I quite like this name and it’s on my long list. However nameberry suggests there is high risk of teasing with this name but for some reason I just don’t see why. Could someone please point it out? (I’m a bit slow sometimes…)
Thanks!
Other opinions welcome too!
is mean? maybe? I don’t quite know.
Is mean… As in “she is mean.”
I am also getting the “Is Mean” vibe. I could see the preschool kids I work with catching a hold of “[name]Ismene[/name] is mean” but I really don’t see it lastly through to the upper grades…
Is Mean, which I personally wouldn’t want as a name…
I really like [name]Ismene[/name], but I’m unfortunately not sure how realistically wearable it is. My biggest concern would be that by far the most well-known [name]Ismene[/name], the character from the story of [name]Oedipus[/name], was the product of incest. I also think that pronunciation would be a big issue. I suppose being teased with “is meanie” or “is a meanie” as a child would probably be an issue as well, but the biggest concern for me is the [name]Oedipus[/name] reference.
The proper Greek pronunciation is “Is-meen-ee” (a bit like “is many”) and not “Is-mean” - the “e” at the end is not silent as it would be in English.
I think that doesn’t really change anything, it just sounds like “is meanie” like “she is a meanie”
In all honesty I completely disagree, if prounounced properly [name]Ismene[/name] is less of a risk, and quite a beautiful name. I also can’t see why naming your daughter [name]Circe[/name] or [name]Calypso[/name] is acceptable, but [name]Ismene[/name] isn’t, they weren’t much better.
As far as I know [name]Ismene[/name] is pronounced more like “ees men” and according to Forvo it’s “iss men eh” in Italian but I’ve never heard it in anything but French so I’m unsure about an English prn. Ismene/
It really doesn’t matter what the proper pronunciation is in terms of teasing, because most people, especially children, won’t know it.
Well it does because we are were discussing the correct pronounciation. A girl I went to school with was named Pooja, which in Hindi means prayers, she was not teased once for her name and we knew each other from grade one onwards. I think some kids are more accepting then people give them credit, not all kids of course, but every name has a weak spot. [name]Eloise[/name] can be nicknamed Wheezy, [name]William[/name] can have an unfortunate connotation, I don’t see a difference.
Thanks for the comments! I get it now. I’ve been pronouncing it Is-mee-ney and still love it, but do get the teasing point now…