowen.

Names we are considering:
Lowenna (also Cornish like Elowen)
Cecilia (I also love Cecily but DH isn't keen)
Delilah
Beatrice (although we mentioned this to my son and he immediately said, "That's a boy's name, it sounds like beer!" which has put me off!)

I have a friend called Merryn and nearly everyone mishears it as Mary

Friend's daughter was Merolyn. Never met another.

Endellion
Fenella

All these names are so pretty. Sigh. I am 50 so no chance of me having any more girls and using any of them!
Elowen is lovely - I’ve never heard it before but it’s beautiful.

Really?? To me Mary and Merryn sound nothing alike. The Merryn I know is pronounced to rhyme with Erin, I could understand that mishearing as Erin is far more common than Merryn (I’d never heard of it until my friend named her daughter!)

My daughter (also Cornish) is a Loveday. Despite my misgivings, I was persuaded to use it as a middle name. Despite this it is the name that is actually used and the poor child will arrive at school next year looking blankly whenever anyone official uses her more conventional first name.
Stick to your guns.!

@modgepodge , the M and R make them similar.

I think Lowenna is perfect. Or just Lowen (as in Benjamin Button - I assume also a Cornish name).

I don't know how these names are spelled tbh but I 'know' (as in they are relatives of friends, not that I know them well enough to write their names) two women with names pronounced Ee-ona (Eona? Iona?) and Eye-rona (Irona?) which I think are lovely alternatives to Iona. One Scottish, one Irish, I think.

Also:
Anwen, Arwen, Ariadne, Aurora, Arla, Ayla, Alana, Allegra, Alayna, Aoife, Bronte, Briar, Carys, Cerys, Cora, Caoimhe, Delphi, Dulcie, Demelza, Danica, Devora, Effie, Everly, Emrys, Ember, Echo, Eden, Eirlys, Eilidh, Erica, Erin, Evana, Ffion, Fenella, Fleur, Fabia, Giselle, Hazel, India, Indira, Isha, Jonquil, June, Jacinta, Karensa, Keziah, Larissa, Leona, Leonie, Lorelai, Lavender, Lyric, Lois, Marissa, Morwenna, Morven, Meredith, Misty, Mirabelle, Mirren, Maeve, Niamh, Nova, Nyah, Orla, Ondine, Peronelle, Paloma, Rowena, Rosina, Romilly, Ramona, Remi, Romy, Robyn, Rhiannon, Seren, Sorrel, Sienna, Sorcha, Tamara, Talitha, Una, Yolanda, Zeryn

Merida
Aurelia
Thea
Arianna
Saskia
Seraphina
Calliope
Octavia
Anastasia

Welsh names are similar to Cornish ones so try some of those?

Arwen (noble maiden)
Seren (star)
Anwen (fair)
Alaw (Melody)

If you want something very obscure there’s Breaca (after the St Breage) who is venerated in Cornwall.

I tried to convince my half Cornish husband but alas he didn’t like it.

If you do go for Elowen please just make sure you pronounce it correctly with the emphasis in the middle :) It’s more el-OH-en rather than ELLO-wen.

I love Liliana, spoken Lili Anna. I know the most wonderful madeiran Liliana, so my judgement may be clouded!

Avalon

Lowena (joy)
Kerensa (love)
Morgelyn (sea holly)
Sewena (success)

None are as nice as Elowen, so I’d go with that!

I think you are right.

@TheBirdintheCave is right- it's the O that's stressed.

I think people would say it with the first syllable stressed and spell it as Elowyn, and I'd not use it because of that.

@DanDin@TheBirdintheCave Yes, we pronounce it with the stress on the middle syllable. I think that many choose to pronounce it with the stress on the 'El' now (including a Cornish YouTuber who has just named her new baby Elowen).

I actually like both pronunciations but I know the way we say it is technically correct.

Thanks for all the lovely suggestions! I've added quite a few to my list.

It's interesting that a few of you have said to use Elowen as the name even though it's our existing daughter's middle name. I have considered this and then read a thread where someone was slated for doing that so it made me rethink my options.

I think Lowenna, Romilly and Lowen are our front-runners at the moment. I do like Merryn too.

Eirwen is very pretty. Hard to accurately write the pronunciation but it’s a bit Air-wen. (Or maybe Ayr-wen?). Welsh rather than Cornish but there are lots of shared words so maybe it would work?

I think so too. Name her Elowen and it connects the girls 😊

@Zhu , it's very old-fashioned and people will struggle with it.
The 'ei' has no English equivalent and the 'eir' is tricky.
I'd explain it as being EYR-wen

My DD is an Elowen and it’s only been positive - certainly “Ellie” hasn’t stuck yet - do consider it :)

Also, bouncing off the aforementioned Bronwen: Bryony, or Brianna/Breanna?

I also like the name Malilli but I can’t find it in any listings so am unsure of its meaning/history.

I agree with others that if you love Elowen then use that.
I assume in the thread, people slated the person because it didn’t seem special as they’d already used the name, but in reality very few people will know your daughter’s middle name so it’s not like people associate it with her.

Eleri, Delyth, Isolde
I think there are lots of great Welsh names that have Elowen vibes for certain which you should explore