A name that's hard(er) to pronounce?

[nuthinbutpink]

Anya, I think most would pronounce correctly.

[BeadinMom]

My boys' all have unique Irish names. I'm not sure how I got talked into that, because I'm very Italian. lol.

My name is odd, too...growing up, I hated it. I was the only person (besides my mother) with my name. I remember always feeling disappointed that I couldn't find inked stamps, stickers, or a license plate for my bike with my name on it. There was every other name in the world, but mine. I would pretend my name was something different...anything but what it was.

My youngest son's name is Quinn...I am still in love with his name. (I have a girlfriend with a daughter named Quinn, too)
Anyway, that's my experience with "different" names.
I do agree with Dramabird, I would love to have the "problem" of coming up with a girl's name!!

[Ribbons]

Thanks everyone

Yes, it will be wonderful to have the "problem" of coming up with a girl's name... and I probably shouldn't even be thinking of it now, since we don't know what it is yet LOL! Since we've had the name Sophia in the back of our minds for so long... we are trying to get that name out and another one in...

I'll think about Anya... you're right, everyone will call her Ain (rhymes with Blaine). I totally forgot about that character in Buffy!

[Mochagirl]

I agree with everyone else that although beautiful, I would have no idea how to pronounce that name if I saw it written down.

My name is Piper... in my life I have met 2 with the same name a 6yo (I was 20) in a ladies bathroom and a dog while on vacation. In elementary school I knew 5 Melissa's, 3 Nicole's, and 2-3 Jennifer's every grade. The names evened out in Jr and Sr High but it was still common to have atleast 2 -3 kids with the same names. I lived in Orange County and Moreno Valley areas most of my life.

PP - you and I must be right around the same age because those were the top 3 names in my classes as well (even though I'm up here in Canada) - to this day I have about 4 close friends named Melissa - it's very confusing!

I think it is hard to find the balance between not too popular and not too unusual. When I had to name my twins I had a terrible time. We didn't find out the gender, so we needed 2 girl names and 2 boy names. We knew the girl names we wanted right away but really had trouble with the boy names. We ended up naming them Evan and Sam, and although it was Sam who I worried would have tons of boys in his classes with the same name as him, it's ended up being Evan who does. Although at the time I named him, I'd never met anyone named Evan, I think that was the very year it became popular for some reason, because now we see Evans EVERYWHERE we go! So far we've only bumped into a small handful of other Sams, and there's never been one in their class.

I know ds3 is going to have problems too because we called him Ryan, and that's a very popular name. I just was finding it so hard to come up with names that sounded good with dh's very Irish last name yet weren't either already used by family or friends (DH has a HUGE family) or wasn't too hard to spell or pronounce. I also felt that after naming Sam and Evan we kind of needed to stick to something simple so it would go with those names.

[nini]

I think Aine is only possible if living in Ireland, I really dont think it would do the child a favour to have a name that every single teacher would stop bebfore reading and pull a face not knowing how to pronounce it (this is what happened to me )... the only reason I know this name is because I lived in Ireland for a while.

but like someone else suggested, why not use Anya as a spelling variation?

Sophia seems to be in the top 3 in every country and continent it appears, it is lovely and timeless though at the same time.

[LolaInLove]

Anya, I think most would pronounce correctly.

This is my vote, go for an easier spelling. If someone told me their name was (an-ya pronunciation), I would spell it this way. FWIW, my girls have unusual names, but unusual in that they are old-fashioned and not common at all. I had a hard time deciding between unique names that no one had heard of or names that were just uncommon because I didn't want my kids being one of 3 in a class with the same name too. Nothing wrong with it, just my preference. My name was very unique when I was little but now is super popular and little girls everywhere have it. I liked being the only one I knew with my name, so that's why I go with uncommon. I really love Anya or Anye, super pretty! Aine is also, but no one will know how to pronounce or spell it.

[Ribbons]

This is my vote, go for an easier spelling. If someone told me their name was (an-ya pronunciation), I would spell it this way. FWIW, my girls have unusual names, but unusual in that they are old-fashioned and not common at all. I had a hard time deciding between unique names that no one had heard of or names that were just uncommon because I didn't want my kids being one of 3 in a class with the same name too. Nothing wrong with it, just my preference. My name was very unique when I was little but now is super popular and little girls everywhere have it. I liked being the only one I knew with my name, so that's why I go with uncommon. I really love Anya or Anye, super pretty! Aine is also, but no one will know how to pronounce or spell it.

OOh I like Anye, that is better than Anya in my opinion (spelling it "Anya" changes the meaning completely, as that is of Russian descent, not the original old Irish descent.) I wonder if people would pronounce that "Annie" though? But they would at least make a stab at it...

The problem with most Gaelic names is that they are very hard to pronounce, unless they have been made popular enough for people to recognize them. And I need to go with a Gaelic name. Hence my dilemma.

[purplepoet20]

Beadinmom - My cousin named his 4th daughter Quinn and he has an older daughter with a name that is normally a boys name. I think it is cute because they work for either boy or girl.

[purplepoet20]

PP - you and I must be right around the same age because those were the top 3 names in my classes as well (even though I'm up here in Canada) - to this day I have about 4 close friends named Melissa - it's very confusing!
\

I am going to be 31 this year... I was a year older then the rest of the people in my grades because I mother tried to keep us out of school and didn't try to homeschool.

[LolaInLove]

OOh I like Anye, that is better than Anya in my opinion (spelling it "Anya" changes the meaning completely, as that is of Russian descent, not the original old Irish descent.) I wonder if people would pronounce that "Annie" though? But they would at least make a stab at it...

The problem with most Gaelic names is that they are very hard to pronounce, unless they have been made popular enough for people to recognize them. And I need to go with a Gaelic name. Hence my dilemma.

Yea, I personally like that spelling better myself. I don't think anyone will pronounce it Annie, but there are always um, less intelligent people out there who will, even with the easiest names. Overall, I think it is a really pretty version and won't trip the majority of people up.