Friend just had a baby and named her.....

[ikslo]

This is yet another reason I nixed Maewyn as her first name. Even as a middle name I have had almost no one pronounce it correctly. I have no idea why they would think it is anything other than May-Win???? Someone said meowin as in a thick southern accent saying "that there cat be meowin' all night long". 😧🤔

 

And I expected some spelling direction for her first name might be needed but alas, apparently no one knows how to spell it the traditional way so they are actually getting her name spelling correct.

 

There's just no figuring people. 😄

I thought Maewyn was a boy's name. As in Maewyn Succat.

[Guest]

Maile is a traditional Hawaiian name.

 

The combination ai of course is a very common spelling in other languages for the dipthong we think of as a long i sound in English.

I know it is - the girl I know who is named it has a Hawaiian mama. In terms of unusual spellings that's one of the less common ones though :).

[Murphy101]

I thought Maewyn was a boy's name. As in Maewyn Succat.

Yep. Exactly who we used it after. Though the derivative origins lean towards female gender.

 

But we loved the connection to st Patrick, the meaning of the name, and thought it sounded feminine.

 

We also had Gabriel on the list and would not have changed it to Gabrielle/a.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Murphy101

[Scarlett]

This thread is distressing and timely all at once :lol: - I'm contracting up the wazoo but do I have ANY baby names picked yet, stupidly spelled or otherwise? NO. Because naming children is stressful, serious business. GAH!

 

I need to find the thread I begged for names on a few months ago and see if any of them are clicking yet. And then I suspect I'm going to have to stare at the person in question for a few days, argue with his or her father, and pick something I don't love and hope it ends up fitting.

 

They will have conventional spellings regardless of what I choose, but I hate not really even feeling like I've got a short list at this point. I probably have another week of contractions before the main event to continue being indecisive, but names. Oy.

Isabella. Please name her Isabella. I haven't been able to convince any of my friends to name their child Isabella.

[Murphy101]

Isabella. Please name her Isabella. I haven't been able to convince any of my friends to name their child Isabella.

A shame because it is a lovely name and it's actually become rather popular, which may help or not.

[melbotoast]

Late to the party, but I know someone who named their little girl Urban.

[Guest]

Isabella. Please name her Isabella. I haven't been able to convince any of my friends to name their child Isabella.

I'm afraid my cousin might kill me - I've always liked that one too but it's been her favorite baby name since we were children. And her first kid was a boy, so she didn't get to use it. I've had a bunch and she is older than me though so maybe she is up on her statute of limitations :lol:

[maize]

I'm afraid my cousin might kill me - I've always liked that one too but it's been her favorite baby name since we were children. And her first kid was a boy, so she didn't get to use it. I've had a bunch and she is older than me though so maybe she is up on her statute of limitations :lol:

Family members don't get to claim names in my world. More than one of my kids shares a name with a cousin.

 

I'm starting to think of names but have a few months yet.

[Guest]

I swear I always have the perfect name until I'm actually pregnant, then they're all a pile of fail. I blame hormones! Good luck with your own name selection :)

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

Well, I think I've mentioned it before, but I have a completely made up - no one else in the world has it but me - kind of name.

 

I don't think I have ever said my name to any sort of professional without immediately spelling it, slowly and often more than once. I don't mind. It's a mouthful. It's my name. I certainly don't hate my name. I love my Mother, who made it up, thought it sounded like music, and gave it to me. It does immediately identify me ethnically. It immediately identifies the socioeconomic class my parents were in at the time of my birth. It's part of my story.

 

If people aren't interested in learning who I am now because of the name my parents gave me 40+ years ago, it really is their problem, not mine.

[DesertBlossom]

My sister is Danielle. I think it is a simply elegant name. People butcher it like crazy, but pronounced correctly it is a beautiful name.

I feel like I am totally missing something. How is it mispronounced? Am I saying my own name wrong? ðŸ™

[Scarlett]

Well, I think I've mentioned it before, but I have a completely made up - no one else in the world has it but me - kind of name.

 

I don't think I have ever said my name to any sort of professional without immediately spelling it, slowly and often more than once. I don't mind. It's a mouthful. It's my name. I certainly don't hate my name. I love my Mother, who made it up, thought it sounded like music, and gave it to me. It does immediately identify me ethnically. It immediately identifies the socioeconomic class my parents were in at the time of my birth. It's part of my story.

 

If people aren't interested in learning who I am now because of the name my parents gave me 40+ years ago, it really is their problem, not mine.

Oh how I wish I could know your name!

[Scarlett]

I feel like I am totally missing something. How is it mispronounced? Am I saying my own name wrong? ðŸ™

My former boss pronounced it Da Nell. I normally hear it pronounced Dan Yell.

[Scarlett]

Dp

Edited December 16, 2016 by Scarlett

[scoutingmom]

We joked about having picked a boy's name, but had no intention on using it. I don't remember which was the first name and which was the middle... But it was...

 

Qwigglly Wolfgang

 

No one said anything bad about the name we did give him...lol

 

That said, Wolfgang has grown on me.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[Liz CA]

Yes, TOTALLY agree.  My first name is Kim.  It's short for Kimberly, but I use Kim for everything.  Just 3 letters, a pretty standard name.  The number of people that want to spell it Kym.....drive me nuts.

 

LOL. I had people ask me how to spell my first name.

[Liz CA]

Interesting! I knew some of those but not all of them. 

 

Funny story, a friend of mine has a husband named Shannon. I thought she was a lesbian for YEARS until once she finally referred to her husband as "he" rather than using his name. I nearly did a spit take, lol. When I told her she thought it was hysterical. 

 

Our last insurance agent was "Clair." Without the "e" but sounded almost identical to "Claire." I always thought that was very shortsighted of his parents. Even when it's a family name, I always think the kid has to live with it a whole, long life.

 

When I met a woman she spoke of her grown children as Kelly and John. For the longest time I thought she had a son and daughter...turns out both are sons. At least John wasn't a girl...

 

[Just Kate]

My former boss pronounced it Da Nell. I normally hear it pronounced Dan Yell.

My sil is Danielle, but pronounces it Da Nell. Took me forever to get used to that!

[poppy]

My sil is Danielle, but pronounces it Da Nell. Took me forever to get used to that!

 

That's even worse than Hayzel.  It's like the parents are trolling every person that the kid will ever meet in advance.

[Mrs. Y]

I feel like I am totally missing something. How is it mispronounced? Am I saying my own name wrong? ðŸ™

My sister's name is pronounced something like Dan Yell.....or more sliding on the N'yell....

 

My mother-in-law calls my sister Danny El.

 

She gets a lot of people who say Dah Nell.

[Sammish]

I don't see that traditional names always follow spelling and phonics rules. Stephen is the only word I can think of where ph is pronounced "v", ar in Sara is commonly pronounced "er", Matthew has an extra t...

 

Only mildly related: DH's name is Matthew. I've known him for 23 years. We dated for 4 years and have been married 13. I just realized LAST YEAR that his name has two Ts in it.  :001_huh:  :blushing: I knew Matt had two, but having two in Matthew just doesn't make sense! 

[Lady Florida.]

Family members don't get to claim names in my world. More than one of my kids shares a name with a cousin.

 

 

 

In my world they did. It's why I'm Kathleen and not Colleen. My mother wanted Colleen until her SIL, who was also pregnant at the them, said if she had a girl it would be Colleen. She publicly claimed the name first even though I was born first. My cousin who is a 3 weeks younger is Colleen. My mother was young, the newest member of my father's family, and didn't want to make any waves.

[Lady Florida.]

Family members don't get to claim names in my world. More than one of my kids shares a name with a cousin.

 

 

 

In my world they did. It's why I'm Kathleen and not Colleen. My mother wanted Colleen until her SIL, who was also pregnant at the time, said if she had a girl it would be Colleen. She publicly claimed the name first even though I was due to be born first. My cousin who is 3 weeks younger is Colleen. My mother was young, the newest member of my father's family, and didn't want to make any waves.

 

I also would have named ds Jay, because it's the nickname my father used. Dss was sometimes called Jay as a nickname and it didn't seem right to have 2 boys in the same house with the same name, a la George Foreman. :)  So I gave him my father's given name instead even though it's only the name he used officially. And now dss Jason*, is no longer called Jay by anyone so I could have done it anyway.

 

*Dh named him after the mythical Jason. He had no idea the Jason/Jennifer explosion was about to happen. Dss had 2 very good friends in high school also named Jason.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Lady Florida.

[Guest]

My sil is Danielle, but pronounces it Da Nell. Took me forever to get used to that!

I'm a Danielle, but my grandmother never said my name as intended; she always said, "Da-nell."

[Guest]

In my world they did. It's why I'm Kathleen and not Colleen. My mother wanted Colleen until her SIL, who was also pregnant at the time, said if she had a girl it would be Colleen. She publicly claimed the name first even though I was due to be born first. My cousin who is 3 weeks younger is Colleen. My mother was young, the newest member of my father's family, and didn't want to make any waves.

 

I also would have named ds Jay, because it's the nickname my father used. Dss was sometimes called Jay as a nickname and it didn't seem right to have 2 boys in the same house with the same name, a la George Foreman. :) So I gave him my father's given name instead even though it's only the name he used officially. And now dss Jason*, is no longer called Jay by anyone so I could have done it anyway.

 

*Dh named him after the mythical Jason. He had no idea the Jason/Jennifer explosion was about to happen. Dss had 2 very good friends in high school also named Jason.

When I was pg with baby #3, two of my SILs were also pg. One SIL was laying claim to a couple of names, including a girl name she had already "claimed" before her first child was born, though she did not use the name for *that* daughter. So, even though she was "claiming" the name Caroline, I was thinking, "If I want to use that name (or Carolyn, more likely), I'm using it; she had her chance and chose a different name." (It turned out we chose the name Lydia which was on no one's radar anyway.) But other SIL would not reveal the names she was considering, which I thought was worse. I told her I would rather know that she is also considering some name very similar or the same so I could avoid getting my heart set on a name and then changing it at the last minute. But she wouldn't tell.

 

It turns out, her boy name was Ryan, which was the one that vocal SIL was "claiming." Her real reason for not telling, presumably, was because she was due five months before the SIL claiming Ryan, so she did not care that she would "beat SIL to" using the name Ryan.

 

It was all such a silly issue. The vocal SIL had even purchased personalized items with her potential names on them, which I found preposterously foolish. She ended up giving the persoanlized things to the SIL with a Ryan after maybe a year or so, which was only that much more awkward.

[purpleowl]

 

 

Only mildly related: DH's name is Matthew. I've known him for 23 years. We dated for 4 years and have been married 13. I just realized LAST YEAR that his name has two Ts in it.  :001_huh:  :blushing: I knew Matt had two, but having two in Matthew just doesn't make sense! 

 

From Wikipedia:

 

 

The Hebrew name "מַתִּתְיָהוּ‎" (Matityahu) was transliterated into Greek to "Ματταθίας" (Mattathias),^[7] which was shortened to "Ματθαῖος" (Matthaios). The Greek Ματθαῖος was Latinised as Matthaeus, which became Matthew in English.

 

 

Here's a link where you can hear the Greek ÎœÎ±Ï„θαῖος pronounced. Both the tau (t) and the theta (th) are pronounced. I am guessing (but can't quickly confirm) that the English form just eventually dropped the pronunciation of the first t because "math-ew" rolls off the tongue more easily than "mat-thew." But since English is weird, we hung onto it in the spelling. ;)

[Guest]

I keep reading all of the Kelly mentions here and I laugh because Kelly instantly makes me think of Kelly Slater the surfer. Even though there were female Kellys I went to school with, I think of it a a guy's name because of him. I actually had it on a baby name list at one time in the past. :) 

 

The most popular name it seemed when I was in school was Jennifer. We had so many they couldn't just be identified by last initial. Middle initials had to be pulled in. We had multiple Jennifer Smith's in my graduating class. I was always glad that wasn't the case with me. I have a name that is traditionally a boys' name although a certain sitcom had a girl named that too when I was growing up. I always liked having a unique name. I did the same thing to my oldest though and she HATES having a boy identified name. I think she will probably change is when she's older. 

[debinindy]

This thread reminds me of a quote I like to give my students.

 

"Don't write only to be understood; write so that you can't be misunderstood."  W. Taft (according to the internet)

 

I guess we could replace "write" with "spell your child's name"  :p

[Guest]

In my world they did. It's why I'm Kathleen and not Colleen. My mother wanted Colleen until her SIL, who was also pregnant at the time, said if she had a girl it would be Colleen. She publicly claimed the name first even though I was due to be born first. My cousin who is 3 weeks younger is Colleen. My mother was young, the newest member of my father's family, and didn't want to make any waves.

 

I also would have named ds Jay, because it's the nickname my father used. Dss was sometimes called Jay as a nickname and it didn't seem right to have 2 boys in the same house with the same name, a la George Foreman. :) So I gave him my father's given name instead even though it's only the name he used officially. And now dss Jason*, is no longer called Jay by anyone so I could have done it anyway.

 

*Dh named him after the mythical Jason. He had no idea the Jason/Jennifer explosion was about to happen. Dss had 2 very good friends in high school also named Jason.

That's a bit more how our family politics work. This cousin and I were close growing up but we live multiple states away now, so things like that are probably much less of a big deal than if we still lived within five miles of one another. Plus I'm pregnant and I'm pretty sure she isn't, so I suppose I get dibs. But if there are other names I like equally well I always try to pick those in deference to family. We don't have any duplicate names in our family that I can think of, except my stepsister who gave her son my middle name (I'm not sure she knew and it's hardly a big deal! It suits him very well). With a family of 60+ members at this point on just the paternal side, that is saying something! The only duplicate name was intentional father/son family naming and even they go by different versions of the name to differentiate, it's just on the birth certificates it shows up.

 

 

For what it's worth I like Kathleen better than Colleen, but they're both beautiful names! My brother had the same thing happen as your Jason - my mom tried to pick a very unique name and didn't know anyone with it, then there was an explosion of Ryans and there went that idea. He is one of the oldest I've ever met with it though.

 

She clearly jumped the shark on my own name since she just wasn't weird enough the first time :lol:

[maize]

In my world they did. It's why I'm Kathleen and not Colleen. My mother wanted Colleen until her SIL, who was also pregnant at the them, said if she had a girl it would be Colleen. She publicly claimed the name first even though I was born first. My cousin who is a 3 weeks younger is Colleen. My mother was young, the newest member of my father's family, and didn't want to make any waves.

FWIW, I love Kathleen and don't much care for Coleen :)

 

I'd love to name a daughter Kathleen.

[maize]

Two of my brothers have nephews who share their name. I've joked that I should name my son after the two remaining brothers so they can each have a namesake :)

[luuknam]

The entire premise that it's a 'strike' is based on an ethno-cultural superiority.

 

That's the point of every post I've made on this thread. That if you're not looking/acting/displaying the norms of through naming/displaying the norms of through spelling the white, anglo saxon, heteronormative, middle or upper class, gender assigned NORM, you've got a 'negative'.

 

I'm still failing to see how disliking e.g. Isiaih would be based on ethno-cultural superiority. I can't think of a single language in which Isiaih would be pronounced as Isaiah. It's not an ethno-cultural thing. Letting your older kid write the name on the birth certificate and the kid misspelling it is simply misspelling it, and not very thoughtful wrt the kid who now actually has that name. You have months to come up with a name and check with others how to spell it if you don't know how to spell, and you can be creative without throwing phonics (of any language - I'm not wedded to American phonics - see discussion of my kid not named Dimitri upthread) out of the window.

Edited December 16, 2016 by luuknam

[maize]

So here's a personal name quandary: I really like Matthias pronounced muh-TEE-us, but dislike muh-THIGH-us; if I give my child that name I know he is going to get the second pronunciation frequently.

Edited December 16, 2016 by maize

[luuknam]

So here's a personal name quandary: I really like Matthias pronounced muh-TEE-us, but dislike muh-THIGH-us; if I give my child that name I know he is going to get the second pronunciation frequently.

 

Do a poll? Personally I don't think it's a problem if you're okay with having to correct it. Muh-TEE-us would've been my first guess at pronouncing that one, but I'm not a native English speaker.

[maize]

I'm still failing to see how disliking e.g. Isiaih would be based on ethno-cultural superiority. I can't think of a single language in which Isiaih would be pronounced as Isaiah. It's not an ethno-cultural thing. Letting your older kid write the name on the birth certificate and the kid misspelling it is simply misspelling it, and not very thoughtful wrt the kid who now actually has that name. You have months to come up with a name and check with others how to spell it if you don't know how to spell, and you can be creative without throwing phonics (of any language - I'm not wedded to American phonics - see discussion of my kid not named Dimitri upthread) out of the window.

I would say it presumes a cultural viewpoint from which traditional name spelling is superior to creative spelling.

[bibiche]

So here's a personal name quandary: I really like Matthias pronounced muh-TEE-us, but dislike muh-THIGH-us; if I give my child that name I know he is going to get the second pronunciation frequently.

Spell it without the H.

[luuknam]

I would say it presumes a cultural viewpoint from which traditional name spelling is superior to creative spelling.

 

I'm not fond of creative spellings, but I can live with Hayzel, because at least it still makes phonetic sense. I'm okay with foreign phonics too. If Isiaih is okay to be pronounced Isaiah, then why not just name the kid 123456 and say it's pronounced Isaiah? That would be even more creative.

Edited December 16, 2016 by luuknam

[maize]

Spell it without the H.

But I like the H.

 

And without it people would probably just say Muh-tie-us.

Edited December 16, 2016 by maize

[Murphy101]

So here's a personal name quandary: I really like Matthias pronounced muh-TEE-us, but dislike muh-THIGH-us; if I give my child that name I know he is going to get the second pronunciation frequently.

I have a Mathias. Not once in 15 years has anyone ever said it any way other than Muh-thigh-us.

 

I would foresee a lifetime of people calling him by a name different than you intend.

[bibiche]

But I like the H.

 

And without it people would probably just say Muh-tie-us.

How about Matteo? You lose your H, but it would be difficult to mispronounce. ;)

 

I love the name Matthias in French and German, but dislike it in English, so I hear your pain. But I think you can reasonably expect Americans to pronounce it with a theta sound rather than a T sound.

[maize]

How about Matteo? You lose your H, but it would be difficult to mispronounce. ;)

 

I love the name Matthias in French and German, but dislike it in English, so I hear your pain. But I think you can reasonably expect Americans to pronounce it with a theta sound rather than a T sound.

Yeah, I've loved the name ever since I lived in Austria as a teen.

 

The hard t version is an acceptable English pronunciation but you're right--the th version is much more common in the US.

 

Sigh.

[Guest]

So here's a personal name quandary: I really like Matthias pronounced muh-TEE-us, but dislike muh-THIGH-us; if I give my child that name I know he is going to get the second pronunciation frequently.

That's a tough one - he'd be correcting pronunciation a lot, but the spelling is pretty standard. I don't think it's a ridiculous choice by any means, but something to consider.

[Guest]

So here's a personal name quandary: I really like Matthias pronounced muh-TEE-us, but dislike muh-THIGH-us; if I give my child that name I know he is going to get the second pronunciation frequently.

To me, this gets a name booted off the list of naming choices.

 

I had one like this. I like the name "Reagan," but I envision it as "REE-gen," like with the root of the word "regal." But I was opposed to spelling it phonetically because that's not my thing, so no "Reegan." And clearly people see that name and think of Reagan, like the former US President; short e sound. So, bye, bye, Reagan. Maybe you can be a cat's name one day.

 

Same thing with the name "Lucia." I actually asked about it on here, to see what people think is the pronunciation. When I see that name, I think of "LOO-shuh," like the island of St. Lucia. But Spanish-speaking people and Italian people see this name differently, as loo-SEE-uh or loo-CHEE-uh. So, no Lucia for me. I just don't want to mess with that a hundred thousand times in my child's life.

[Scarlett]

Only mildly related: DH's name is Matthew. I've known him for 23 years. We dated for 4 years and have been married 13. I just realized LAST YEAR that his name has two Ts in it. :001_huh: :blushing: I knew Matt had two, but having two in Matthew just doesn't make sense!

This made me laugh so hard. 😂

[LMD]

My first name is a different spelling that I always have to spell. My maiden surname was a lesser known alternative of a Welsh surname - always had to spell it, repeatedly.

I have always loved my name. Always. It feels like mine. And I am an introvert.

 

Dh has a common name that he shares with a parent and grandparent. He doesn't mind the actual name but hates being one of many within the family.

 

And, I just can't comprehend choosing a name based primarily on whether it's safe enough that my kid will probably not hate it. That's just a level of fear that I can't live with.

 

I agree with all of the common sense posts though, don't be silly about it, don't get annoyed with mis spellings or pronunciations.

[Julie Smith]

Speaking of naming a kid the same name as a parent, ie. Joe for Dad and Son.

 

I always heard that the Dad would be know as Joe Senior, and the kid, Joe Junior. I'm not sure what would happen in three generations were living at the same time. My Dh is a Joe Junior. His Dad is Joe Senior. But Dh insists he is Joe the 3rd since his grandfather (who has been dead at least 35 years) was Joe the 1st making him Joe the 3rd. I state that only royals number people. He insists that everyone does. 

 

So who is right? Is my Dh Joe the 3rd, or Joe Junior? 

[Rosie_0801]

So who is right? Is my Dh Joe the 3rd, or Joe Junior? 

 

Neither.

 

They are "My Joe" or "Your Joe," depending who is speaking.

 

Maybe "The Old Bloke" or "The Young Fella" if the speaker wishes to be a smart alec. :D

[Outdoorsy Type]

Speaking of naming a kid the same name as a parent, ie. Joe for Dad and Son.

 

I always heard that the Dad would be know as Joe Senior, and the kid, Joe Junior. I'm not sure what would happen in three generations were living at the same time. My Dh is a Joe Junior. His Dad is Joe Senior. But Dh insists he is Joe the 3rd since his grandfather (who has been dead at least 35 years) was Joe the 1st making him Joe the 3rd. I state that only royals number people. He insists that everyone does.

 

So who is right? Is my Dh Joe the 3rd, or Joe Junior?

I have heard "the 3rd" and the nickname Trip for a third generation name.

[Julie Smith]

If it comes up in conversation. (as in talking about names) Dh would say, "I am Joe Smith the 3rd". I will say, "no you are Joe Smith, If anything else you are Joe Smith Junior". 

 

My FIL is know as a nick name, or just, "The old goat". 

[mom2scouts]

Speaking of naming a kid the same name as a parent, ie. Joe for Dad and Son.

 

I always heard that the Dad would be know as Joe Senior, and the kid, Joe Junior. I'm not sure what would happen in three generations were living at the same time. My Dh is a Joe Junior. His Dad is Joe Senior. But Dh insists he is Joe the 3rd since his grandfather (who has been dead at least 35 years) was Joe the 1st making him Joe the 3rd. I state that only royals number people. He insists that everyone does. 

 

So who is right? Is my Dh Joe the 3rd, or Joe Junior? 

 

Sorry, I agree with your husband. My nephew is Jay the third. I believe it's even Jay X XXXX III on his birth certificate. His father goes by Jay, Jr and his grandfather (the original Jay) is deceased.