DH and I are trying to come up with a name for our first baby. I’m American, his family is from Spain ([name]Barcelona[/name]). She will be raised in a bilingual family in [name]Austin[/name] full of musicians, technologists, poets/philosophers, book editors, and professors. We’re looking for Spanish baby names that are reasonably pronounced in the US although they don’t have to be bilingual.
What are some chic, intelligent, unique Spanish names other than the most common ones such as [name]Camila[/name], [name]Lucia[/name], [name]Valentina[/name], and [name]Clara[/name]?
Looking at the bottom of the top 100 in Spain and Catalonia from 2011 (on behindthename), i see things like
[name]Nadia[/name]
[name]Luna[/name]
[name]Beatriz[/name]
[name]Naia[/name]
Navara
[name]Mireia[/name]
[name]Vega[/name]
[name]Noelia[/name]
[name]Leire[/name]
[name]Salma[/name]
Any of those would come across as chic in the US i think.
Not necessarily the top names in Spain, where [name]Luc[/name]ía, [name]Paula[/name], Sofía, [name]Sara[/name], [name]Julia[/name] and other 2-3 syllable names are the most popular now.
[name]Adalia[/name]
[name]Adela[/name]
[name]Alma[/name]
[name]Antonia[/name]
[name]Candela[/name]
[name]Carmela[/name]
[name]Dalia[/name]
Inés
[name]Jimena[/name]
[name]Martina[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name]
[name]Renata[/name]
[name]Violeta[/name]
I think [name]Paloma[/name] is fabulous, depending on your last name. [name]Pablo[/name]'s daughter is a great namesake in a city like [name]Austin[/name] and being half Spanish, she will be able to pull it off. Keep us posted!
I love the name [name]Carmen[/name]. It also means song in Latin. A baby [name]Beatriz[/name] would be lovely as well!
I have a thing for spanish names so I will give you a list of a few spanish sounding names I have heard because I’m of hispanic origin
[name]Ximena[/name]
[name]Carlota[/name]
[name]Julieta[/name]
[name]Viviana[/name]
[name]Florencia[/name]
[name]Constanza[/name]
[name]Luisa[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Renata[/name]
[name]Victoria[/name]
[name]Fernanda[/name]
[name]Camila[/name]
Lua
[name]Adriana[/name]
[name]Pamela[/name]
[name]Mariana[/name]
[name]Paola[/name]
[name]Daniela[/name]
[name]Violeta[/name]
[name]Florencia[/name]
[name]Constanza[/name]
[name]Juanita[/name]
Agus
[name]Josefina[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name]
Juani
[name]Malena[/name]
[name]Lucilla[/name]
You said the father is from [name]Barcelona[/name] — is he a Catalan, then? Because then you are dealing with a whole different language and culture with deep political and nationalistic sensitivities, and I don’t think Catalans particularly like to give kids Spanish names (say, [name]Jorge[/name] rather than [name]Jordi[/name]).
The ideal thing would be a name that works in Spanish, Catalan, and English. [name]Valentina[/name] and [name]Clara[/name] sound pretty to me, but I have no idea how the names are percieved in Spain (low class? old fashioned? unusual?).
Here’s a list of popular names in Catalonia: Idescat. Noms dels nadons. Noms més freqüents dels nadons