Hello! So there’s one character in my book who’s name I have been debating for a while. I was thinking of making her name the Spanish variant of [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f] (which is pronounced like yu-he-ni-uh), but I’m scared that people will pronounce it the normal way (yu-gee-ni-uh). I was also thinking of naming her [name_f]Lorena[/name_f] (pronounced lor-ayn-uh), but I feel like people will pronounce it like lor-ee-na. I just wanted to know, do you think these names will cause confusion? Should I establish how they’re pronounced in the book, if I use them?
I might not be the best person to answer this question, as I speak Spanish and know people with both names. For [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f], I do think you may need to clarify that she uses the Spanish pronunciation (I usually hear it pronounced more like o-hen-ni-uh, with a quicker “yu” sound). [name_f]Lorena[/name_f] I think people with understand- I’ve never heard the lor-ee-na pronunciation. I hope this helps!
I speak only English and I definitely agree with eagleeyes! If you go for [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f], you should clarify the pronunciation. But I’ve only ever heard [name_f]Lorena[/name_f] as lor-ayn-uh.
Hmm I’m an English speaker and I’m afraid I said both wrong. I’d say [name_f]Lorena[/name_f] like [name_f]Lauren[/name_f]-uh ([name_f]LORE[/name_f]-eh-nuh or lore-EH-nuh) and [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f] as the English pronunciation. But I’m sure if you clarify the pronunciation, it won’t be a big deal. It would take me a little while to get used to using an H sound instead of a G though.
[name_f]Lorena[/name_f] is easier than [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f] for me, but both are easy to pronounce as long as the reader knows. Maybe have a scene where a new character sees her name written down, and pronounces it the wrong way, and she corrects them by saying it phonetically or something. That way, the read can know from the start.
Good luck with your story!
Sorry to admit it but I pronounced [name_f]Lorena[/name_f] as Lo-ree-na, but that’s because I know a [name_f]Lorena[/name_f] and that’s how she pronounces it