Vaishali

[CarryingTheCanAgain]

An Asian friend of mine is named Vaishali, which I think is a positively beautiful name. It's pronounced Vah-shah-lee. According to V herself it is a Hindu/Pali word which means beautiful and good. The name seems so rare and lovely to me. I'm not the type to go for ridiculous names just to be different, I simply find this name beautiful. Is it ridiculous that I have totally stored this name for if I have a little girl some day, even though I'm white?

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

I don't think it's ridiculous although, if you have to keep hammering the pronunciation home it will become tiresome.

[BeeMyBaby]

I think if you really like your friend, and it was as if you were naming a daughter after the friend it would be fine, but otherwise it may be difficult for people to understand the connection.

[FairyArmadillo]

I don't see the problem with using names for other cultures. Many of the names in common use in Britain come from other cultures. It's a lovely name with a nice meaning.

[Rhubarbgarden]

I absolutely love this name.

[birdofthenorth]

Love this name. See no problem with it's origin. And it's easily pronounced.

I would just hope the term Vejazzle is out of popular use by the time your DD is with us!!

[CarryingTheCanAgain]

kreecher I only mention the pronunciation as I saw a man read out my friends name once and he pronounced it Vayshalli.. I imagine as a parent I would be introducing her to people in person so pronunciation wouldn't be a problem.

bee she is not a particularly close friend, certainly not close enough to name my child after. I simply love her name. I see her all the time with the same group of people so I suppose it would seem strange. Perhaps I should just use think of it as a middle name :(

[Bluestocking]

It's a beautiful name. The only Vaishaly (this is how she spells it) that I know of is Vaishaly Patel, the queen of eyebrow threading (www.vaishaly.com/acatalog/threading.html) and she pronounces it Vie-shah-lee. Any Hindu name experts out there? Does the pronunciation of the name depend on which Indian language you are speaking?

[PatriciatheStripper]

"I imagine as a parent I would be introducing her to people in person so pronunciation wouldn't be a problem."

Ouch. How self-centred is that.

Your daughter will be grown up before you know it, and will have to contend with all the situations presented by modern life where her name will be read by people before they meet her. Starting at school.

[ooma]

I know a Vashti which is unusual but simple

[A1980]

Lovely name.

Vandana might be simpler to spell and pronounce though.

[fedupofnamechanging]

I think it's a beautiful name. i think it's important to give your child a name that you truly love, because you see on here all the time people who've been talked into giving their DC a name which they didn't truly love and are filled with regret, even years later.

[IHeartKingThistle]

I teach a Vaishali. She's lovely and it's a beautiful name. Pronunciation isn't a problem IMO, if you say it at normal speed vah-sha-lee sort of comes out naturally. There's a LOT of names more prone to mispronunciation!

[mopsyflopsy]

Beautiful name.

[EricNorthmansMistress]

I think it's wanky to use a name from a country/culture you have no connection to.

[avacat]

I am Hindu. The name is pronounced Vie-sha-lee, though it may sound like Vah-sha-lee when said quickly.