My husband and I are TTC our first, and [name]Neve[/name] is a name we both have fallen in love with. My question is about the pronunciation, because from what I’ve found, there are SEVERAL correct pronunciations of the name, but I want to know if our favorite pronunciation can pass, and what your thoughts are on how much of a hassle this name and pronunciation would be. Here’s the rundown:
Nameberry lists [name]Neve[/name] as a Latin name pronounced “nehv.”
Many people see [name]Neve[/name] is an Anglicization of the Irish name [name]Niamh[/name], pronounced “neev.”
In Italian and Portuguese, [name]Neve[/name] is the word for snow, pronounced differently in each language. Portuguese seems to say it like “NEH-vee” while Italian seems to say it like “NEY-vey.”
The dictionary puts an accent over each E in [name]Neve[/name] and says it is pronounced “ney-VEY.”
My husband has fallen in love with the NEY-vey pronunciation, as in, the Italian word for snow. It’s not the most obvious pronunciation of the name. [name]Do[/name] you see this as being too much trouble–a constant annoyance for us and for her as life goes on? Relatives always forgetting how to say it, teachers pronouncing all different ways during roll call, etc? If you think [name]Neve[/name] (“NEY-vey”) would work, any middle name suggestions?
[name]Love[/name] this name! It is on our list as well :). I had always thought it was pronounced “nehv” or could be an anglicized version of the Irish [name]Niamh[/name]. To me, pronouncing it as “ney-VEY” or “NEY-vey” sounds too close to the made-up “[name]Nevaeh[/name]”, which I do not like at all. For English speakers, it also seems like a stretch to pronounce it like that with that spelling and I can see it frequently being mispronounced.
I know two children named [name]Neve[/name], and in my area the assumption would be to pronounce it like nev (soft e), as in [name]Neve[/name] [name]Campbell[/name]. That being said, my daughter’s name is [name]Maeve[/name] and no one ever pronounces it right for some reason. This mispronunciation only happens the first time they see it, then it’s a non-issue after that (well, a few people chronically mispronounce it…one neighbour and our doctor’s office). It is such a beautiful name that we really don’t mind the inconvenience of helping them out with the pronunciation, and neither does [name]Maeve[/name]. Really, the people one encounters in life are usually the same people over and over again, and if meeting someone new, [name]Neve[/name] will introduce herself and make her name apparent.
I would pronounce this name nehv as in [name]Campbell[/name]. Perhaps you could consider spelling it more phoentically to the way way you want it pronounced?
for me the most natural pronunciation is Neev. But I don’t think Ney-vey is too much of a departure for people not to get used to it. I’d say just go with what you love.
It’s a nice name. But I don’t know if the pronunciation could cause problems in English.