[name_m]How[/name_m] would pronounce [name_f]Neva[/name_f]? I love the name, partly due to Russian connections - and I know the river [name_f]Neva[/name_f].
But I am not mad keen on the pronunciation Neee-va - like [name_f]Eva[/name_f] with an N. I prefer the pronunciation that sounds like ‘never’.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] most of you think Neee-va would be the inevitable pronunciation for most people? I should add we are British.
Thanks for any help 
The Russian river is pronounced N’yeva - which I adore.
Can I just make people pronounce it like that!?? I don’t want to burden my daughter (due soon :)) with a difficult name. but I love N’yeva.
For me Nee-va would be the most intuitive pronunciation but I would also be able to get used to “Never”. With Nyeva I loose the connection to the name. If you’d introduce your daughter Nyeva to me, I would most certainly spell it wrong/not [name_f]Neva[/name_f].
Nee-va would be the way I’d say it, too because my brain automatically thinks of ‘[name_f]Geneva[/name_f]’ and says it like that
I automatically said it like Never and I live in [name_m]Britain[/name_m], though it’s not exactly representative of the whole country 
I think if you want it pronounced N’yeva like the river then introduce her as that and people will get used to it. She will probably have to correct people but family and friends will learn how to spell and pronounce it
I don’t think it’d be too hard to get the river pronunciation but no one is going to spell it correctly way. I guess it depends on how much that would bother you.
Like a PP said above I’d say ‘nee-va’ automatically as it’s like the end of [name_f]Geneva[/name_f].
The Russian model [name_f]Natalia[/name_f] Vodianova has a daughter named [name_f]Neva[/name_f], named after the river. She lives in the UK. I’m not sure how she pronounces it however; I couldn’t find any interviews where she says the name.
I thought it was pronounced like never and I live in [name_f]Canada[/name_f]. I also thought it was a name like Neaveh… a bit ghetto, because I thought it was like “I hope she [name_f]Neva[/name_f] leaves me” kind of spin on the name.
thanks all. haha i hadn’t thought of it as being ghetto. I think Neaveh is rarely used in UK but I may be wrong.
DH thinks it will be a difficult name for her… Back to the drawing board
I “know” one person with this name and she pronounces her name like never (alright, I don’t know her. I just know that she’s my junior in uni and her name is pronounced that way).
Ya totally. That’s the best pronunciation imo. So so beautiful. I think you can use [name_f]Neva[/name_f] “N’yeva” and aim for that pronunciation, with the possibility that it may be mispronounced by people upon first meeting your daughter. The other two pronunciations are inoffensive, so it’s not a disaster if they get it wrong at first, right?