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Baby names

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Original poster

Thoughts please - too weird (girls names)?

34 replies

inuinnit · 08/09/2017 08:07

Our first child, a girl, is due in December.

Hubby and I have very different views on names as he has super English, super traditional name and I have an unusual name which reflects fact I'm mixed race.

Kid will be 1/2 english, 1/2 mixed Asian so not enough of anything to make it make sense giving it a traditional name from any particular culture.

We are really struggling but two names we are thinking about are:

Mandalay - pronounced 'man-dah-lay'
Inle - pronounced 'in-lay'

Both are places in Myanmar which mean something to us as it's where we got together Wink.

But haven't seen either used as names before and was wondering if they are a bit too weird/if there's anything we're missing in terms of negative associations. Thoughts would be much appreciated! Thanks!

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Liadain · 08/09/2017 22:47

I always think naming your kids after somewhere special in your relationship is a bit odd, sorry. I think people assume it's places you've shagged and conceived, which is awkward for the kid. If was the child I know I wouldn't like to be called Greater Yarmouth or Finglas.

If it must be one of them, I think Mandalay works better.

bridgetreilly · 08/09/2017 22:38

Sidenote: Adelaide the place was named after Queen Adelaide, not the other way round.

Lobsterquadrille2 · 08/09/2017 20:16

I think Inle is lovely. I know an Ines (pronounced In-iss) and I quite like that too - simple and once you've had to correct pronunciation maybe once, that should be the only time.

ShowOfHands · 08/09/2017 20:14

Inle is pretty but just hearing it I think of the verb and would be waiting for siblings Grout and Plaster to turn up.

Mollie85 · 08/09/2017 20:10

Would Inle need an acute accent on the e? Inlé? I know it's pronounced Inlay as you've said, but others may think it was "Innul" or "In-lee"? Sorry I tried to do that as phonetically as I could Smile

eyebrowsonfleek · 08/09/2017 20:09

I think Inle is better because Mandalay could end up with Mandy as a nickname in the U.K. and that makes me think of Peter Mandelson.

JaimeLannister · 08/09/2017 20:03

There is a character in Watership Down called the Black Rabbit of Inle.

I quite like it.

Yika · 08/09/2017 19:57

I really like Inle. Mandalay is a pretty word but too well known as the place for me (but then again, I know people called India, America, China etc)

hawkmcqueen · 08/09/2017 19:14

I also just thought of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Vegas. Is is one of the nicer ones in Vegas but it is still associated with everything Vegas so I wouldn't. People will probs think baby was conceived there or something?!

SumAndSubstance · 08/09/2017 13:04

Mandalay makes me think of Nellie the Elephant too, but you're right OP it's just a reference to the place - nothing silly!
I actually rather like Mandalay - I think it sounds pretty and I love the reasoning behind it. I prefer it to Inle, but I don't mind that either.

Threeandabit · 08/09/2017 12:34

I like Mandalay. It would sound lovely shorten to Manda too.

PetitFilous123 · 08/09/2017 10:06

Inle, makes me think of inlay, which I would find to be a super weird name. Mandalay sounds like a restaurant, I'm just off to the Mandalay buffet

daisypond · 08/09/2017 10:02

I think Mandalay is better than Inle. I just think of "inlay",

Dawnedlightly · 08/09/2017 09:44

Inle is lovely.

Branleuse · 08/09/2017 09:42

Mandalay reminds me of Nellie the elephant. I quite like it though and i dont think its particularly weird.
I quite like both names tbh. I think they woild both work, and if tgey have meaning to you, then even better

ChocolateCrunch · 08/09/2017 09:40

Inle would be my preference.

Original poster
inuinnit · 08/09/2017 09:40

Re nelly the elephant - I'm a bit hazy on my nursery rhymes but isn't the lyric 'on the road to Mandalay' rather than anything weird? So it's referencing the place name rather than introducing another weird meaning in the same way. Fairly happy with the place name connection (think that's quite usual for names now e.g India, asia, Adelaide etc as long as it's not somewhere horrendous like Borstal or Bolton) but anything else is more of a question mark

OP posts:
GummyGoddess · 08/09/2017 09:33

Inle pronounced inlay will get a few looks as inlay is a word.

rainbowpie · 08/09/2017 09:23

My first thought was Nelly the elephant, sorry.

Original poster
inuinnit · 08/09/2017 09:20

Thanks all - super helpful!

I knew about the Rebecca connection but not the vegas one - is the Mandalay bay hotel super tacky or nice? That sort of makes a difference although I don't want to call my kid the equivalent of 'Bellship'.

Shortening of Mandalay is my main issue with it - don't like Mandy, manny, dalla, etc.

Really like Inle but not sure anyone else would so comments v helpful! Have had the kind of name that people mispronounce/need to spell my whole life and although it's a bit annoying, it's really not that bad...

OP posts:
Schvitzing · 08/09/2017 08:37

I like Mandalay.....Makes me think of Rebecca and Nellie the Elephant but lots of names evoke things.....

NapQueen · 08/09/2017 08:30

Isnt there a song? Robbie williams sung it am sure.

SerendipityFelix · 08/09/2017 08:27

Inle works well - sounds and looks lovely, meaningful, not tricky with pronounciation/spelling. Can't be shortened, doesn't need to be.

Mandalay - more people are aware of it as a place name. Also, will inevitably be shortened by people - Manda, Mandy, Dala, Dally?

Inle would win for me.

Veinarde · 08/09/2017 08:26

I prefer Inle as Mandalay is too long for my liking.

ScarletBegonia1234 · 08/09/2017 08:25

Mandalay bay is a very famous hotel in Vegas.... that's the first thing I think of!

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