Ok I just read further & see it’s [name]Serena[/name] which is gorgeous! I prefer the [name]Serena[/name] spelling though.
Hey Taz! [name]Serena[/name] was actually my first choice. I just played with the spelling to make it unique. Since Czarina, is pronounced as “Zah-ree-na” please check Synonyms for CZARINA - Thesaurus.net . So I thought by changing Cza to Cze will make it sound like Zeh- ree- na.
Please correct me again. I appreciate all your comments. Thank you so much.
The word “czarina” is used in English, but it comes from Russian. The “cz” sound doesn’t exist in English, but it exists in many other languages, and not all of them pronounce it the same way. At first glance, I pronounced the first sound in Czerina like “che”, like the Czech Republic. Since the name is made-up and the “cz” combination isn’t one that exists in English (outside of loan words from other languages), it’s going to cause a lot of pronunciation confusion.
You’re right that your daughter can correct people about the pronunciation, but having to explain it upon first meeting someone for the rest of her life is going to get really annoying. I’m also going to recommend [name]Zarina[/name] - it’s still less common than [name]Serena[/name] and it has the pronunciation that you’re looking for, but it’s going to be a LOT less hassle for your daughter.
I have to agree-- if you’re not trying to name her Czarina (“empress”), I would ditch the “cz.” It will cause headaches.
Zareen means “golden” in Persian; I like [name]Ava[/name] Zareen / Zarine
Zorione means “happiness” in Basque, a language spoken in part of Spain. Again, [name]Ava[/name] Zorione would be lovely.
The closest is definitely Zerina: Zerina is a Bosnian/Croatian variation of “Czarina,” meaning “empress” or “princess.”
I would just drop the C and do Zerina, which will be so much easier for people. Czarina is very “mother [name]Russia[/name]” to me; Zerina is feminine like other -ina names but a little less formal than the Cz spelling.
I think [name]Serena[/name] is the best choice. It’s the same sound as Czerina, but your daughter would not have to go through the annoying process of explaining how to spell her name. I would also say, I don’t think anyone will look at the name Czerina and pronounce it [name]Serena[/name]. If you would like to give [name]Serena[/name] a unique spelling, I would suggest changing the S to a Z - Zerena.