[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone, I would like to ask for your help in finding names for my second child, due this winter.
I would like to honor my family/ancestry, which is Croatian/Bosnian-Croatian. I am looking for names to add to my list, which is very sparse right now… My preference is for names that are of Slavic origin, so not Slavic versions of otherwise Latin or Greek or Hebrew names. I would also like the name to be easily pronounced in an English context.
From my own family tree, not a lot of names are usable (mostly for pronunciation issues), although I may still add them as the first or second middle name.
So far I have on my list for girls:
[name_f]Zora[/name_f]
[name_f]Mira[/name_f]
Iskra
I am also open to adding meaningful or beautiful Croatian/Bosnian word names, as well as names of Slavic deities or mythological figures, nature words turned names, or place/landscape/landmark names.
I have [name_m]Neven[/name_m] on my list for a boy - I’ll add [name_f]Neva[/name_f] to my list! There are a lot of girl names ending in -ena or -ana and I worry that those might be mispronounced in the US (emphasis is on the first syllable, not on the second).
Re river names, I really wanted to use Sava since that is the river where my family is from, but my mom said my whole family would be offended - since Sava is traditionally a Serbian male name (thus reminding of the recent war in the area). The river Bosna is also close by, but not so much name material in my book. I’ll add Korana
Good to know about [name_f]Zorra[/name_f] having a bad meaning in Spanish!! We have A LOT of Spanish-speaking people around us so that would be a bad choice then!!
And… Vesna is actually my own name. I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] it and it actually checks all my boxes regarding pronunciation and meaning and all that. [name_m]Alas[/name_m], we don’t name children after living relatives… but, it’s not completely off my list yet. I also love the idea of passing on my name according to the traditionally Western custom for male names. Hmm…
Congratulations!
The names on your list seem like lovely ways to honour your heritage.
I don’t know much about Croatian, Bosnian or other Slavic names, so I’m just going off the ones listed on Behind The Name. I realise Croatia has a complex history, and I’m sorry if any are inappropriate (or likely to be seriously mispronounced).
I think these would also work quite well in English-speaking countries:
Looking at Croatian place-names, natural features, etc, I thought some of these might work. I’m not sure whether they translate well as names in Croatia, but I think they work in English:
Velika
Istra, Istria
Neretva
Dinara (my understanding is that this is not etymologically Slavic, but is in use in Croatia as a name for a mountain?)
A bit of a search about Slavic mythology brought up some nice names (though it wasn’t always clear to me whether these are relevant to Croatia, and of course they might not fit your religious views):
Lada
Zizilia
Kupala
Dodola
Rozanica
Sudenica
Vida
Rusalka
Veliona
(and, if you decide ‘-ana’ names are usable, Devana & Morana)
Tihana is pronounced like [name_f]Rihanna[/name_f], but with H. Tee-hannah. Not exactly pronunciation firendly. It’s actually comes from word Tiha - Silent.
If you want some nice literature name related to Croatia, Illyria was [name_m]Roman[/name_m] name for Croatia centuries ago during [name_m]Roman[/name_m] empire. It was province of Illyria I believe. Illyria is also a magical place in [name_m]Edmund[/name_m] [name_u]Spencer[/name_u] [name_f]Fairy[/name_f] [name_f]Queen[/name_f], and he was definitely inspired by Croatia’s history.
There are some great options in there and I will def think about them some more.
I think one of my challenges is that I’m approaching the naming process in a completely different way with this baby. My son has a mostly American name. Now that I’m looking at my own heritage, I have a lot of complex feelings come up (like, I’m remembering early childhood friends with some of those names).
I’m trying to find a meaningful name that will also work in an English context in the here and now, which requires looking at each name a few times.
Btw, no offense taken in any way for anything since the Balkans have SUCH a complicated history. Clearly I myself picked a name that I thought would be awesome (Sava), only to be quickly corrected by my mom that it would be a major faux-pas if I chose it.
It also helps me to hear suggestions that YOU all think would work in an English context, that people hopefully will consider intriguing and not super ethnic or weird.
Looking at your suggestions, I’m noticing that I’m finding myself most strongly drawn to the mythological names. My own name is that if the Slavic goddess of [name_f]Spring[/name_f], which is awesome but sort of hard to match! Morana is the goddess of winter and this baby is due in winter… but she’s also the goddess of death, so I’m not sure about that.
Sudenica and Veliona are intriguing- will do some research on these! Rozenica and Rusalka or variations may become options too.
From the other lists, I like Neretva best and [name_f]Mila[/name_f]. [name_f]Lada[/name_f] and [name_u]Vida[/name_u] are also on my list…
I recently added Velimira. It means “great peace” and I don’t think there would be any pronunciation issues in English… and I’m liking that we would share an initial also lots of nickname options.
Oh man, I love the idea of using Illyria as a name! The issue is that, AFAIK, Illyria was the name of the region BEFORE the Slavic tribes got there, so it refers to a different ethnicity and culture. But I will look into this some more to make sure I’m not missing anything…
Thank you! Iskra is back on my mind thanks to your comment is it hard to pronounce in English, I wonder?
I love Jasna and Jelka from your suggestions. I’m on the fence about adding them, because they will be pronounced differently in the US where I live - from the soft YAHSS-nah and YEHL-kah to probably [name_u]JAZ[/name_u]-na and JELL-ka…?
Same think with [name_f]Mirna[/name_f], which is on my long list - I love it as MEER-nah, but not as MURR-na.
I worry that [name_u]Vida[/name_u] would not be recognized as a Slavic name… lots of Spanish speaking folks around me, so it might be assumed I’m going for the Spanish word for “life” here.
I do like [name_f]Veda[/name_f] a lot, but I guess that’s just plain Sanskrit ”
I’ve never heard of Vanera? Can’t find any info for Vanera or [name_f]Venera[/name_f]… can you tell me more about this one?
Here are some names that I don’t think have been suggested before:
Mirta
[name_f]Sun[/name_f]”ica (love this name, sounds so light)
[name_f]Tena[/name_f] - derived from [name_f]Theresa[/name_f]
Jagoda - meaning “strawberry”
[name_f]Jelena[/name_f] - either from jelen (“deer”) or jela (a type of tree)
Vlatka - derived from Vladimira, “to rule”
[name_f]Zora[/name_f] - “dawn”, I’m a big fan of this name and it’s not as dated as it used to be before, it’s starting to get used
[name_f]Nada[/name_f] - not reall a fan as it’s quite dated, but has a nice meaning (“hope”)
Dunja - also love this one
[name_f]Gita[/name_f] - a Sanskrit name, but was used in one of the most popular Croatian books, The Brave Adventures of Hlapitch (Hlapić)
[name_m]Hi[/name_m], there’s a great name website called ‘Behind the Name’ - the following link goes directly to the Croatian names page but you can also find names from any country in the world here as well.
