So my grandmother was a Chaia. That’s said like, well, go with [name]Hi[/name]-ya, nearly (there’s a chhh sound on the front).
Is Chaia/[name]Chaya[/name] usable as a FN in the US or Australia? I tend to think maybe not?
Hiya would be phonetic, but worse! “Hiya, Hiya!”
[name]Hyacinth[/name]/[name]Hyacintha[/name]/[name]Hyacinthia[/name] is oddly appealing but perhaps that should be accent-on-odd. Been panned on NB before. [name]Hyacinthia[/name] sounds so much like [name]Cynthia[/name] that perhaps it feels middle-aged? Or it just all sounds like “that’s a flower name… a WEIRD flower name…!”?
[name]Hypatia[/name] is quirky-hipster-cool.
Are there any other [name]Hy[/name]- names I should know about?
I have a couple other options for naming after her, that I might use instead, but wondered what NB could come up with. Or if they think [name]Chaya[/name]/Chaia is actually okay.
I’ve heard of [name]Chaya[/name] used amongst Hasidic Jews, pronounced with a phlegmy sound at the beginning (like the “ah” in [name]Mahmoud[/name].) For me it’s very, very associated with that community, and I’d be quite surprised to hear it on a non-Jewish kid.
I think I like [name]Hypatia[/name] better than [name]Hyacinth[/name] (or variants.) A rhyming name could also work- [name]Gaia[/name], [name]Maia[/name], K/[name]Caia[/name], and [name]Alaia[/name] are all very nice.
I think [name]Chaya[/name] is fine, so long as you are willing to remind people of the pronounciation and educate them on the name. I knew sisters [name]Chaya[/name] and [name]Chana[/name], called Chayale and Chanale in daily life and thought that was the sweetest thing. They are about 13 and 8 years old now?
