My husband and I are huge on languages and culture. We always joke about the environment our kids will be raised in, and how it will confuse them. We cook cuisine of all sorts, speak multiple languages, listen to music from all over and from all eras, and this seems to influence our name choices!
I just realized that the names we really love the most are names that sound good in many different languages. For instance, we love the name Sebstian. Everyone that hears the name seems to say ‘that is a good strong (insert language here) name.’ Spanish, polish, Russian, Italian… It sounds good in everything! Too bad we can’t use [name]Sebastian[/name]!
[name]One[/name] of our top contenders for boys is [name]Merrick[/name]. Sounds like a surname in English. In polish it is [name]Marek[/name]. And saying it in a Latin language sounds pretty good too! And while that is not the reason we chose it, it definitley makes me love it more than some of our other options. While [name]Rhett[/name] and [name]Flynn[/name] are perfect in English… It just doesn’t match up in other languages/cultures.
For girls my husband loves [name]Natalia[/name]. Again, perfect in so many languages. And while I am not sure i love it yet, i do love the fact that it fits that bill.
[name]Don[/name]'t get me wrong, I [name]LOVE[/name] our other options… [name]Cora[/name] and [name]Ivy[/name] for girls, [name]Liam[/name], [name]Callen[/name], Macoy, [name]Rhett[/name] and [name]Flynn[/name] for boys… I would love them so much more if they fit into our multi lingual and cultural household!
So… What names do you berries think fit the multi lingual category? I think what is most important to us is English, Polish, and Latin languages.
You could do a word name like [name]Vera[/name]/[name]Faith[/name]/[name]True[/name] as well. I think really classic names work for your situation. Avoid certain sounds that are difficult with accents of the languages that you love and speak- for example [name]Joan[/name] pretty much sounds like [name]John[/name] in a Polish accent
You want multilingual names? Look at the Callendar of Saints or lists of European monarchs, where you will find names that exist in almost every western language and sound traditional and acceptable almost everywhere. [name]Even[/name] if the particular name sounds unfamiliar at first, most people will be able to associate with a name they know. ("[name]William[/name]? Oh, that’s [name]Guillaume[/name]/[name]Guilherme[/name]/Wilhem/[name]Guillermo[/name] in English". You get the point.)
Otherwise, stuck with something short and simple that is easily pronounceable everywhere: [name]Anna[/name], [name]Sofia[/name], [name]Emma[/name], [name]Max[/name], [name]Leo[/name], [name]Lucas[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Maria[/name], [name]Louis[/name], [name]Henry[/name], [name]Daniel[/name].
[name]Lara[/name] came immediately to mind. And I realize that I bring this name up in just about every thread, but [name]Jane[/name] absolutely fits the bill. Streamlined, elegant, easy to spell and to pronounce. [name]Jane[/name] is perfect.
Thanks for the suggestions! I will definitley check out those lists, that’s a great idea!
To clarify, I didn’t mean a name that sounds the SAME in every language, I just meant a name that sounds GOOD in every language! [name]Even[/name] if it totally changes the sound of the name. Or example, with [name]Merrick[/name]. When I say it in italian I say it the same as in English but with a rolled r am shorter e. same for Spanish. French and Portuguese don’t matter to us quite as much, but I don’t mind the way it would be saidin French with the ‘ique’ ending! In polish it translates to [name]Marek[/name] which I pronounced mah-REK.
I think [name]Alexander[/name] and [name]Alexandra[/name] are very multicultural. Also [name]John/name and [name]Anna[/name], [name]Victor[/name] and [name]Victoria[/name], [name]Nicholas[/name] and [name]Nina[/name].
), great names (pronounce and spelling) would be (kind of by order):