I’ve recently warmed up to DH’s #1 pick for our first daughter due in [name_u]January[/name_u]: [name_u]Shea[/name_u]. I used like it on boys exclusively, but I guess it crept up on me
Now that I’ve opened up to it (It’s on our shortlist as [name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f]), I would like to explore the option further, because I still have some doubts/weird feelings:
I feel like we’d block ourselfs in future naming. Having a daughter named [name_u]Shea[/name_u] would rule out giving our hypothetical second daughter a very long frilly name. I know sibling names don’t have to be matchy matchy, but I feel like it would be a sore thumb. I’m not a fan of the “choose a formal name for the birth certificate and then exclusively call her by the non-formal name you wanted in the first place” route, if you catch my drift. So we won’t go down that road.
Spelling and pronunciation issues. This one is pretty straightforward. I feel like people will write down [name_u]Shae[/name_u], because it phonetically more natural to them. Same goes with pronunciation, I’m worried she’ll get She-uh a lot. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though this bother me, I know it’s not the worst thing in the world. Have you had any of these difficulties with your own or your child’s name?
Can we use it even though we’re not of Irish decent? This might be my stupidest worry of all, but I have this in the back of my mind every time we went over this name, no matter what gender we were discussing it for. I can’t help but feel like it’s a bit weird for us to use this originally Irish surname as our daughter’s name…
one last little thing:
Does [name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] look weird due to the repeated ea? We’re not a fan of the [name_u]Shay[/name_u] & [name_m]Shai[/name_m] spellings, so that wouldn’t be an option
[name_u]Shea[/name_u] is such a pretty name! I don’t think [name_u]Shea[/name_u] would stick out too badly for instance with the names [name_f]Cordelia[/name_f] or [name_f]Arabella[/name_f]. Sure it’s not of the same style but it isn’t too far out like if you used a boys name for her. My name is [name_u]Simone[/name_u] and my brothers are [name_m]Patrick/name_m, [name_m]Levi[/name_m], and [name_m]Angelo[/name_m] ([name_u]Angel[/name_u]). Our names aren’t of the same style but they still kinda go together. My name gets all kinds of mispronunciations (suh-moan or See-moan, [name_u]Si[/name_u]-mon) when it’s [name_m]Sim[/name_m]-moan and spelling errors ([name_f]Samone[/name_f], Cimone, Simoan, [name_m]Simon[/name_m] etc) but it wasn’t that big of a deal to me. [name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] is really pretty, but it does look strange. I wouldn’t stress it though, their are only a few times you right out your full name.
I think you would only be limited in future naming if long frilly names are your kind of thing. [name_m]Just[/name_m] to give you some examples, I could see [name_f]Scarlet[/name_f], [name_f]Hailey[/name_f], and [name_f]Ella[/name_f] as being [name_u]Shea[/name_u]'s siblings. But probably not [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f], you’re right about that. If the fancy four-syllable type names are your usual style, maybe you shouldn’t use [name_u]Shea[/name_u]. Still, you should keep in mind that maybe you won’t have another girl, so this wouldn’t even be an issue.
It’s likely you’ll have spelling and pronunciation issues. I think you’ll have to decide if you love the name enough to be okay with that. Personally, I always have to spell out my last name, and 99% of the time people mispronounce it. It doesn’t bother me. There are so many alternate spellings even of popular names that I think people nowadays are more used to confirming spelling and pronunciation. I have the most common spelling of a popular name and I’ve had people ask to make sure I use the usual spelling.
I think it’s okay to use the name [name_u]Shea[/name_u] despite not being Irish. I haven’t heard anyone complain about girls named [name_f]Aisling[/name_f], [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f], etc. And I don’t think [name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] looks weird with the repeated “ea” part.
My suggestion is to consider using [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] [name_u]Shea[/name_u]. You’d be able to freely give a possible second daughter a longer name, you’d still be using [name_u]Shea[/name_u], and since someone’s middle name is still their name, you could feel free to call her that if you wanted.
I only know one [name_u]Shea[/name_u] and she is a girl, so this looks perfectly fine to me. [name_u]Truth[/name_u] be told, I can’t imagine it on a boy.
Whether you let her name affect future sibling names is up to you, but there are plenty of very feminine names that aren’t overly long. I can’t see it being a huge issue.
No, I don’t think your ethnicity matters. Names come from all kinds of languages. You don’t need to be Irish to use an Irish name.
Also, [name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] looks fine. I don’t notice the repeating letter at all.
[name_u]Shea[/name_u] is our absolute favorite girls name. I love it. I absolutely do not think that [name_u]Shea[/name_u] will block you from using a long-frilly name and I have also learned that not using a favorite name because of a hypothetical second child can lead to naming regret. I have also learned that naming styles change from child to child. We have so many names on our list now that we did not have the first time around and we have also taken several name off of the list that were front runners for our daughter.
I have a name that is never spelled right and often mispronounced when I first meet people but truthfully I am VERY rarely correcting people because the people I see everyday know what it is. And it does not bother me one bit if it is spelled wrong on my Starbucks cup.
Lastly, people often use names that are not of decent. My name is [name_m]French[/name_m]–I am not french. My husbands name English and he 100% Italian.
I absolutely [name_f]Adore[/name_f] [name_u]Shea[/name_u].
Shea for a girl is totally fine and quite cute! All of the female Shea’s that I know spell it this way. The few boys I’ve come across spell it Shay. I’ve never encountered a mispronunciation with Shea, however it will probably happen at some point simply because someone may not be familiar with the name. I don’t think you’ll be very limited in naming future girls. There are many names that would fit. Names like Anastasia, Beatrice, Catherine and Gracelyn wouldn’t necessarily work to people who think sibling names have to be the same style. But if you decided you liked something along those lines, it really doesn’t matter. You can use it! Names like Avery, Ella, Zoe, Emery, Emerson and Ellis would work just fine. And not being Irish shouldn’t be part of the deciding factor. If you like the name, go for it!
[name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] is GORGEOUS!!
I first discovered the name [name_u]Shea[/name_u] when I was seven years old and have loved it ever since. Being seven years old, I did first see it and think She-uh. Obviously I figured it out rather quickly, because [name_u]Shea[/name_u] pronounced correctly was one of the first names I ever loved.
The first [name_u]Shea[/name_u] I knew was a boy. Definitely not of Irish descent. The only other I’ve met has been a girl and she spelled it [name_m]Shai[/name_m].
[name_u]Shea[/name_u] is my favorite spelling for the name. It’s like shea butter, which will greatly aid people in pronunciation. [name_u]Shea[/name_u] butter is also a spa product…which I think aids in making the name more unisex instead of just for boys.
As a die hard [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m] Mets fan, the former stadium was “[name_u]Shea[/name_u] Stadium”.
I think the pronunciation is straightforward, your spelling is definitely preferred, it can go with a variety of middle and last names (and future sibling names), and can apply to several different races/ethnicities (not just Irish!).
I don’t think you’ll have massive problems pronunciation wise, due to shea butter and [name_u]Shea[/name_u] Stadium. Maybe a couple of times, but nothing excessive. I think it’ll be just fine
I agree about the pronunciation issues, too. [name_u]Shea[/name_u] is just as straight-forward as [name_u]Shae[/name_u] or [name_u]Shay[/name_u] to me.
There would be kind of a block from using super extra frilly names (my favorites :p) just because of name envy. It’s not a big deal at all between say a boy and a girl, but if one daughter is [name_u]Shea[/name_u] and the other is [name_f]Rosalia[/name_f] or [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], for example, there could possibly be issues where one of them wants the other’s name.
I doubt your style is as frilly as I’m thinking it is, so I’m probably saying all this for nothing, haha. It just depends on your usual naming style. If you really love [name_u]Shea[/name_u] and feel like it’s the name, I guess you shouldn’t worry about what-ifs for now and just go with the flow, cross that bridge when you come to it.
That’s my name, although mine is spelled Ché (pronounced the same as [name_u]Shae[/name_u]). I’ve actually always been weirded out to hear of boys with the name (as has my family and most people I know). To me it just sounds so soft and feminine that I’ve been taken aback when people tell me I have a boys name. :-?
1: I personally don’t think you would block yourselves out of future naming. I can’t say why haha, I just don’t feel [name_u]Shea[/name_u] is the kind of name that clashes with many other names.
2: You are right about the pronunciation thing though. I personally always read [name_u]Shea[/name_u] as “shee-uh” and I think most people would as “ea” is almost always pronounced “eea” or “ee”. If you’re worried about it, maybe switch the A and E around so it’s [name_u]Shae[/name_u]? I think that’s the prettiest variant spelling tbh. But as a Ché I’ve also had my fair share of mispronunciation (Chee, Keh, [name_m]Chay[/name_m] :o) and mispelling my whole life, although I love my name and wouldn’t change it as to me it is unique, simple and feminine without being overly girly. Which suits me to a tee haha
3: While I am of Irish descent like my name I don’t think it’s weird at all for you to use it even though you aren’t Irish. And I don’t think a lot of people even realise it’s Irish anyway. It also has a Hebrew ancestry I believe but I think that’s the [name_m]Shai[/name_m] variant. I think means “gift” if I remember correctly which I think is lovely :). I think a whole heap of modern Top 50 names are [name_m]French[/name_m], Italian, Dutch, Welsh and the like and aren’t only reserved for those that share those ancestries.
And I think [name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] is lovely! I don’t think the repeated letters are an issue, I actually think it looks aesthetically pleasing, and flows well. It almost sounds poetic I think that’s a good combination for if you are still worried about blocking off more flowery girly names for future daughters as the combo [name_u]Shea[/name_u] [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] sounds very feminine and lovely.
