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Baby names

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

Original poster

Names you love that don’t work in English

156 replies

MangosteenSoda · 13/04/2021 19:54

A name on another thread made me think about this...

I love Manon in a French speaking environment and I like Belen in Spain, but think neither work well in an English speaking environment.

Are there any names you feel like this about? I’d occasionally come across a name in my expat (and childbearing) days and think YES, then, oh no.

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Blyatiful · 13/04/2021 21:27

Daria - sounds like diarrhoea.
Dasha - like one of Santa’s reindeer.

How do you pronounce Saskia in Dutch? Is it a slightly longer “a” sound, so more of a Saaskia?

TatianaBis · 13/04/2021 21:20

I think it depends on the people around you. I don't know anyone who doesn't know how to pronounce Manon or Anais.

You might get some people saying Manonn or Anay in the UK. But then my sister gets many people mispronouncing her English name.

LadyIsabellaWrotham · 13/04/2021 21:02

I think lots of those are absolutely fine, apart form Line which is clearly unsustainable in England and Boglarka, which is the one which immediately leapt to my mind when I saw the title.

Original poster
MangosteenSoda · 13/04/2021 20:58

I used to think that after explaining the pronunciation a couple of times, people would get it, but it’s usually not like that. My mum forever mangles foreign names no matter how much she tries. I lived abroad for ages, so I understood this before my DS was born which put me off being adventurous Grin

OP posts:
ILoveStickers · 13/04/2021 20:54

In French, Astrid is often spelled as Astride - it's so nice in French and so unfortunate in English!

Then there's all the Italian boys' names like Andrea and Nicola which become so confusing in England...

LesserBother · 13/04/2021 20:51

I really like Søren but couldn't commit a poor child to a lifetime of people not being able to enter their name into computer systems etc.

dementedma · 13/04/2021 20:48

My sis lives in Belgium so kids needed names that worked in both languages. She nailed it with Beatrice/Bèatrice and Freddie/ Frédéric but had a brain fart with Ralph, which in French sounds like someone being sick

Kolo · 13/04/2021 20:48

Fanish? How'd that even get through autocorrect?

Kolo · 13/04/2021 20:47

When discussing names with my Fanish husband, I really liked the Danish girls name 'Line'. In Danish its pronounced sort of leena. In the uk everyone would call her line as in straight line. I still really loved it and desperately tried to convince myself it would be ok. Then we had a boy anyway.

sleepy78 · 13/04/2021 20:44

lockdownbear Agnès sounds a bit like Anyes in France.

I live in France and wanted my kids to have names that were sort of close in pronounciation in English and French... it was actually very tricky! One example - I like Arthur in French but not English... and Mathieu... and lots more!

BaggoMcoys · 13/04/2021 20:39

Oops just realised the name in your op was Belen, so ignore me!

BaggoMcoys · 13/04/2021 20:38

How is Benon pronounced op? I once worked with a Benon, but we only interacted by email so I never heard his name said out loud. I always wondered if the way I pronounced it in my head was correct. I read it as Beh-non.

Original poster
MangosteenSoda · 13/04/2021 20:35

I like a lot of these names a lot!

How is Saskia pronounced in Dutch?

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EntreMummy · 13/04/2021 20:34

Camille in French. One of my favourite names. Mimi for short. (Sounds like Camee, you don’t sound the “l”)

Whereas I really dislike the English pronunciation

whatausername · 13/04/2021 20:31

Amelie
Elodie

whatausername · 13/04/2021 20:30

Valentine

ValerieMorghulis · 13/04/2021 20:25

Cinzia.

It’s my perfect Italian name but sounds awful when people don’t know how to pronounce it!

Chicchicchicchiclana · 13/04/2021 20:25

Sheherazade. Lovely name but no one knows how to deal with it in English.

BlackLambAndGreyFalcoln · 13/04/2021 20:24

Anastasia - the English mispronunciation is awful.
Saskia- much prefer the Dutch pronunciation.
Maren - sounds lovely in German, but it doesn't rhyme with Karen!

RickOShay · 13/04/2021 20:23

Tiago. Such a lovely name. Sadly I’m not Portuguese.

Lockdownbear · 13/04/2021 20:23

I'm trying to think what word has a soft g?
Trying to figure how Agnes sounds different.

Original poster
MangosteenSoda · 13/04/2021 20:22

YY to Indian names. Anal is pretty in India, not so much in the UK Blush

I remember a thread from ages ago about the Hungarian (I think) name Boglarka which was super popular in Hungary, but less good here.

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Hufflepuffsunite · 13/04/2021 20:20

I love the name Anaïs, with the French pronunciation, but really dislike the English way of saying it.

EugeniaGrace · 13/04/2021 20:19

I like Agnieszka though.

catscatsallthecats · 13/04/2021 20:18

@EugeniaGrace I had a university friend called Agnes who pronounced it with a soft g. Very pretty name.

I love James (pronounced Ha-mez) for a boys name but not James (pronounced James) Grin