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Updated shortlist: Shanaya, Serena, Eliana for a baby girl (Indian)

33 replies

meera454 · 21/12/2020 12:01

Shortlist: (top 2 = Shanaya or Serena)
Shanaya (pronounced SHA-NAAA-YA, like Shania Twain), the spelling Shanaya is the Indian spelling
Serena
Elina/ Eliana (saw these on another thread and think they're quite pretty and Indian-sounding), similar to the Indian names Leena, Leela and Ila but different.

As a wild one... we quite like Larissa (totally unrelated to our culture but we like the name and it is our Western name option incase we decide to go for a completely western name. Would this suit a British Indian baby or is it too Greek/Russian?)

The ones we ruled out thanks to all of your wonderful and helpful comments:

Jiya (sounds like jeer)
Ruhi/ Rohini/ Ruhani (not international enough, too old school for us)
Maya (overused and a bit bland for us)
Siya (sounds like see-ya later)
Ananya (sounds like a-nun)
Aria (masculine name in some cultures, harsh sounds to our ears)
Leela (too simple as a first name and overly common in India, parents not keen on it)
Anushka and Anya (too harsh sounding)

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YoniAndGuy · 21/12/2020 17:58

Serena is the one I'd go for if you are aiming at a name which will also work in Western culture. It's lovely, familiar, unusual but not unknown, lovely sound.

meera454 · 21/12/2020 17:39

@Redcart21 Thank you for your suggestions! Helpful to know that Eliana is such an international name. Sha-ny-a is the pronunciation im after, like shun-eye-a :)

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Redcart21 · 21/12/2020 16:41

Love Serena. I like Shanaya too but if you hadn’t spelt it out, I would have pronounced it Sha-ny-a. That may not bother you though.
Eliana is a gorgeous name too. I think it’s quite international too as I know 3- 1 english and 2 African.

meera454 · 21/12/2020 16:01

Thanks @M0rT and @Zofloratheexplora ! :)

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Zofloratheexplora · 21/12/2020 14:48

I like Larissa and Serena

M0rT · 21/12/2020 14:45

I like Eliana and Larissa, I didn't even know Larissa was Greek/Russian so definitely not too much so Smile

meera454 · 21/12/2020 14:41

@MercyBodle I think when you say Anya in an Indian accent and in Hindi, it can sound a but harsher than the other names, the 'n' and 'y' is stressed a lot more

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MercyBodle · 21/12/2020 12:39

I like Serena or Larissa (perfectly fine for any baby -not too Greek/Russian).

(And I can't hear anything harsh sounding about Anya - very gentle to my ears!)