I don’t know why, but I’m drawn to names with a “silent” j. Maybe it’s my Dutch heritage, maybe it’s just my outside-the-box/nonconformist personality.
Names like:
Gretje
[name_f]Talja[/name_f]
[name_f]Kaatje[/name_f]
Sofietje
What are your favorites that I didn’t list?
[name_f]Majorie[/name_f] is my favorite, I love how its pronounced for some reason.
[name_f]Anja[/name_f] and [name_f]Freja[/name_f]/Freyja.
Also, I don’t think the j in [name_f]Marjorie[/name_f] is silent…
Have you looked at Spanish names since the “J” is silent?
The j isn’t silent in any of these to me! It’s just not pronounced as in English, since these are non-English names.
[name_f]Katja[/name_f] is my perennial favourite!
I tend to use the -je diminutives quite a bit, though most of my favourite nicknames use other endings.
I’m quite fond of Babetje, Santje, Ankje, Evelientje, Madeliefje/Liefje & Grietje.
Among the more formal names, I have a soft spot for Beatrijs, and I find Lidewijde intriguing. Marjolein and Katelijn pop into my mind surprisingly often, too.
I would pronounce the j in all of those words, though. It’s very close to the English ‘y’ sound when I say it.
EDIT: forgot to clarify that the diphthong ‘ij’ is not exactly ‘iy’. In my family’s accent, it’s sort of like ‘ay (as in the letter A)’, or the ‘ei’ in Madeleine. In other accents it’s somewhere between ‘ei’ and ‘eye’ (as in the letter I). I expect it’s different again in other accents.
I love Freyja and [name_f]Lilja[/name_f] but know I can’t use them in the USA. After polling a few of my friends, all said they would pronounce the J in these names instead of saying it as a Y.
I have a cousin and aunt named [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] pronounced [name_f]Yo[/name_f]-Hah-[name_m]Nuh[/name_m]
I really like [name_f]Marje[/name_f], I think it’s super sweet. I also know of [name_f]Antje[/name_f], though it isn’t a personal favourite.
Guys… [name_f]Majorie[/name_f] to me is pronounced Mah-hor-ee
I know a little Dutch girl named Coosje, which I think is super sweet.
I have always heard [name_f]Marjorie[/name_f] pronounced, without exception, like [name_f]Margery[/name_f] with a bit more of an o sound.
My first language is Dutch and this thread is so interesting to read for me. -je or -tje is a diminutive suffix and it usually doesn’t end up on the birth certificate. I know some girls who’ve got a diminutive name on their passport (Lotje, Floortje etc) but ended up “transitioning” to [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] or [name_f]Flora[/name_f] around high school age.
My first cousin is named Noortje (diminutive of [name_f]Nora[/name_f]), which I really like. I also like Floortje, Eefje, Brechtje, Claartje and [name_f]Doortje[/name_f]. Some other people I know (although their names are mostly really dated) are Geertje, Aaltje, Anje, Baukje, Aafje, Aukje and Rijkje. A semi-celebrity named his daughter Maantje, which literally means “little moon”, I think it’s really sweet.
I personally don’t like [name_f]Majorie[/name_f] pronounced like magory or whatever, it doesn’t sound like a name to me. I love how it sounds with a silent j though haha.
I’m so glad you chimed in, nerea! Those are some great additions! What’s intersting is that so many of my family members were named with Dutch or [name_m]German[/name_m] diminuitives, rather than the full name. Some even went from a full name to a diminuitive when they immigrated. And most of their names have been spelled muliple ways over the years. Things get a little complicated when you change languages!
There’s an Olympics snowboarder named [name_f]Silje[/name_f]–pronounced something like [name_f]Celia[/name_f].
[name_f]Sonja[/name_f]? Though I don’t think that’s Dutch but I do love it.
Minija
Lilijana
[name_f]Sonja[/name_f]
[name_f]Alejandra[/name_f]
Amelija
Arijana
Elijana
Alijana