Anais/Anaise/Annaise? Help, please!

Girl Names
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Okay, I promise this will be my last [name_f]Anais[/name_f]/Anaise/Annaise-related post!
I absolutely LOVE the name [name_f]Anais[/name_f]. It’s beautiful and unique but familiar and I think it’s completely perfect!

Except…I hate the spelling. It looks weird to me. I know some people like it, but my main problem is that I just don’t hear [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-nah-EES in my head when I look at it, which is the pronunciation I love. It’s the same reason I couldn’t use [name_f]Isobel[/name_f], which I think is beautiful, because the pronunciation and the spelling don’t quite match up in my head. I know, it’s weird, but it really throws me off.

The other thing about [name_f]Anais[/name_f] is that I see names as colors. In my head and when said out loud, the name [name_f]Anais[/name_f] is pink and green and yellow and really fun to look at. When written out, though, [name_f]Anais[/name_f] looks like a garish magenta. I like the [name_f]Anaise[/name_f] spelling better, because the ‘e’ changes the color closer to what I see in my head, but it’s the Annaise spelling that really makes it all match up.

The problem? Now I’ve just taken a classic, established name and made up a kree8tiv spelling. [name_u]Or[/name_u] worse, I basically just made up a name. What should I do? Should I just give up on the name all together? Should I stick with the [name_f]Anais[/name_f] spelling and hope that they start to match up? [name_u]Or[/name_u] should I go with the made-up spelling?

This is literally the only place in the world where there are people who understand why this is making me frustrated, so thanks for being here, Berries! And, as always, if you think of any really great middle name combos, I’d love to hear them! I like [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], [name_f]Carina[/name_f], [name_f]Liv[/name_f], [name_f]Fiora[/name_f], or even [name_u]Aiko[/name_u] with [name_f]Anais[/name_f]/Anaise/Annaise

You guys are the greatest!!!

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I would stick to the [name_f]Anais[/name_f] spelling and hope that they start to match up. It’s the most common and most recognizable spelling of the name and our minds change all the time, so it will probably grow on you in time. Also, don’t give up a name you love! I’ve done this before and regretted it soon after. [name_f]Anais[/name_f] is gorgeous and on my list. Some middle name ideas I have are [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Catrin[/name_f] (Welsh form of [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]), Anias [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Claire[/name_f] and [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Colette[/name_f] (Since [name_f]Colette[/name_f] is in your signature :blush:)

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Thank you! [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Catrin[/name_f] is so pretty, and I hadn’t even thought of [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Colette[/name_f]. Thanks for your advice! I really hope it grows on me!

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Glad you liked my suggestions! I hope so too!

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I ditto [name_f]Faith[/name_f], but… If they don’t start to match up for you, I would change the spelling. :slight_smile:

I have the opposite problem! I love [name_f]Vela[/name_f] (vay-luh) but it’s very non-initiative & I don’t like any other spellings ([name_f]Vaila[/name_f], Vaylah, etc). :confused: I also associate names with colors & I don’t think we are the only ones! ^.^

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Honestly, I wouldn’t use it if the spelling is so unintuitive to you that you’d want to change it. Instead I’d looked for similar names with spellings that are naturally more appealing to you.

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Do you think it would be disrespectful to use [name_f]Anaise[/name_f] (with the umlaut, I just can’t figure out how to write it on this device)?

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Yay!! I think [name_f]Anaise[/name_f] with the umlaut seems like the perfect compromise! Thanks for your help!

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While I personally prefer the [name_f]Anais[/name_f] spelling, I think you could get away with spelling it [name_f]Anaise[/name_f] simply because alternative spellings to set your child apart from others also exist in other languages.
Anaïse also seems to be the Creole spelling of the name according to User-submitted name Anaïse - Behind the Name .

(btw, for me, even on my laptop I just have to hold down the i key for all the different umlauts to show up)

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I’m late to this thread but wanted to say [name_f]Anaise[/name_f] is my personal favorite spelling, but honestly, I always vote to choose the spelling you most prefer. Try not to worry too much about invented spellings since all spellings/names were invented at one point in time. I totally get wanting to stay traditional, but names evolve over time so I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.

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I like [name_f]Anais[/name_f] but [name_f]Anise[/name_f] (a-nees) is also pretty and maybe closer to the pronunciation that you are looking for.

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As for naming a kid, I’d stick with [name_f]Anais[/name_f] to make it easier for the child, but if that’s only for your list [name_f]Anaise[/name_f] works too. Annaise just looks unnecessarily complicated to me.

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There’s theory that [name_f]Anais[/name_f] derives from rare medieval [name_u]French[/name_u] Anateis, if I got spelling right
Other than that, I suggest [name_f]Anise[/name_f] or Aneis.

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I love this name too! It’s chic and funky and delicate but strong.

[name_f]My[/name_f] favourite spelling is [name_f]Anaïs[/name_f] or [name_f]Anais[/name_f] but I think it’s fine to use whatever spelling appeals most to you. If that’s Annaise, I don’t see a problem with it – but I will just add the disclaimer that I don’t think most [name_f]English[/name_f] speakers will default to the “ah-nah-EES” pronunciation for any of these spellings, unless they’re already familiar with the [name_u]French[/name_u] name. In fact, if I saw [name_f]Anaise[/name_f] or Annaise I think I’d assume that you wanted to differentiate from the [name_u]French[/name_u] name and spelling, so I’d probably assume “ah-NAYZ” or something like that.

That said, I think there is a lot of truth to this :point_down:

As for middles, I love [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] and [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Carina[/name_f], as well as the suggestions of [name_f]Catrin[/name_f] and [name_f]Colette[/name_f]! Since C names seem to work so well, maybe [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_u]Camille[/name_u], [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Calliope[/name_f], [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Corinne[/name_f] or [name_f]Anais[/name_f] [name_f]Caroline[/name_f]?

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Personally I prefer [name_f]Anais[/name_f] as it is but if Annaise is the one that’s working for you, I’d go with that

Annaise [name_f]Fiora[/name_f] is so cool!

Annaise [name_f]Coraline[/name_f]
Annaise [name_f]Cleo[/name_f]
Annaise [name_f]Eulalia[/name_f]
Annaise [name_f]Primrose[/name_f]
Annaise [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]
Annaise [name_f]Viola[/name_f]

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I like the [name_f]Anaïs[/name_f] spelling the best, and I would probably try to stick to it to avoid confusion. I don’t know anyone with this name, the only time I saw it used was on [name_u]Noel[/name_u] [name_m]Gallagher[/name_m]’s daughter. I agree with the previous posters, you might want to look for similar sounding names if you feel like changing the spelling is a bit of a problem.

Have you considered [name_f]Thais[/name_f], [name_f]Annalise[/name_f], [name_f]Anise[/name_f], or [name_f]Anya[/name_f]?

Middle name ideas:

Philippa
[name_f]Violeta[/name_f]
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Luella[/name_f]
[name_f]Dorothea[/name_f]
[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]
[name_f]Georgia[/name_f]
[name_f]Veronica[/name_f]
[name_f]Tatiana[/name_f]

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For some reason I didn’t think of this the first time I saw this post, but have you considered [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f]?

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We named our daughter [name_f]Anaïs[/name_f] (ah-na-ees) and struggled with a similar question! We wanted to be able to nickname her “[name_f]Annie[/name_f]” so and her naming was in honor of my mother who changed her name from [name_f]Ann[/name_f] to [name_f]Anna[/name_f] as an adult but pronounced it [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-na. We tried spelling her name Annaïs. It just didn’t seem right and seemed it would confuse things for her when people aren’t sure whether to say [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-na-eec or An-na-eec. We will have to teach people how to say her name anyways as we are in Oregon and it’s not common!
Now we’re debating her nickname!
It’s a beautiful name and we’re happy with it.

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Anaeise, Anaiese, Anyece, Anaheise.