Baby #4 Help! Johanna vs Josephine

Help! We are expecting our fourth baby in two weeks and are torn between two names that I guess are our front runners. Middle name will be [name_f]Mae[/name_f] either way. Older sibs all have a classic name w/spunky nickname.

  1. We love [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] as a full name. We’d pronounce it [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-[name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. Is this the most common pronunciation in the US, or would she be correcting people her whole life? Also, I adore “[name_f]Annie[/name_f]” as a nickname…Is this a stretch?

  2. [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]…I love the full name, but I’m not sure I just LOVE the nickname [name_u]Josie[/name_u] (or any other nicknames). Also, pronunciation issue here too…it seems like some people say [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-see while others say [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-zee.

Thoughts or preference on either name? :slight_smile:
Thank you!!

Oh, I love the name [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]! I wish I could see it more often! [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] is a lovely name. I believe it would sound refreshing nowadays. I think the pronunciation is very simple and instinctive. I don’t think you or your daughter will face any pronunciation issues with these beautiful traditional and elegant names!
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f] is a great name. [name_f]My[/name_f] love for [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] has been growing in the past years. I don’t care about [name_u]Josie[/name_u] either, but I adore [name_u]Jo[/name_u]! There’s also [name_u]Jojo[/name_u], Phine, Phi, Nine, Sephie,…

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I prefer [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]. Sometimes I hear it pronounced [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-honna, but I’m not sure, since I don’t know a lot of people by this name. It reminds me of the [name_m]Bob[/name_m] [name_u]Dylan[/name_u] song “Visions of [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]”.

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[name_m]Hi[/name_m] there.

This is tricky. I totally see your concerns. I’d say [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] as [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-[name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. It’s really nice & unexpected. I think that [name_f]Annie[/name_f] is a little stretch, but why not [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] nn [name_f]Annie[/name_f]? That makes perfect sense.

I’m w/you on [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] is just gorgeous, but [name_u]Josie[/name_u] is just okay. Some days I like it more than others. But I’ve never even though of the [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-see vs. [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-zee issue. Dang, that’s something to consider! I think that if you picked one & stuck to it, it’d be okay. Or just try to insist on only using [name_f]Josephine[/name_f].

So, I’m really no help. They’re both lovely & I see your concerns for both. [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] is probably quite a bit less popular, so that’s a plus for [name_f]Johanna[/name_f].

Anyway, hope my rambling helps. :slight_smile:

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Yes! Love Bob Dylan and this song :heart:

Rambling always helps :slight_smile:

I briefly considered [name_f]Joanna[/name_f], nn [name_f]Annie[/name_f], but at the end of the day, I do prefer [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] over [name_f]Joanna[/name_f].

And yes, a plus that it is less popular than [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]! I feel like I’ve been seeing the name “[name_u]Josie[/name_u]” everywhere…

I much prefer [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] and i think she could go by her fullname

My favourite [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] nickname is [name_f]Effie[/name_f] / [name_f]Ephie[/name_f], which I don’t think has been mentioned yet. Does that appeal to you?

I would pronounce [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] as jo-anna but I’m in the UK so I can’t really speak for the pronunciation in the US.

I love [name_f]Johanna[/name_f], it’s lovely! [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] is beautiful.

I also like the suggestions of [name_f]Posy[/name_f] or [name_f]Effie[/name_f] for [name_f]Josephine[/name_f].

What about [name_f]Joanna[/name_f]? That would be my favorite option. [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] would be second. I don’t like how [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] sounds.

I’m in the US, and I would likely pronounce [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] as [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-hanna.

I’m in the US, and I think of the [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-anna and [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-hanna pronunciations as interchangeable. I would definitely wait to hear how the person pronounced it and then follow their lead (kind of like Ahn-drey-a vs [name_f]Ann[/name_f]-dree-ah).

I like [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] a lot, but I agree that the nicknames aren’t the best, and I think [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] sounds fresher anyway.

I vote for [name_f]Josephine[/name_f].

First congratulations! I think [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] is a lovely name, not really my style but lovely all the same. She may have to correct people sometimes but it comes with having a unique pronunciation I think, I’m sure you could use the nickname [name_f]Annie[/name_f] for her aswell.
I love the name [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] and the nickname [name_u]Josie[/name_u] I think they’re so elegant. I think It depends on the pronunciation you want to use, i personally say [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-see but I say [name_u]Josie[/name_u] [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-[name_f]Zee[/name_f]
I think both the names are lovely in there own way but I do prefer [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps and congratulations again!

I love both, but [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] gets my vote!

Joanne would be another way to get to the nn [name_f]Annie[/name_f].

I would pronounce [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] as [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-[name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. The one girl I knew named [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] went by [name_f]Hannie[/name_f] so I don’t think [name_f]Annie[/name_f] would be that much of a stretch. It sort of seems like a natural progression from [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] to [name_f]Hannie[/name_f] to [name_f]Annie[/name_f] to me. I had [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] on my list for a while - I really like it!

I also agree with you that [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] is nice but [name_u]Josie[/name_u] is just okay. I hadn’t thought of the differences in pronunciation, but after saying it a few times I think I say it [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-[name_f]Zee[/name_f]. But, I don’t think a nickname is necessary with [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] if you prefer no nickname. I had a friend named [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] who went by [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. It’s how she introduced herself and no one tried to shorten it.

I know a [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] pronounced as [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-hannah. I like this better than [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. However, you could also just go for [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] as a full name

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Most [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]’s I know are pronounced “jo - anna”, but that may be an Australian thing. It can also be said as “yo - hanna”, which is the [name_m]Dutch[/name_m] way (it’s my [name_m]Dutch[/name_m] grandmother’s name), and is my favourite pronunciation.

Personally, of the two, I much prefer [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. It’s prettier to me. As for nicknames, just use the one you want and pronunciation you want and people will catch on. Once you correct them a few times they’ll work out that you want it said one way only.

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1.) [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]- I’ve always heard [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-anna, so I think she probably would be correcting people constantly. Once, I did hear [name_f]Yo[/name_f]-[name_f]Hanna[/name_f]. I think it’s not a hard correction, though, and [name_f]Annie[/name_f] would be an adorable nicknames.

2.) I love [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]!!! I think if you were vigilant about no nicknames, she could easily be [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. I know a [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] that goes by [name_f]Fina[/name_f], which I think is cute. This is my favorite, but I don’t think you’ll go wrong with either!

Best of luck and congratulations to you and your family!!

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Both names are beautiful. I know lots of older [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]’s but none under the age of 30 so I think it is fresh. I prefer [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] to [name_f]Joanna[/name_f], and believe that [name_f]Annie[/name_f] is a natural nn. I know a few [name_f]Hanny[/name_f]’s with the full name [name_f]Johanna[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] natural instinct is to pronounce [name_f]Yo[/name_f]-[name_f]Hanna[/name_f] but I think that’s more of a geographical thing

Josephine is super cute. I love this name and all the nicknames it encompasses.

I think I would lean more towards [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] based out of trend and popularity!! But either way you can’t go wrong

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