I dreamed this name

Boy Names
1

I had a name come to me in a dream last night, and now I can’t get it out of my head.

I’ve been searching for a name for a potential boy, and I have an impossible time finding boy names I love. I’m looking for a Slavic name and just can’t seem to find anything I’m really, genuinely excited about.

So the name I dreamed about last night is Neretva. It’s the name of a river in Croatia that I’ve never been to. It’s pronounced NEH-ret-vah.

What are your impression of the name? Would you say it’s usable in the US? What sort of feel does it give you, if any?

2

I think people would have some trouble pronouncing that. I like the sound of it though. I feel like it may be subject to many nicknames, but it could totally work. It’s rather pretty.
Or you could save it for a guilty pleasure middle.

3

The pronunciation is fairly straightforward, but if I saw Neretva followed by a Slavic surname I would assume they were a woman. It just doesn’t sound like a Slavic boy’s name to me.

4

American last name here- in case that changes anything :wink:

Thank you for the feedback. I have been known to have a soft spot for boy names ending in -a, which I know can get tricky.

5

It’s an interesting name, but I can’t think of any intuitive nicknames, and I think it would be better suited for the middle.

6

I find it clunky. It’s certainly not terrible but not a name that flows off the tongue well for me. Good luck.

7

I’m on the fence. On the one hand it has meaning and I’m a great believer that meaning can almost always trump problems but on the other hand it does sound a bit clunky and I can’t see any obvious nicknames that would make it easier to wear. Maybe a middle name?

8

Thank you for the feedback!

9

What about the name Ardian, which derives from a place that sits on the Neretva river?

10

Not sure but I think Americans might say neh-REH-tvah? It also sounds feminine to me, but since your other son has a unisex name it could work.
My favorite from your current list is [name_m]Neven[/name_m]

11

I think the pronounciation is pretty straight forward, and I actually think it sounds very masculine even with the -a ending, I just don’t like it personally.

12

Wow, thank you for that suggestion! [name_m]Ive[/name_m] never heard of the name and first thought it was a typo of [name_m]Adrian[/name_m]. I’ll do some more research on it and maybe it’ll lead me to more names!