Thoughts on this name? [name_f]Anya[/name_f] is used as an Anglicized spelling of the Irish name [name_f]Aine[/name_f]. But it’s also the Russian diminutive of [name_f]Anna[/name_f] (and I think this usage is probably more common and familiar, right?). Does it seem too Eastern European compared to [name_f]Maura[/name_f], [name_m]Patrick[/name_m], and [name_f]Brigid[/name_f]?
I think it actually fits in great with your other kids! [name_f]Lovely[/name_f] name
I love [name_f]Anya[/name_f] and have the same concerns about it! I’d want it to be associated with my Irish roots and wonder if it’s much more familiar as a Russian name. But it is beautiful and even though it may take more explaining than [name_f]Maura[/name_f] or [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] or [name_f]Brigid[/name_f], I definitely think it can work! 
It does look very Eastern European to me- had no idea it has Irish roots. Maybe you could use [name_f]Aine[/name_f]? Since [name_f]Brigid[/name_f] is also an Irish spelling I think it wouldn’t look out of place. It sounds very sweet and dainty.
I think it’s a lovely name. I know a woman named [name_f]Anya[/name_f] and she is of [name_m]German[/name_m] origin.
I think [name_f]Anya[/name_f] is wonderful, but I always think of a girl I knew named [name_f]Anja[/name_f] (they’re pronounced the same).
Thanks! In my case, it’s actually my husband who’s Irish (and a little Hispanic, but he looks like a Leprechaun and has a very Irish name, so no one ever believes him 
), but I’m just a little Irish and Belarusian/Ukrainian on my dad’s side and [name_m]German[/name_m] and Scottish on my mom’s, so our kid’s heritage would actually be reflected by the name quite well regardless. I’m just worried people will be like, “Irish, Very Irish, Extremely Irish,…Russian? WTF?” LOL! But, we’ve actually found that [name_f]Maura[/name_f] takes a lot more explanation than we thought it would. [name_m]How[/name_m] can it seem so familiar and obvious to me, and everyone else is like, “[name_m]How[/name_m] did you come up with that?” like they think we made it up.
My concern is that people wouldn’t know how to pronounce [name_f]Aine[/name_f] if we spell it that way. We pronounce [name_f]Brigid[/name_f] they way it looks in English, not “Breed” like it is in Irish, so it’s not as challenging.
I like the sound of [name_f]Anya[/name_f] - it’s feminine and soft.
As a hungarian-born I need to add that it means “Mother” in hungarian. It was weird for the first time seeing it as an actual name (In Hungary we have [name_f]Anja[/name_f] which is pronounced almost the same.)
I didn’t know it was a Russian diminutive of [name_f]Anna[/name_f]… I wonder how many not-name nerds know it. But I adore it, and I think it fits well with your names in your signature.
I love [name_f]Anya[/name_f], but would definitely see Russian in it. Similar to [name_f]Katya[/name_f] (which I also love).
I have this concern with the name [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]. It’s actually one of my favorite names, but I don’t feel comfortable co-opting another culture and that’s what [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] feels like to me for some reason. Also I have these (probably unfounded) concerns that the US (where I live) relations with [name_f]Russia[/name_f] will continue to worsen over the next two decades and my child will be prejudiced against.
For some reason, I don’t think the same applies to [name_f]Anya[/name_f]!
I really like the name [name_f]Anya[/name_f], but not as an anglicisation of [name_f]Aine[/name_f] because it’s not pronounced the same at all. [name_f]Aine[/name_f] really isn’t that hard to pronounce and once you correct people they’ll always remember
[name_m]How[/name_m] do you pronounce [name_f]Aine[/name_f], then? I listened to it on [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Names of [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] and they sound very similar to me. That site and this one list [name_f]Anya[/name_f] as the English spelling.
I wasn’t going to give my first name on this site but [name_f]Aine[/name_f] is my name, so maybe I’m just being picky. [name_f]Aine[/name_f] is very hard to describe phonetically but my best attempt at it would be Ahwn-yeh (as apposed to [name_f]Anya[/name_f] being [name_f]Ann[/name_f]-yah). I suppose it is very similar in a way but both the syllables are said a bit differently. I don’t see [name_f]Anya[/name_f] as being the English spelling mostly because of this difference in pronunciation (also because, to me, they have a different ‘feel’) but I’m sure that the majority of people do. Again, I’m just super picky because it’s my name
[name_f]Anya[/name_f] isn’t ann-yah. It’s ahn-yah.
[name_f]Anya[/name_f] sounds fine with [name_f]Maura[/name_f], [name_m]Patrick[/name_m], and [name_f]Brigid[/name_f].
sorry, I didn’t realise that the correct pronunciation was Ahn-yah, I didn’t actually look it up (which maybe I should’ve) I was just going off personal experience as the only [name_f]Anya[/name_f]/Anjas I’ve known have said their names [name_f]Ann[/name_f]-yah
[name_m]Just[/name_m] wanted to add, I think it goes well with [name_f]Maura[/name_f], [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] and [name_f]Brigid[/name_f] as well. It doesn’t seem as Irish but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t fit in
Ha! I think the problem is that you and I pronounce [name_f]Anya[/name_f] differently, not the way I pronounce [name_f]Aine[/name_f]. I would say [name_f]Aine[/name_f] = Awn-yeh and [name_f]Anya[/name_f] = Ahn-yuh, so yes a little differently if you really analyze it, but pretty similar when said aloud. That said, I’m pretty sure I also pronounce [name_f]Maura[/name_f] and [name_f]Brigid[/name_f] a little bit wrong too because of my American accent, so if I did name a child [name_f]Aine[/name_f], I’d be obligated to say it wrong out of fairness. LOL!
This made me laugh so much!
Yeah, with my English accent I can’t quite say it right either. There are certain sounds that can only be made by someone with an Irish accent and all my Irish family pronounce the first syllable of my name slightly different from me because I just can’t say it the same! 
is a romantic name. Like it.
I love it, I strongly associate it with the [name_f]Buffy[/name_f] the Vampire Slayer character (the was totally awesome) & I think its lovely. It was on my list for a while but my husband wasn’t a fan.