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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Jiya, Maya, Siya or Ruhi? Indian baby girl living in the UK

111 replies

meera454 · 16/12/2020 11:13

We have scrapped most of our previous list and are leaning more towards simpler names. What are your thoughts on Jiya, Maya, Siya and Ruhi? Be as brutally honest as you like :)

Really love the name Ruhi in particular but written down it looks a bit incomplete to me? Maybe we could use this as a nickname for Rohini or Ruhani? Ruhi has a beautiful meaning in Hindi.

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CeeceeBloomingdale · 17/12/2020 17:27

Maya is gorgeous but there are two pronunciations so I’d keep this in mind. I know a girl of Indian heritage called Sia, which I adore. I prefer that spelling to Siya, not sure how authentic it is, I assumed it was until your post.

MotherOfDragonite · 17/12/2020 17:23

I suspect Ruhi will be pronounced either as Roo-hee (with a hard 'h') or Roo-ee (soft 'h') by people who don't know the name.

I think most people would pronounce Maya (My-ah) rather than May-ah, but I might be wrong.

Original poster
meera454 · 17/12/2020 16:59

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments, so helpful to know all of this info when making such a big decision! :) A lot of love has been shown towards all four names, so either way I have the peace of mind that whichever one we choose, it will be a good and safe option! One thing that could potentially make the final decision a lot easier is the middle name pairing for each name, what would you pair with these names as a middle name? Our surname has two syllables, so I was thinking that a three syllable middle name will probably sound nicer than three names with two syllables...

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zigaziga · 17/12/2020 11:42

I know a Siya and a Ruhi and love both names. Maya is also super easy too as it’s used in so many cultures.

I would not make Ruhi longer. It’s beautiful as it is but also I do find longer Indian names a bit harder to know how to pronounce and I do get a bit intimidated when I see a long name that I have zero knowledge of written down and have to guess at.

Alotlikechristmas · 17/12/2020 11:35

All pretty names, but my favourite is Maya. I am biased though, I have one at home Smile We pronounce it Mye-a, and it does get mispronounced very often as May-a. She is not bothered by that so far, and people quickly learn when you correct them once.

Spitoutthebauble · 17/12/2020 08:48

I have def encountered more Mayas.

Spitoutthebauble · 17/12/2020 08:46

All beautiful, I love Siya, Ruhi is gorgeous but Rohini is just gorgeous! If there are lots of Siya then I’d go Rohini with Ruhi nn as then she had the choice of two lovely names. Rohini sounds like she’s going to be presenting the BBC news (in a good way).

Chilldonaldchill · 17/12/2020 07:59

I don't think so. I think the commonest mispronunciation would be Roo-ey.
We have a few friends with children called Rohan and the ones with an Indian background say ro -HARN and the others pronounce it more like Rowan.
That's why I assumed roo-hee as you mentioned your cultural background. Even if someone calls her rooey once they'll learn quickly. An -eye ending is less likely I think.

Original poster
meera454 · 17/12/2020 07:35

@riddles26 Oh wow 7 girls named Siya! I will definitely have to take that into consideration then, maybe we could use it if we give her a middle name...

@PetraRabbit Thank you! I love Ruhi as well, it's different but not in a weird way. The pronunciation of the ending is important to us, I hope most people will say it in a pleasant way and not like "Jay-o" haha that would be awful!

@PolkadotsAndMoonbeams thank you! :) I think Jiya looks the prettiest written down. Ruhi is not my favourite one when written down...

@Myal That's a lovely choice, beautiful name! I guess a name being popular shouldn't be a hinderance in a decision if you really love it, the popularity of it may die down in a few years.

@GeorgiaGirl52 Anjali is a really pretty name, but I ruled it out because we eventually decided that we wanted something a bit simpler and shorter. We started off with a list of longer names and just decided that short and sweet is what we actually prefer.

@MercyBodle That's good to know, I was worried that maybe Ruhi looks like a NN for Rohini or Ruhani. Maya, we would want it to be pronounced like "Mye-a". Really don't like the May-a pronunciation. I think Maya could potentially be mispronounced a lot judging from the advice that everyone has given.

Do you think Ruhi could be mispronounced as "Roo-hye"?

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ChristmasTreeOhChristmasTreeOh · 17/12/2020 07:02

Totally love maya

merlotormalbec · 17/12/2020 07:01

Aw I love Ruhi and it definitely looks like a full name

FiddleFigs · 17/12/2020 00:18

I love Ruhi! Such a pretty name. I think it’s complete on its own. I don’t think it’s difficult to pronounce.

Maya is nice, but v popular if that makes a difference (in my area Maya and Mia both feature prominently in the class registers!).

DD is half Indian and I wanted the name Devi for her, but was vetoed on the grounds that was too close to Dave 😂 Wish I’d thought of Ruhi.

MercyBodle · 17/12/2020 00:18

I think they're all nice, but I really like Ruhi, and my second choice would be Siya. Ruhi works as a stand-alone name.

I would be concerned that with your pronunciation of Maya that it could be confusing. I know several, spelt Maya and Maia, and some are pronounced May-ah, some Mye-ah, and you would be using another pronunciation, Mar-yah (correct me if I've misunderstood).

GeorgiaGirl52 · 17/12/2020 00:16

I ave always loved Anjuli (pronouced "Ann - Julie") and could be Anglicized to Julie).

Myal · 17/12/2020 00:05

I have a Maya. Haven't regretted her name, ever. It's just lovely.
Love Ruhi too

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 16/12/2020 23:57

I like Jiya and Ruhi best.

Jiya also looks lovely and swirly written down (in my handwriting at any rate!).

I'd take the local accent into account too — often at the end of a name, 'a' will become 'uh', but I can think of one that turns it into almost a short 'o' sound (say Nisha, but make the last syllable sound like shot without the t), which I really dislike.

PetraRabbit · 16/12/2020 23:37

Ruhi is beautiful and original.
Maya is really, really boring and samey. It might not be top 10 but it sounds like it. Her class will be full of Mia, Mila etc

riddles26 · 16/12/2020 21:49

My daughter is just over 4 and I know 7 named siya from friends' children/baby classes/childcare. It's also a name I've seen regularly on pieces of work when we visited potential primary schools last year. I absolutely love the name but didn't want her to be one of so many where you need to use first initial of surname to identify exactly who (even more so as our surname is not uncommon and I have no control over that!)

Original poster
meera454 · 16/12/2020 21:16

@Luckyelephant1 I know, it is slightly off putting when a name is incredibly popular but then I guess it's popular because it's a beautiful name which is still easy to say and not overly frilly. I do like the name Diya but it sounds a bit strange when it's not said with the soft 'd' in Hindi and with the more sharp sounding 'd' in English... so I ruled it out for that reason. It's funny because my husband doesn't like the name Maya either! He says it's too popular but I'll keep it on the list anyway just in case he changes his mind haha! Ruhi does look strange written down but then it's so nice when said out loud.

@riddles26 Definitely! The pronunciation is so important to us as well, it just makes life so much easier. I didn't realise how common Siya is within that age group!

@midnightstar66 @nonicknameseemsavailable Ah thanks for sharing! I didn't know that it was so popular amongst non-Indian communities as well! It's the most international name out of the ones I have listed I think. The pronunciation of Maya as May-a is something i really really want to avoid!

@IamnotwhouthinkIam I really like the way you have categorised the four names, Jiya & Maya seem a lot more international than Siya and Ruhi.

Is it a deal breaker if you don't like the way a name looks written down even if you love how it sounds? I am having this issue with the name Ruhi and Siya... they both look strange written down and not as pretty as the modern Aria, Ariana, etc. trendy names these days... I don't want our dd to think we have given her an ugly looking name :(

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EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide · 16/12/2020 20:21

When I was child my best friend was Indian she was called Preya, I still love that name.

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 16/12/2020 20:17

Maya would be my choice - although fairly popular it's pretty and very well used internationally. Jiya would be my second choice if you wanted something less popular - again it's a nice name that's fairly well known in the UK and abroad. Siya and Ruhi are okay but much more unusual and not quite as nice sounding to my ear.

Wellthisismorethanabitgrim · 16/12/2020 19:59

Ruhi is my favourite, it's beautiful

nonicknameseemsavailable · 16/12/2020 19:57

Maya is extremely popular, We know Mayas and Maias of a whole variety of nationalities but round here they are nearly all Polish. Pronunciation varies between May-a and My-a. To be honest it is a name I would really avoid.

Ruhi is lovely I think, Easy to assume the correct pronunciation and spelling.

Cosmosgrowinmygarden · 16/12/2020 19:49

I like Ruhi best, then Jiya.

Trailing1 · 16/12/2020 19:42

Jiya and Ruhi (or Ruhani) are beautiful