DH and the unpronounceable baby names

I’m really amused by the post as I once had an Indian friend called Dave. His parents had named him this as it was an abbreviation of both David and Dewinder, so in their eyes suitable for both India and the UK. Poor boy spent his life trying to explain this to people who insisted that he couldn’t be called this on official documents!

Congratulations x

Thanks for the update OP. Congratulations on the birth of your son (and on the agreement on naming him).

Ooh lovely 😊 congratulations

i think its nice to pick a name that will reflect his heritage ,but i agree with you it has to be fairly easy to prounounce , if its really difficult it will cause problems for him when hes older , your child is constantly going to have to correct and explain over to his peers and teachers how to say it . years ago i we had a locum pharmacist covering in our store with a really hard to pronounce name , i tried my hardest , but so many times i misprounced it and it was embarressing for me to say the least , luckily he was a great laid back guy and laughed when he had to correct me , i really like niren ,nyan ,ishaan and rohan . they are great names for him .

its up to you what you and your husband call him ,not your family , why would you want to call him a boring english name like george or charles when you can name him niren or nyan honestly
my daughter is white and goes to a school where shes likely outnumbered by the high ratio of bame students , most of these kids im sure were probobly born in the uk yet they all have names to reflect their african or asian heritage , their parents havent called them a tradtional english name so they fit in and so they shouldnt . two of her good friends are indian and have lovely beautiful names that are easy to prounce as well .

Oops sorry didn’t see last post! Congrats on your baby and name OP. You sound really sensitive to keeping your DH’s culture.

Congratulations new wee baby

With regards to your family, they get no say whatsoever. You could call your child “spaceship” if you wanted and their job is to smile and nod and say how lovely.
I’d go with a name that has to be agreed by both and either can veto any name for any reason.

Excellent update, OP.

@YouWereGr8InLittleMenstruators

Not Soham - unfortunate connotations

We had so many blocks with names that we ended up with no boys names at all. Luckily she was a girl.

If you don't know what you're having, can you compromise and say if it's a girl she gets an Indian and if it's a boy he gets an English name - that way you can choose something more familiar to Anglicised ears

The baby is here and named.

If you don't know what you're having, can you compromise and say if it's a girl she gets an Indian and if it's a boy he gets an English name - that way you can choose something more familiar to Anglicised ears?

This thread is a fascinating insight into the need many people have, to share their opinion, even if it's 6 months out of date and entirely irrelevant

Congratulations on your son and getting to choose a name that works well for you both 🥳

@RampantIvy same here. I have a Scottish name and my DD's is French/English. We both have to spell out names out and they're not that unusual.

My best friend is Hindi

No she isn't. You best friend is Hindu. Hindi is the language of most Hindus.

Same as a person isn't Arabic. They are Arab. They speak Arabic, or eat arabic food but they themselves are not arabic.

I'll probably get flamed for this but why don't you go for a British first name and have an Indian middle name? They are half British too and living in Britain. It would allow you to reflect both sides of their heritage and mean having an Indian name that will probably be mispronounced won't be a problem so you won't have to worry about it

The OP has updated. The baby is here and named

I'll probably get flamed for this but why don't you go for a British first name and have an Indian middle name? They are half British too and living in Britain. It would allow you to reflect both sides of their heritage and mean having an Indian name that will probably be mispronounced won't be a problem so you won't have to worry about it.

[quote HopefulRose]Your husband is NOT being unreasonable here - British people are lazy and insensitive when it comes to pronouncing names from other cultures. What’s more important to you, finding a name you are both happy with and that respects your husband’s heritage or finding a name that’s easy for other British people to pronounce?

I don’t wish to sound rude but please educate yourself into the microaggressions that people of colour face.

Article you might find useful here www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210108-the-signals-we-send-when-we-get-names-wrong[/quote]
I think the issue could be with the spelling, not the name itself. I have an unusual name, which isn't exactly difficult to spell, but I find it ridiculously irritating to have to spell my name for people all the time.

My children are mixed race too, white and Asian (indian). We named our first son Dylan, as I’m welsh, and our daughter Zahra. So one from each.

My best friend is Hindi and her brother is called Mouli. She also has a cousin called Harsha. Her father was Rao and her husband is Varma.

Your husband is NOT being unreasonable here - British people are lazy and insensitive when it comes to pronouncing names from other cultures. What’s more important to you, finding a name you are both happy with and that respects your husband’s heritage or finding a name that’s easy for other British people to pronounce?

I don’t wish to sound rude but please educate yourself into the microaggressions that people of colour face.

Article you might find useful here www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210108-the-signals-we-send-when-we-get-names-wrong

Aadi is nice, and kind of indeterminate in terms of culture, as Ade is a short form of a number of Nigerian names, and trips of the tongue. It's easy to say. The spelling denotes the cultural origins.

I think you do need to think about being teased, because a shy child will feel awkward. It may make the adults feel better to tackle teasing, but it won't help the owner of the names as much.

Reporting back - yes, the baby is born and is now named! We had a boy and I am happy to say we found a first name that we both agreed on. It is easy to pronounce and while not very common or trendy, it is the name that many people in the UK will have heard of at some point because it is the name of a famous Indian person (think someone in sports or culture) that will be familiar to many in this country. Don't want to share as it's too outing! DH continued to push for some very eccentric names right up until the week of the birth and my Indian girlfriends begged me not to use them!!

I think after he saw me give birth and what I went through he was willing to let me call the kid whatever I wanted

That's a great update