[name]Hi[/name] there. I am a Danish girl living in New [name]York[/name] and we are expecting a girl in a week.
I love the Danish name [name]Iben[/name] (pronounced [name]Eben[/name]), but how does this sound in English? We will be living in New [name]York[/name] for a few years, and i dont want my daughter to have a name that sounds weird in english…
I was thinking to give her the name [name]Iben[/name] [name]Sofie[/name] to make it really clear that its a girls name. And [name]Sofie[/name] is a name from my family.
We have two other alternatives. Which one would you chose:
[name]Ava[/name] [name]Sofie[/name] (pronounced [name]AVA[/name], not ayva)
I think you could get away with [name]Iben[/name] by telling people it’s pronounced like [name]Eden[/name] with a b- not too complicated, especially since you’re in a diverse area like New [name]York[/name]. [name]Sofie[/name] is a good idea with the first name because it’s more familiar and, as you said, very clearly feminine. I don’t think [name]Hennie[/name] would be a great idea in [name]America[/name] because of it’s similarity to “hiney” (the synonym of butt- not sure how to spell it.) But [name]Ava[/name] would be nice if you’re prepared to correct people on the pronunciation- I don’t expect anyone will say [name]AH[/name]-va on the first try, so make sure you’re okay with correcting them!
I read your earlier post on [name]Iben[/name] and didn’t respond, and wanted to tell you that [name]Iben[/name] [name]Sofie[/name] is really growing on me. It reflects your heritage and since she will probably be the only [name]Iben[/name] people know, pronunciation will be much less of a hassle than with [name]Ava[/name]. I say go for it!
[name]IBEN[/name] [name]SOFIE[/name]! No question. It’s a beautiful name and I don’t think pronunciation should be too hard. [name]Ava[/name]/[name]Eva[/name] is really popular right now (as AY-va) so getting people to say [name]AH[/name]-va instead would be really hard. As for [name]Hennie[/name], I just don’t find it appealling. Maybe as a nickname for something, but not on its own.
I think you should stick with your original choice, the unique [name]Iben[/name] [name]Sofie[/name]. [name]Ava[/name], whichever way its pronounced, is way too popular and [name]Hennie[/name] is too nicknamey and may cause some teasing due to its similarity to a slang name for derriere. [name]Iben[/name] [name]Sofie[/name] is a great name to honor your heritage. Good luck, [name]Mischa[/name].
I think [name]Iben[/name] [name]Sofie[/name] is lovely and you should have no problem in NY, melting pot and all. You will probably have about a half and half chance of people pronouncing it correctly the first time. I would avoid [name]Hennie[/name] because it sounds to much like a nickname and [name]Ava[/name] is hugely popular.
[name]Ava[/name] is so lovely (although I am surprised to hear people pron. it AY-va, I’ve always heard [name]AH[/name]-va) but I think for your situation [name]Iben[/name] [name]Sofie[/name] is even better. It’s NY so as others have said it shouldn’t be too hard too introduce people to a new name, and [name]Eden[/name]-with-a-B is very understandable. Plus you could call her Ebie, which would be really cute!
I am happy (and maybe a bit surprised;) that you like [name]Iben[/name]. Actually, I thought more of you would say it sounds like a boys name.
I think [name]Hennie[/name] is out if the list. That is good - one less to choose from.
I like both [name]Iben[/name] and [name]Ava[/name] a lot.
As for [name]Ava[/name], I said we would pronounce it [name]AH[/name]-VA since that is the way people will pronounce it in Denmark. However, it would be fine to us to say Ayva as well, as long as we are here in the US. In Denmark people will for sure pronounce it [name]AH[/name]-va. [name]Ava[/name] is really common in the US, but home in Denmark it is quite rare.
All in all, maybe we should stick with [name]Iben[/name]. I have some friends from latin-america here, and they really dont like the name, but its hard to find a name with heritage and that travels really well everywhere.
Hm, this is difficult. We will have to think a bit more. And I welcome more comments on our choices!!
[name]Just[/name] want to mirror much of what has been said here. [name]Iben[/name] is an absolutely wonderful name and is sure to be just as nice in the US as it is in Denmark.
It’s probable that your friends from latin america don’t like [name]Iben[/name] because of the similarity to [name]Ivan[/name] (prn ee-ban), which is a boys’ name. [name]Don[/name]'t let it bother you. Maybe they can call her [name]Sofie[/name]? I have a friend named [name]Taryn[/name], and when she went to study abroad in [name]Peru[/name] she found that no one could pronounce her name and when they did it sounded a lot like a Peruvian slang word for mentally handicapped. So she went by her middle name. [name]Sofie[/name] or some variant of it will travel well to latin america if your daugher ever goes to that part of the world.
At first look I didn’t like [name]Iben[/name] B/C it reminds me and I would have pronounced it like [name]Ivan[/name] a clearly masculine name. However, pronouncing it [name]Eben[/name] makes it nicer to me and I can appreciate it even more with [name]Sofie[/name] for a middle name. I’m sure you will be in for a lifetime of correcting pronunciation but there are many names that share that curse. I say use it and celebrate your heritage
Thank you. Yes, I guess she can use only [name]Sofie[/name] when she is in latin-america. I am not sure if that would create confusion for her when she is little though. What if we move to latin america and we keep calling her [name]Iben[/name] whereas others would call her [name]Sofie[/name]? Or maybe I am just imagining a problem here…
Anyone knows how [name]Ava[/name] would sound in Spanish speaking countries? Does it sound beautiful or not?
In Spanish-speaking countries, [name]Ava[/name] would be pronounced [name]AH[/name]-va, or perhaps [name]AH[/name]-ba. [name]Eva[/name], prn AY-va is pretty common there, so [name]Ava[/name], might be pronounced that way, as well. [name]Iben[/name] would be, EE-behn, very close to your pronunciation, and quite lovely. I don’t think there would be much confusion with the boys name [name]Ivan[/name]; the stress is on a different syllable, and the last sounds are quite different. [name]Hope[/name] this helps!
Yes, thanks, that is very helpful. Also useful when trying to convince my husband who thinks we should chose [name]Ava[/name] because it “travels really well compared to [name]Iben[/name]. [name]Iben[/name] is just nice in Denmark.”
Well, there is still time and i really appreciate more comments, and please feel free to be very direct and honest, I can handle it
If it were me, I would avoid [name]Ava[/name] like the plague. There are just toooooo many girls being named that right now and have been for the last couple of years. It’s an absolutely lovely name (which is why it’s so popular) but I think its popularity would make it a headache instead of a cool name.
I’m actually interesting in [name]Hennie[/name]. Is this short for something else, like [name]Henrietta[/name]? Because if that’s the case, I think it’s awesome. I agree with others that it is too nicknamey to stand alone, though.
[name]Iben[/name] is not a name I’m very familiar with, but I like that it is a Danish name and not an American name since you are Danish. Having lived in [name]Brooklyn[/name] up until recently, I can tell you that picking a name from your culture will go down well. NY is so diverse, people are used to hearing names they aren’t used to and it’s part of the fun. I went to school with Vishal, [name]Ines[/name], [name]Annais[/name], Chika, Almudena, etc etc. No one ever had a problem, in fact, I think people like that.
I see what you mean about [name]Ava[/name]. It is beautiful, but becoming very popular. It was the same with [name]Olivia[/name], which we also considered at some point. But [name]Olivia[/name] is becoming extremely popular in Scandinavia now, and we wanted to avoid it for that reason. [name]Ava[/name] is not at all popular in Denmark, it is an unknown name and many find it a bit strange.
[name]Hennie[/name] is a short version of [name]Henrietta[/name] like you say. I am not such a fan of [name]Henrietta[/name], it reminds me too much of [name]Henry[/name]. But [name]Hennie[/name] is beautiful! It is feminine and strong at the same time. However, between [name]Iben[/name] and [name]Hennie[/name], I prefer [name]Iben[/name].
Other nordic names that we have considered are [name]Saga[/name] and [name]Freya[/name]. And [name]Eira[/name]. But my husband thinks they are a bit to “hard” sounding…
