Names with "an"

I recently got an email from a reader asking for some naming inspiration.

Fiona writes:

My first 2 children both have a theme of "an" - Marianne and Kassandra. It happened accidentally, but the more we think about future names, the more we seem attracted to this sound. It would be great to have some help and inspiration please! 
Our second child was only born this year, so we are jumping the gun a little but we do plan a 3rd child (hopefully, as obviously thanks to mother nature's blips, having a child is not in our complete control!) and our experience is that it is never too early to start thinking about names.

With many thanks,
Fiona 

Past the page break I have put together an exhaustive list of names with -an in them. I've italicised the ones I think work best with Marianne and Kassandra. Feel free to leave your thoughts or suggestions for Fiona in the comments. If you have a naming question that you would like me to post on the blog, feel free to email me at skihm (at) hotmail (dot) com. 

Contraction Nicknames

What is a contraction nickname you ask? Just like contractions in English, a contraction nickname takes the first part of a name and the last part of the name to form a shorter nickname, sans middle. There are so many great options if you like contraction nicknames--take a look and let me know your favorites!

Ada: Adalia, Adamina, Adara, Adelina, Adina, Adriana
Adele: Adelaide, Adeline
Alexa: Alexandra, Alexandria, Alexandrina, Alexandrita, Alexia
Ana: Anahita, Anala, Anastasia, Andrea, Andromeda, Angela, Angelica, Angelina, Anita, Annabella, Annika, Annissa, Annora, Antonella
Aria: Arcadia, Arcelia, Arianna, Ariella, Arizona, Artemisia
Aura: Aurelia, Aurelina, Aurora
Bay: Bailey
Bea: Beata, Becca, Beeja, Begonia, Belinda, Bellona, Bertha
Bex: Beatrix
Bria: Brianna, Brietta, Brigitta, Britta
Cara: Carlotta, Carolina, Carissa, Carmela, Cassandra
Clara: Claribella, Clarinda, Clarissa
Clea: Clementina, Cleopatra
Corie: Coralie
Dana: Danica, Daniela, Danita
Elsa: Elisa, Eloisa
Emme: Emmanuelle, Emmeline
Eva: Evangelina, Evanthia, Evelina
Fae: Fable, Faustine
Fia: Felicia, Fidelia, Fiona, Fiorella
Gala: Gabriella, Galatea, Galena
Gia: Gardenia. Georgia, Giada, Gianna, Gilda, Giordana, Giovanna, Gisella
Ina: India, Indiana, Indra
Isa: Isabella, Isabetta, Isadora, Isauara, Isla
Jette: Jeanette, Juliette
Jessa: Janessa, Jessamina, Jessica
June: Julianne, Juline, Junelle, Junette, Junine
Lena: Leanna, Leona, Levina
Lia: Lavinia, Lelia, Leocadia, Lilia, Lilianna, Linnea, Liviana
Lola: Lolita, Louella
Lora: Lorena, Lorenza, Lorinda
Lula: Ludmila, Luella
Luna: Luciana
Mia: Maria, Melania, Milada, Milagra, Milena, Miranda, Mireya, Mischa
Mila: Michaela, Milada, Milagra, Milania
Mina: Marina, Martina, Milena, Minerva
Mira: Milagra, Mirabella
Nia: Nabila, Nadia, Nahlia, Natalia, Nelia, Nicasia, Nicola, Nicolina, Nigella, Nina, Nisha
Noa: Nola, Nona, Nora, Nordica, Norma, Novella
Ola: Olida, Olina, Olivia, Olympia
Pia: Pamelia, Pascasia, Patricia, Petunia, Pippa, Piritta, Portia
Pippa: Philippa
Ren: Reagan. Reign
Roma: Romana, Romola
Rory: Rosemary
Rosa: Rosalia, Rosalinda, Rosanna, Rosetta. Rosita
Sara: Sahara, Samara, Samira, Sandra, Sapphira, Sarika
Sia: Sienna, Sierra, Silvana, Simona, Sistina, Sophia, Sophronia, Stephania, Sylvia
Tara: Takara, Tamara
Thea: Theodora, Theodosia, Theresa
Thora: Theodora
Zara: Zahara

Stylish Choices Outside the Top 1000: 2015 Girls

Syd Nagoshi via Instagram

It can be really frustrating to see your top choices break into the top 1000--no one wants people to discover their favorite name! If you are looking for a name that's guaranteed to be uncommon, outside the top 1000 is the best place to look. None of these names were used over 263 times--that being said, it's impossible to tell how many of these are being used as nicknames for more popular names. The names are ordered from most uses to least: 263 to 5. Make sure to come back on Friday for the boys list, and check out the 2014 list to see what's changed.