I’m curious what names have you ruled out purely because of pronunciation issues. I live in [name_u]California[/name_u] so unique, unusual names seem normal around me. BUT personally I have to correct people about my name pronunciation every single day. I REAALLY do not want to do that to my future kids.
What names (that you really like) have been ruled out from your ‘serious’ list purely because of pronunciation issues?
We are a trilingual household ([name_m]German[/name_m], English, Spanish) I just systematically decided against any and all J names. It’s not that I don’t love them but the differences between how the letter J is pronounced in all three languages really gets to me.
Equally, I adore certain word names like [name_u]Haven[/name_u], [name_f]Hope[/name_f], [name_m]Prosper[/name_m] but I’d expect that we will probably decide against them in the long run - again because they will be difficult in Spanish and [name_m]German[/name_m]. (If we use them they will probably be strictly mn’s).
I also took [name_m]Cedric[/name_m] off my list. [name_f]My[/name_f] DH keeps saying Seed-rick instead of Sed-rick (though I think he was just being daft). (I’m sure there are others… but I can’t think of them right now).
Arsinoë was off immediately because of pronunciation (it’s my biggest GP), but afterwards I noticed the not so great first syllable as well. [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] is on my list, but I doubt I’ll ever use it, because there are so many ways people say it, some of which I’m not a fan of. That kind of put me off the name a bit anyway.
I ruled out [name_u]Rory[/name_u] for DS2, at the last minute after delivery, because I really had trouble saying it and figured my American family would as well.
I also had to think very carefully about the names we chose for our last baby as we had to think about how things would be pronounced here in Finland as well as in the UK and US.
[name_f]Calliope[/name_f], it’s surprising how many people mispronounce it as well as…
[name_f]Aurora[/name_f] (I know too many kids who have difficulty with the ‘r’ sound)
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] (where I live most people would pronounce this iss-la)
[name_f]Dulce[/name_f]
[name_f]Eilidh[/name_f]
[name_f]Eira[/name_f]
Eirlys
[name_f]Esme[/name_f]
Findabhair
[name_f]Hannele[/name_f]
[name_f]Kirrily[/name_f]
[name_f]Maelys[/name_f]
[name_f]Mireille[/name_f]
[name_f]Nere[/name_f]
[name_f]Yesenia[/name_f]
[name_f]Yveline[/name_f]