Mumsnet Talk

Hello! I'm from Peru so my family speaks Spanish. My other two are called Isabella and Sebastian. We are desperate for a name for our baby boy. I'm 21 weeks pregnant and we came down with the following names:

Noah
Oliver
Leonardo
Samuel
David

So far we like Oliver and Samuel. Also we need to use both surnames Bennett Rivera. Please help as I want to start calling my baby a name. My other two have Seby and Bella as nicknames!

Thanks x

My husband is English and we live in England. So it's very important the name suits the UK as well as Peru.. But more so in the UK as we live here! :-)

If you wanted more spamish sounding names, I think that would be fine in the UK.

Noah, Oliver, Samual and David are all very english sounding.

Hi - my husband is Spanish and I'm English, but we went for a Spanish name as 1) I love it and 2) it works better with a Spanish surname! Our baby girl is due in 6 weeks and will be called Nerea! We live in the UK too.

If you really want a dual name, there are lots - just sometimes pronounced a bit differently! Personally I love David from your list above. Just avoid names that the English can't pronounce properly like Angel, Javier and José! I'm sure whatever you choose will be perfect!

Paul, Oscar, Martin, Julian, Daniel, David, Samuel, Tomas, Ivan, Jon, Gus

All names in Spanish and English.

Exactly! I would totally avoid the names English can't pronounce! I ant stand it as its not fair on the child! There is a Rodrigo in my daughters class and nobody can pronounce it properly! I LOVE Oliver and it sounds good in Spanish and English... My husband loves Samuel by I don't like the nickname Sam... However, I do love Samuel as a name

X

The Samuels in Northern Spain (peru too?) are pronounced Sam-well but in the
U.K Sam-you-ul. Would it be a problem if the pronunciation was different? It might be hard to find a name pronounced the same in both countries! Sam is a nice nn!

Your list looks good. Of the 'Spanglish' families I know some names do keep cropping up. I know a couple of boys called Nicolas (Nico), several Oscars. Daniel and Gabriel also work ok. A lot of the classic biblical / saints names are easily transferable.

I have a lot of Anglo / Spanish friends.

Gabriel? Mateo? Tomas? Daniel? Samuel?

I love Julio and Garcia though...!

We also considered Inigo but it was a bit too quirky in English for my husband's taste. If DC 3 had been a boy I might have gone for Rafael.

Luis (pronounced Lewis in England)

Alejandro (nn Alex)

Reuben (or Ruben)? Goes well with your other DCs names.

How about Oliver Samuel Bennett Rivera? In that way we use Samuel as a second name ( hence no Sam) and we will never have the Problem with the pronunciation. Oliver is the same... Only I will pronounce Ol -ee - veR and so will family and my husband and all the English will pronoun e it Ol- ee- Va, which is fine with me. I love Ollie as a nickname ... My husband likes Samuel more though! X

That sounds lovely, what do YOU like more?

I like Oliver , non Ollie ;-)

You might want to take Noah off your list. Just found out recently that the Spanish consider Noah, the sound of it with 'a' at the end a girls name. There is a Spanish girls name Noa. Any 'a' sounding names are the same apparently.

What about Ramon. I know a Spanish guy with this name and he has never had trouble with the English pronoucing it.

Oliver Samuel is lovely. Much better flowing and easier to say than Samuel Oliver.

I know a half Spanish family with a bit called Noah. It raised the odd eyebrow on the Spanish side of the family but it sounds ok.

Duh - just reread post. A boy called Noah rather than a bit. Obviously.

I still like Oliver best! I know it's common in the UK bit I don't really care about it.

I just can't wait to decide on a name so we can start calling my bump a name!!