I’d like to name our baby boy Roen, pronounced the same as [name_u]Rowan[/name_u]. Clearly I understand that he would need to spell his name/tell people how it is pronounced with frequency. I have a very unusual name and this has never bothered me. I don’t hate the spelling [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], but it isn’t terribly attractive to my eye either. I like the short, clean, phonetic and solely masculine look of the name and feel it is in the same vein as [name_m]Coen[/name_m] or [name_m]Cohen[/name_m]. Thoughts please? My family is pleased with this choice. I am genuinely not trying to make up names. I love the sound of this name and do not wish to use Ronan or Roman.
Quite honestly, I’ve always been surprised that people like alternate spellings to things and I’ve never understood wanting to add 2 x’s or extra vowels to names. But now I have a bit more sympathy- I love the sound of Rowan but the spelling (including Rohen) somehow changes the name for me and makes it less attractive. It’s bizarre that subtle associations can change how I perceive a name so much.
My name is Bryn and I am 36 years old- this was a very uncommon name growing up and consistently people mis-read it, or spelled it as Brin or Brynn, Brynne etc. I agree with the young woman from Australia- it isn’t terribly bothersome. What I did not like was when people did not know if I was a male or female. Rowan is also going to offer this challenge.
We have been calling our baby Rowan/Rohen/Roen and it fits him quite well, we are just trying to nail down a spelling. I don’t want to set him up for failure with a crummy spelling if that is what Roen is and yet my eye appreciates this spelling the most.
The paperwork is looming and demanding to be filled out! I appreciate your help.
[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_u]Rohan[/name_u]? It’s an alternate spelling to [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] that has the h instead of the w, and is pronounced the same as Rowan and [name_m]Cohen[/name_m].
It’s short and makes phonetic sense, plus your family is on board so I wouldn’t worry about it. I also like the look of the name better [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], but [name_u]Rohan[/name_u] could be worth considering. The only mispronunciation I can see is people joining the O and E sounds together to make a OW type sound (like in toe) resulting in Rown. This would only be a problem when people have to read it before hearing it.
My name is [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] which is reasonably common but is an unusual way of spelling it in Australia. Having to spell it out frequently hasn’t bothered me because one, even if they spell it wrong they’ll at least pronounce it correctly (which would be the same for Roen) so I only bother spelling it when it’s important and two I usually get the satisfying response of “oh [name_f]Kate[/name_f]-[name_u]Lyn[/name_u], that make sense” when I spell it out to people.
[name_m]Coen[/name_m] isn’t pronounced like [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] through. So Roen wouldn’t surprise me to be said like Roon (to rhyme with [name_m]Coen[/name_m])
Thank you, I never knew that [name_m]Coen[/name_m] rhymed with Coon, as the [name_m]Coen[/name_m] brothers use the pronunciation that rhymes with [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] and it is lumped with [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] in the naming books. This must be the derivative pronunciation?
Quite honestly, I’ve always been surprised that people like alternate spellings to things and I’ve never understood wanting to add 2 x’s or extra vowels to names. But now I have a bit more sympathy- I love the sound of [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] but the spelling (including Rohen) somehow changes the name for me and makes it less attractive. It’s bizarre that subtle associations can change how I perceive a name so much.
My name is [name_u]Bryn[/name_u] and I am 36 years old- this was a very uncommon name growing up and consistently people mis-read it, or spelled it as [name_u]Brin[/name_u] or [name_f]Brynn[/name_f], [name_f]Brynne[/name_f] etc. I agree with the young woman from Australia- it isn’t terribly bothersome. What I did not like was when people did not know if I was a male or female. [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] is also going to offer this challenge.
We have been calling our baby [name_u]Rowan[/name_u]/Rohen/Roen and it fits him quite well, we are just trying to nail down a spelling. I don’t want to set him up for failure with a crummy spelling if that is what Roen is and yet my eye appreciates this spelling the most.
The paperwork is looming and demanding to be filled out! I appreciate your help.
I don’t think the spelling of the name is going to change any potential for gender mix up by people who haven’t met him. The spelling makes sense so you’ll only have to explain it once to people. and they’ll only confuse his gender once, if at all. I say go with your heart, you may tire of correcting the people for the first little while but it’s better than thinking every time you look at his name that it could have been a little bit better.
I like both [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] and Roen! [name_m]Just[/name_m] wanted to share my experience: My son’s name is Roen. My husband and I both liked the sound of [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], but my husband wanted to spell it differently from [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] University just based on personal preference. We were considering Rohen for a while, but then I found that Roen was the name of an Irish king way back in the 11th century and we loved it. Almost everyone has pronounced it like [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] when they see it. One of his grandpas pronounces it more like “Rone”, but I don’t mind at all.
