Our First!

General Name Discussion
1

Hello Namberry!

After countless months of waiting and wondering, my husband and I are finally nearing the last few stages of our adoption. We are adopting an absolutely beautiful baby girl from [name]Brazil[/name], and in a few weeks, we will be flying down to my mother country to meet our precious girl, preform our homestay, and bring her back to the United States. We are literally ecstatic!!

The nursery’s all decked out, the supplies are all prepared, the house has been baby proofed! But, there’s still one thing left before we can get our daughter: a name! Here, at this critical stage, we’ve been having some troubles. (this will probably be long - sorry in advance!)

Our daughter was given the name Ev” at the orphanage because it means “life”, and she was so small when she was abandoned that many thought she wouldn’t survive. However, she has pulled through and is now almost 8 months and thriving! We actually love the name Ev”, but I am almost 100% positive that it will cause pronunciation problems in the United States. Its pronounced “EHV-ee”, like the word heavy without the ‘h’. We will either be using Ev” as her first or middle name. Either way, below are the other names we’re considering for either the first slot or the middle slot. My husband is from [name]India[/name], so we’re considering a couple of [name]Indian[/name] names, along with just names we like. Not all of them work with Ev” though, and none of them feel like “the one”

Thoughts, suggestions, and advice are all hugely appreciated!

[name]Coral[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Augusta[/name]
[name]Mireille[/name]
[name]Saskia[/name]
[name]Valentina[/name]

[name]Padma[/name]
Prabha
Prema
[name]Indira[/name]
Zaafira
[name]Ishani[/name]
[name]Fairuza[/name]
[name]Aziza[/name]

Some of the combos make for pretty meaningful names: Ev” [name]Aziza[/name] would mean “beloved life” - Ev” [name]Indira[/name] would mean “beautiful life” - Ev” [name]Augusta[/name] would mean “magnificent life”. Again, thank you - all suggestions are welcome and greatly needed!

[name]Jos[/name]” and Dhruv

2

That’s so awsome, congrats! :slight_smile: Most of your names go well as a mn for Ev”. Here are some suggestions.

Ev” [name]Josephine[/name]
Ev” [name]Beatrice[/name]
Ev” [name]Pearl[/name]
Ev” [name]Augusta[/name]
Ev” [name]Mireille[/name]
[name]Valentina[/name] Ev”
Ev” [name]Padma[/name]
[name]Ishani[/name] Ev”
Ev” [name]Aziza[/name]
Ev” Zaafira

3

I really like Ev” [name]Aziza[/name] and Ev” [name]Indira[/name]! Beautiful names and beautiful meanings!
If you are really worried about the pronunciation issue, [name]Eve[/name] pronounced EEV also means life and is such a beautiful classic. Congratulations!!!

4

[name]Valentina[/name] Ev”
[name]Padma[/name] Ev”
Ev” [name]Indira[/name]
[name]Aziza[/name] Ev”
Ev” [name]Augusta[/name]

Those combinations are my favorites!! Congratulations on your little girl – her given name is gorgeous!

5

I really like [name]Padma[/name] Ev” the best. beautiful

6

Thanks so much for the combos and compliments! We are very lucky that she was given such a beautiful name. Seeing that list paired down into a few combos is amazingly helpful. I think my favorite first name (besides Ev”) right now is [name]Padma[/name], with [name]Indira[/name] in close second. Then nickname [name]Indy[/name] for [name]Indira[/name] is just too cute!

Hmmm…we could use, par a suggestion, [name]Eve[/name] or a variant of [name]Eve[/name], but I just keep going back to Ev” and finding her just a bit more stunning and interesting. [name]Do[/name] you think it would be helpful to change the spelling to make the pronunciation clear? ‘”’ is a Portuguese letter, and I believe some computers have a hard time writing accents/non-English letters. This could present another problem for her, since Ev” might show up on school lists or documents as just [name]Eve[/name]. The only spelling I can think of that would be clearer is Evee or Ehvee - the first would most likely get pronounced “ee-vee” though, and the second just looks awful. This is tough! Any thoughts on Ev” over [name]Eve[/name] over another first name?

Thanks again!

[name]Jos[/name]” and Dhruv

7

Congratulations! I agree Ev” will often be written as [name]Eve[/name] in English. If you use it as middle name, I don’t think it’s a big deal, but if you keep it for a first name, wdyt about [name]Evy[/name]? Some people might say [name]Evie[/name] at first, but people know that “bevy” and “levy” rhyme with “ehvee” so it won’t be too hard for them to remember the proper pronunciation.

8

I vote [name]Saskia[/name] Ev” or [name]Valentina[/name] Ev”. Such a beautiful name!

9

When I made my previous post with my name combo suggestions, I thought about suggesting the spelling [name]Evy[/name]. I think this will be easier to spell in the States and Americans can see how to pronounce the name -eavy instead of [name]Eve[/name]-y. [name]Hope[/name] this is helpful!!

10

You know, when I hear

Evea [name]Indira[/name], I sort of tear up, knowing it means beautiful life, and that is what she has in front of her, really gets to me. I think it’s a marvelous choice and a marvelous story.

Being one who wants to adopt myself I would love to know about your family’s journey.

Blessings,

[name]Bella[/name] <3

11

Thanks again to all the replies!

While work kept me away from Nameberry for a bit, it didn’t stop me from thinking about our daughter’s name all the time! Luckily, now, we only have two more decisions to make, hopefully in time for our departure to [name]Brazil[/name] to finally meet our little girl in two weeks!

  1. [name]Both[/name] Dhruv and I have become very attached to the name Ev” since we’ve been hearing it and seeing it so much during this process, and I don’t think we can fully embrace another name in the first name spot. However, we have to decide now which spelling to go with: the Brazilian spelling Ev” or the American version [name]Evy[/name]. I feel like the Brazilian version has a bit more substance, but I have no personal experience when it comes to having a difficult name. Most Americans, at least where I live, can easily pronounce [name]Jos[/name]”, and while Dhruv is unusual, it has a fairly intuitive pronunciation. Does anyone have any experience with having to constantly correct the spelling/pronunciation of your name? We ultimately want to make the best decision for our daughter, and I’m not sure if that’s keeping her native spelling or making it easier by converting to an American one. (Thank you all so much for suggesting the [name]Evy[/name] spelling! For some reason, that just didn’t come to me :D)

  2. For the middles, we’ve decided on either [name]Indira[/name] or [name]Aziza[/name]. The meanings are just too powerful for us to fall in love with anything else. ([name]Bella[/name]- Thank you so much for your kind words. Your comment really made me fall for [name]Indira[/name]. And if you’d like to know anything about adopting/our adoption journey, send us a message!) As I mentioned before, Ev” [name]Indira[/name] means “beautiful life” and Ev” [name]Aziza[/name] means “beloved life”. [name]Both[/name] are too beautiful, and we really can’t decide! Would Ev” [name]Aziza[/name] [name]Indira[/name] be too much of a mouthful??

Thanks again! Any thoughts you have on our two predicaments would be amazingly helpful.

[name]Jos[/name]” and Dhruv

12

First of all, congratulations! I’ve always wanted to adopt a child and even though it didn’t work out for us, I think it’s so wonderful when other people are given the opportunity.

I adore the name Ev”. I think it’s perfect in every way for your daughter. Definitely go with it if that’s what she already is to you! [name]Trust[/name] that instinct. Although I think that the American spelling [name]Evy[/name] would probably lead to less confusion, I really much prefer Ev”. Yes, she may be called [name]Eve[/name] and might have issues with the accent symbol, but honestly I do believe that if you (and she) insist on the correct pronunciation, all will be fine. I think Ev” looks so much more substantial and it has a lot more culture and class in my opinion. [name]Evy[/name] is cute but it’s too nickname-y, I think. It reminds me of a nickname for [name]Evan[/name]. So I would personally go with the Brazilian spelling. If nothing else it’s a great conversation starter!

I love both of the middle names you’ve picked, and they both have beautiful meanings, both alone and with Ev”. I have to agree with a previous poster and say that my favorite is Ev” [name]Indira[/name]. I think “beautiful life” is such a wonderful name to give to a child who might not have even had a life at all, but is so lucky to be adopted into such a loving family where she will not only have a life but a beautiful one at that. Of course, [name]Aziza[/name] is perfect too, but Ev” [name]Indira[/name] really speaks to me for some reason.

Congratulations once again!

[name]Jay[/name]

13

I have loved this story, and this name, since first heard about your little girl! Let me see if I can help.

First off, I really do love all your choices, so I’m really coming from a “what is best” angle.

[name]Coral[/name] There is just something about the flow the bugs me, it’s too stunted I would say.
[name]Josephine[/name] The flow is great and there is a mix of sassy and classy that I love!
[name]Beatrice[/name] These two names seem so starkly different, I don’t love the combo.
[name]Pearl[/name] [name]HEAVENLY[/name]! I love this in particular.
[name]Augusta[/name] Not a favorite of mine, and I don’t love the vowel heaviness of the combo
[name]Mireille[/name] The first and mn would rhyme and I wouldn’t be happy if I had a rhyming name.
[name]Saskia[/name] This has been a continuous favorite.
[name]Valentina[/name] Double V sounds are so rare that the pairing would take some hearing to get use to, but it’s a great under-used name and I think I would like it!

[name]Padma[/name] The flow is my problem here, just like with [name]Coral[/name]
Prabha - I don’t really like this name, it looks garbled to me
Prema- I think of prime and premature, one of those connotations is strong and one isn’t inviting. The sound is lovely, as is the flow.
[name]Indira[/name] This continues to be a huge favorite!
Zaafira - The vowel ending meeting the Za sound really blends
[name]Ishani[/name] Same with the vowel ending and the vowel begining of Ish
[name]Fairuza[/name] I don’t like it don’t hate it
[name]Aziza[/name] see above

My favorites are-

[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Saskia[/name]
[name]Indira[/name]

[name]Pearl[/name] and [name]Indira[/name] being my very favorites!

Blessings,

[name]Bella[/name] <3