What do these names make you feel?

General Name Discussion
1

Hello

I’m new here so bear with me :slight_smile:

I am stuck on the name Shosaveen, as an alternative to the more common [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. I think it’s beautiful and I like the nn Shosa. But I dunno if there are downsides? I also like Xochitl [so-CHEETL] but would rather spell it phonetically and somewhat anglicized to make it easier to pronounce, like Sochiel.

What do you feel about the person with either name?
Shosaveen
Sochiel

Any suggested middle names?

2

Shosaveen sounds pretty cool, I’ll give you that- like Shoshanna or [name_f]Roisin[/name_f]. I actually love the name Zosime, which has a similar flow.
I definitely think people will have issues remembering if it’s Soshaveen, Shoshaveen (which is what I default to) or another combo of S and Hs.

I think Sochiel is a bad call. There are so many ways to get that spelling wrong, because what’s phonetic for you might not be what someone else thinks as phonetic. Like how “ai” can be “ay” or “eye”. And what happened to the T sound? I’m all for exploring names from other languages, I have many a Basque name on my own list which are not English-friendly… I hate the idea of anglicizing them or having them butchered, so they’re on the “hypothetical babies only” list, and not on the “real list” as they were when I lived in the Basque Country.
I can’t see Xochitl or Sochiel being practical, sorry. That being said, I had an archaeology prof to told us one of her colleagues gave her son the middle name Quetzalcoatl…

3

Thanks so much. It’s helpful to hear a different perspective. I actually have a Spanish name but here the U.S. has an anglicized version of the same name. I have to correct people all the time how to pronounce my name. That’s why it is SO important that I get reality checks on how a name is perceived other people. Thanks again!

4

I dont like the idea of misspelling a proper name. Dont do it. Whats the point in it?

And I dont really like either name you put it…

5

Actually, I kinda like Shosaveen (it reminds me to Shoshanna), also Xochitl, but not Sochiel.

6

[name_m]How[/name_m] do you pronounce Shoshaveen? My daughter’s middle name is Xochitl. It’s a Nahuatl name meaning flower. No one here in [name_u]America[/name_u] can get the real pronunciation right.