OK, this question has been plaguing me for a long time. Should I eliminate all ending-in-A names from my list??
So, dh’s surname is Engstrom. It’s a good, strong name that I’m proud to be associated with, but to my ears any first name that ends in a vowel sound, and especially the ‘ah’ sound ([name]Rebecca[/name], [name]Sarah[/name], [name]Anastasia[/name], [name]Ezra[/name], [name]Elijah[/name], [name]Lydia[/name], [name]Laura[/name], [name]Petra[/name], [name]Zinnia[/name], … There are SO MANY!) just sounds awkward. All I hear is the “ah - eh” transition between the two. Am I over-thinking things, or am I right and all those wonderful ends-in-A names need to go?
I have the same problem - last name starts with the same sound as Ostrich. I think many names ending with the -ah sound will not work, but some will. [name]Laura[/name] Engstrom I don’t think is so bad (maybe because I’m used to [name]Laura[/name] Ingalls??). [name]Olivia[/name] Engstrom doesn’t work as well. I avoided a name ending in -ah with my DD, but the name I’m loving right now for a possible future daughter does end in -ah and I’m finding that I love the name so much that the slight pause between the two vowels doesn’t bother me.
For what it’s worth my name has the same flow (first ends in -a and last name is very similar to yours), and it never really bothered me. I think that if you end up loving a name that ends in -a you shouldn’t feel afraid to use it.
My last name ends in “y” so I don’t think about first names that end in “y”. Too bad. If I had your last name, I would choose names that end in consonants or “y” or an ee sound.
I know it’s hard, but it just makes pronunciation easier.
The consecutive-vowel issue I might use as a tiebreaker between first names that I liked equally well, but I wouldn’t let it stop me from using a first name that I truly liked better than any others.
I guess it’s not necessarily the best flow to have an -a ending name up against Engstrom, but I don’t really see anything wrong with it either. Actually, I like the sound of [name]Sarah[/name] Engstrom, for example. I think you’re fixating on it because you’re saying the potential names over and over again. But if you step back and think about it, if someone introduced herself to you as [name]Sarah[/name] Engstrom, you’d probably think that was a pleasant enough name and never even notice the back to back vowels. And, most of the time, she’s just going by [name]Sarah[/name] anyway. I certainly don’t think you should let this stop you from using a name you love.
BUT, and this could just be me, I hear Engstrom differently from other e-names, in that because of the eng there is a long a sound, not just a short e sound in that first syllable. Therefore I don’t like the sound of [name]Anastasia[/name] Engstrom because I hear those sounds repeated.
Out of the names you mentioned, these 3 sound good with your last name–I think if there are too many vowels, then it can get tricky. And [name]Elijah[/name] sounds nice if you say it with a long E, as in EE-lijah.
[name]Sarah[/name] Engstrom
[name]Laura[/name] Engstrom
[name]Elijah[/name] Engstrom
Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts! I have a while to obsessively mull it over, but you confirmed my own thinking. The consecutive vowels are awkward, but not necessarily a deal breaker, possibly especially if the FN isn’t overly vowel heavy.
So, I’ll let it all sink in for a while. I have many names ending in consonant sounds on my list too!