Hellobee Boards

Nora
Noah or Noa
Nelle/Nell
Nina (nine-a) but I'm a sucker for this one because it's a family name.

So my methhead cousin named one of her girls Neveah 🤦‍♀️, didn't even get to bring her home from the hospital (thankfully). The family that fostered her from day 1 adopted her and her older sister, they never changed her name. They just shortened it to a nickname, I think Naya? All that to say, change her name if it's not great. I know that sounds terrible, but you don't have to keep it. Or change her middle name to one you like and go by that, and let her choose when she's older?

@bees_knees: it has to be one of the worst names to saddle a kid with

@Mrs. Turtle: chainsaw!? Damn. I have some bad family names, including Tank and Bubs as given on the birth certificate names 🤦‍♀️ but chainsaw.

I feel you on her name though. My mom wanted to name me Brittany Nicole, and although it's not a bad name, I just can't see me as one. I would say do what feels right. You might not have made her, but you wanted her and love her... So you and the wife have all the room to change it if so desired

I think I would change her name but keep Nichole as her middle. I think all of the names you listed would sound good with Nichole!

@Mrs. Turtle: I like both Nichole and Nora. Since you mentioned that Olivia was more popular than you like I thought I'd chime in as the mother of an "-ora". I thought I was choosing a fairly unique name but in my experience "-ora" has become the female "-aiden". I didn't consider/anticipate how common the sound was. There's always another "-ora" in her class and on Friday she buddied up with two "-ora"'s at the park to make one super confusing group. YMMV in your region. I still love her name.

and also, love Nora!

Just wanted to chime in and encourage you to make the decision that feels best to you. All of my siblings were adopted and my parents did different things as far as names go depending on how old the child was when adopted. To my knowledge none of my siblings have been upset by changes that were made. I think it’s nice to have the option to add a name from your family or that is meaningful to you.

I think since you’ve had her since birth with no family involvement, I wouldn’t feel bad about changing her name. Like others have said, you could keep Nichole as a middle name, but I don’t think that’s even necessary. FWIW, I love Norah.

Nadia?
Nova?

Maybe you could honor her birth name with the second sylabol, ex. Colette, Colleen?

My son is Rowan but I see more girl these days with it! People love it. That's my vote!

I looked into Nichole variations on Nameberry, and one name that popped up is Nicanora. It's listed as a Spanish variation of Nicole. Definitely not a name you come across every day, but if you’re adventurous, it’s perhaps a unique way to keep Nichole, but get to Nora?

I also thought I’d throw out the name Holly. It fits the red theme (red holly berries) and it incorporates the HOL from Nichole.

Good luck with your name search. Whatever you land on, I’m sure it will be the perfect fit!

I'm not a huge fan of Nichole. I agree it's weird to change a kid's name, but my 10 month old regularly answers to Ryder, Marshall, Firefighter Nick, and Oscar (his name is Ryan, but 3yo brother has other ideas). My cousin adopted a much older child (like 17) and she asked to change her name when she got adopted, so I think it's totally fine.

For names, I love Noelle and Nicola for slightly unique N names. Nadine also could work.

For red hair my go to is Virginia, nn Ginger, or Roselle, nn Rosie. I love Roslyn too

If I ever had a girl and didn't have to negotiate with my husband, I'd name her Grace Ella, Sarah Anne,or Mary Jean. They are not popular names, but easily spellable and pronounceable.

Have to say I LOVE the name Hazel. My eyes are hazel, so I felt like I would be naming my daughter after me if I used it as a name, but otherwise it would have been at the top of my list! Also like the idea of moving Nichole to her middle name. Hazel Nichole has a nice ring to it.

I definitely think you should name her what you want, since you are all the family she has ever had. And I do agree with you that Nichole is fine, but... that’s it. Fine.

I love the name Hazel- my second was very nearly named Hazel but in the last week we decided we didn’t love it with our last name. But it’s one of my favorites. And Hazel
Nichole would be nice. If you are looking for new ideas- do you like Eliza? The latest Hazel I know has a sister named that so I put them together.

I think at that age it is perfectly acceptable to change her name. I like the idea of either choosing something similar or moving Nichole/Nicole to her middle name. I do love Nora or Nola (there's a song called Nola that my mom always played on the piano).

We adopted our son from birth and we changed his name but kept his name as a second middle name. The birth mother knew what we were planing on naming him and liked it. He got a name from our family and the middle name she gave him was a family name. I had no problem changing his first name. In the hospital she named him "Chance" and she said it was because she was on birth control so what are the "chances" of getting pregnant. I just couldn't stand it. Now he is ten. He likes being named after people in his adoptive family and his biological family. He likes the connections to both.

I love Hazel!

We have a friend named Nicki whose given name is Veronica, so you could also think about incorporating Nichole through Veronica, Annika, Monica, etc.

I love Hazel. And Hazel Nicole or Nichole would be great.