Hello, we have a nameless baby girl still trying to decide on a name! We are a mixed family Spanish/European heritage and live in the U.S. We have had a very hard time finding names that work in both spanish and english, that we both agree on. I kind of like names with a slightly international feel. Sibling named [name_m]Lucas[/name_m]. Can’t seem to find the perfect name! Need help with insight and opinions about a couple of names that we have narrowed down to. I’ve ruled out many other international names due to various problems or we just didn’t like them. Surname is Orellano.
[name_f]Elena[/name_f] Orellano- Works with surname, and has that international feel. DH doesn’t love it though as he says it sounds overused in the country he is from.
[name_f]Natalie[/name_f] Orellano- Works with surname, pronounceable in both languages. Doesn’t really have that international feel that I would like but has a pleasing sound. Does [name_f]Natalie[/name_f] sound too boring, American, common and overused? (I’ve ruled out “[name_f]Natalia[/name_f]” because although it has more of an international feel, but I found that Americans pronounce this in many different ways…most that make me cringe like ([name_m]Nuh[/name_m]-TOWEL-yuh and [name_m]Nuh[/name_m]-TALL-yuh). The only pronunciation I like of [name_f]Natalia[/name_f] is the spanish/italian (Nah-[name_u]TAL[/name_u]-ee-uh) and most people don’t pronounce it this way. [name_f]Natalie[/name_f] is pronounced almost the same by spanish and english speakers. What vibe do you get from [name_f]Natalie[/name_f]? Does it sound like it belongs in a group with names like [name_f]Amanda[/name_f], [name_f]Samantha[/name_f], [name_u]Brooke[/name_u] etc or could it fit with our international family? What about changing the spelling to Natali? Does this make it feel more international or does it look worse?
Thanks in advance for advice and comments!