What do you think of the name [name]Nabil[/name]?
[name]How[/name] would you assume it’d be pronounced? (It’s actually pronounced na-BEEL— long E, like in eel)
This is a name that I’ve never really strongly considered using, mostly because I’ve known so many (My wife and I are [name]Baha[/name]'is, and [name]Nabil[/name] is the name of several important people in the early history of the [name]Baha[/name]'i [name]Faith[/name] (mid 19th century), so quite a few [name]Baha[/name]'is have chosen this name (from a variety of cultural backgrounds-- I’ve known [name]Nabil[/name]'s from just about every race and from dozens of nationalities)). But I do love the name, always have, and it’s historic importance in the [name]Baha[/name]'i [name]Faith[/name] makes it very meaningful to my wife and I. And it does have the potential to have a nice similar sounding Chinese name that could work along with it.
P.S. Update: Jasper, [name]Evander[/name], [name]Amias[/name] and [name]Emrys[/name] are still all possibilities, but we’re having the hardest time connecting them to any sort of similar sounding or meaning great Chinese name. Still possibilities, for sure, but I’m also getting a little frustrated with trying to force the Chinese name to work right, so I’m putting them on the back burner for the moment. At least one of them will probably come to the hospital with us (in about 6-7 weeks), but I’m not sure which yet. [name]Aurelio[/name] still has a chance to make the cut (it’ll probably be one of the two or three names we bring with us to the hospital, since we like it and it’s Chinese name is great, and it’s connection to his brother’s name is great). [name]Caius[/name] and [name]Callum[/name] have also floated their way back onto the possibility list as well, due to nice Chinese names that are connected to them as well, though they are not as likely as the others at the moment (unless my wife gets excited about either of them).
I like [name]Nabil[/name]. It has a great meaning and is easy to pronounce and spell. Of course I’m married to an Arab and have studied Arabic so it’s very familiar to me, but even approaching it stone-cold it seems easy.
Rayhan was Persian/Sanskrit so I think an Arabic name would be diverse enough, especially w middle name [name]Brandt[/name].
Thanks for the responses! @tf- I do quite like Vahid, it’s one we considered for a little while, but I’ve known soooo many people with this name (several close friends). With [name]Nabil[/name], I’ve known several, but mostly people I’ve just met briefly, so the strong association with people I’ve known is less of an issue. I do see what your saying about the FN/LN slur, but this is a very meaningful name to us. It might be one of the ones we bring with us to the hospital.
@blade- My hope would be that since the pronunciation is relatively easy, people who weren’t familiar with it would become familiar after hearing it just once, since it isn’t particularly complicated.
Juts to share my experience with the name [name]Nabil[/name]. I met a little boy with the name [name]Nabil[/name] a few months ago. It looks like nah-bill to me. He was in hospital, and every day I would go into see him I would have to try and remind myself, okay its not pronounced like it looks, but would never end up saying Na-[name]BEEL[/name], i usuallly said Na-BILE. Its straight forward enough for most I’m sure, but this name always threw me off. But lots of names are not pronounced intuitively, so I wouldn’t let that stop you from using it. And it sounds like from the others that i’m in the minority on this one.
I like it. I pronounced it correctly but even if I had thought it was a short “i” sound at first it would only take a one-time correction for me to remember. My personal top 4 favorites of yours are [name]Amias[/name], [name]Emrys[/name], [name]Caius[/name], and now [name]Nabil[/name]. Good luck! =]
I like [name]Nabil[/name] and I think Rayhan and [name]Nabil[/name] would make great names for brothers. Since I’ve been studying names for a number of years, I did know how to pronounce the name but I don’t know if most people would do so. The letter “i” making an “ee” sound isn’t intuitive for most English speakers but I do think it’s a common practice in many European countries. If the name has special religious significance for you and your wife, then I would definitely add it to your short list.
Thanks for the further thoughts dr, amy and mischa!
[name]Glad[/name] [name]Nabil[/name] is appreciated. I really like it too. A lot. However, it looks like it’s probably going to be cut. I’ve known probably ten [name]Nabil[/name]'s (before ever meeting my wife), and she’s met about ten [name]Nabil[/name]'s before ever meeting me. Combined, between my wife and I, we’ve probably known more people named [name]Nabil[/name], [name]Thomas[/name] and [name]John[/name] then any other names. In itself that wasn’t necessarily a have-to-cut factor for me, but it was moreso for my wife. So, it probably won’t get put on the shortlist. Though it’ll be right there for the possibility of a second middle name (we may be deciding to go with two middle names, since we really want one name to connect to my mom’s side of the family ([name]Edward[/name] or [name]Brandt[/name]) which hasn’t been represented by any grandkids names, and a religiously connected name (perhaps [name]Nabil[/name], Adib, Haydar, [name]Thornton[/name], Ioas, [name]Louis[/name], Tahir, Quddus, Badi, etc) but are having trouble finding one’s we want for the FN slot… thus, perhaps two middle names is logical for us… perhaps
[name]Jasper[/name] [name]Nabil[/name] [name]Brandt[/name] [name]Lucky[/name] OR [name]Emrys[/name] [name]Nabil[/name] [name]Brandt[/name] [name]Lucky[/name] OR [name]Amias[/name] [name]Edward[/name] Adib [name]Lucky[/name] OR [name]Evander[/name] Adib [name]Brandt[/name] [name]Lucky[/name] OR [name]Aurelio[/name] [name]Nabil[/name] [name]Brandt[/name] [name]Lucky[/name] OR something
I also instinctively pronounced [name]Nabil[/name] correctly. I had a hunch it was Arabic, and, though I haven’t studied the language, na-[name]BEEL[/name] was my first guess. I think my non-name-nerd friends and family might be most likely to guess NAY-bel (rhymes with [name]Abel[/name]), but I agree with others that mispronunciations should be easy to correct. Especially if you use it as a middle, mispronunciations should seldom be an issue. It also sounds as if many of your friends and family members will already be familiar with the name.
By the way, I like the look of Ioas! It probably isn’t Gaelic, but it makes me think of attractive Gaelic names or variations like [name]Ioan[/name], [name]Iain[/name], [name]Euan[/name], [name]Eamon[/name], etc. What is its origin and pronunciation?
@[name]Aurora[/name]- Ioas does have a nice look about it, I see what your saying about it’s Gaelic look. I’m actually not sure what it’s origins are (it’s a not crazily uncommon last name (though not particularly common either), but I couldn’t find any info about it’s roots from a search on the internet). It’s pronounced like eye-oh-es (but the syllables are a bit smashed together, so it sounds more like a 2.5 syllable pronunciation)