AIBU to think my DH has gone mad over this baby name?

Being as you have made yourself incredibly identifiable on this forum, you should be careful saying things like that.

You can also spell it Neave which I think more people can decipher!

Agree, but it’s close and much closer than how a lot of people would pronounce Sian.

Sian doesn’t have an ‘r’ sound in it though, it’s pronounced sh-ah-n.

I’ve heard Sian pronounced Sigh-Anne once before and always wondered if that’s how the parents assumed it was pronounced! I know a Sian which is spelt Sharn which is a weird to me but at least people pronounce it correctly.

@gotmyknickersinatwist Can you explain the difference in pronounciation of Niamh versus Neve?

I’m not judging a baby, and I’m perfectly versed in bible stories unfortunately. If you read my posts correctly, you’d see I was saying how others would perceive such a name. I also said in my first reply on this thread that I don’t care about most names (unlike most of MN it seems). Lucifer is one of those that is completely too much and will absolutely cause the poor child in question issues in life. Of course people are going to hear a child called Lucifer and wonder why their parents saw them as ‘devil child’, even if the ridiculous reason they named the child such is because of a long finished tv show. Even Daenerys or Arya is going to seem less weird in 15-20 years time, Lucifer has been a literal satanic name for 2000 years.

Honestly cannot believe there’s anyone actually defending it…

Thanks - I did wonder. Bit of a mouthful!

What about compromising on Niamh and Irish name pronounced Neev

Judging a baby as evil for its name would make you frankly ridiculous.

Judging Lucifer as bad also means you didn't actually bother to learn and understand the stories.

Either way it MAKE you look bad not the child.

A child is no more likely to be bullied called Lucifer than the non existent name bullying that happened to the Marys you know.

I know of 5 Cain's (and all are christian based backgrounds and 3 of which are under 18 and regularly attend our church and go to the church school). Online people always say the same shit that its cruel, its offensive, they will be bullied, people will think badly, they will be called murderers all 'because of the bible link' etc... and no such thing happens in reality and they live life normally just like all the Lukes, Logans, Jakes, Jacks, Jensens, Joes, Noahs, Olivers, Owens and other kids in the classes.

Its usually people not even really involved with the religion that wildly state this stuff, its odd frankly because actual theologists don't judge like that at all.

I have a relative called this - they are 16 and have jettisoned it for a gender neutral name. At the risk of being disloyal I would not call my DD Nevaeh

Hold firm OP. It's a ghastly name. Don't even concede as a middle name.

Does you husband understand what 'unique' means? The primary school near me is ankle deep with Nevaehs.

Please get him to spend some time reading the Tragedeigh subreddit. Nevaeh is universally hated there.

Although, that might backfire and give him some ideas and the next name he likes is Brynn-Leigh Texas or something!

Sorry if this has already been suggested but is it the meaning of the name that matters to him? What about names with heavenly connotations - Celeste, Celia, Diana, Angela, Astrid, Stella, Seren…
or if it’s the ‘N..”, Nora, Naomi, Neve, Natalia, Natasha, Nina, Nancy

It’s hideous.

I love your choices. Thinking about using Florence as a middle name for my daughter.

Its extremely chavvy.

Marine30 The ones I've heard are
Ne-VAY-uh.

Apart from it being a bit naff it just isn’t phonetic. I get the whole heaven backwards thing but it’s so clunky; is it supposed to be pronounced as ‘Ne-vay-uh’ or ‘Ne-vuh’? (Which just sounds like ‘Never’) 🤷‍♀️
Who knows, but it just does not flow at all!!

Maybe you're right going by this thread!😬

But there will be loads of adults and grandparents with the name by then so I think it will become more.... ubiquitous

When i chose my daughters name the year she was born her name was not even in the top 150 names. Now it is in the top 50. Unusual names don't always stay unusual!
I don't really like nevaeh

Are you from the 1980s?

He wants to call her Nevaeh. Yes, “Heaven” backwards. He says it’s “unique but meaningful.”

Get him to explain in what way it's meaningful. "Heaven" is meaningful, obviously. It means Heaven. What about backwards Heaven? Is it the opposite of Heaven? Is it Hell? What are people supposed to make of it when they meet the poor girl? All I can think of is heavy metal records being played backwards and upside-down crucifixes whenever I hear / read about this. Which is often enough to know it's not unique.

As plenty of people have pointed out, nobody knows how to spell it when they hear it. nobody knows how to pronounce it when they see it. I'd put money on the poor kid ending up with a skincare-based nickname, because NIVEA.

If you’re going with an Irish name I would say that’s one of the most recognised, like Siobhan, but might be a bit odd if you have no Irish roots!!
PS never met a bad Niamh, and I know dozens! Always lovely… them and the Aoife’s …

Any name that isn’t pronounced as it’s spelling is a potential nightmare