DH and the unpronounceable baby names

Joyden or Ritick

Your husband sounds a bit unreasonable in suggesting difficult to pronounce names...We Have many Indian / mixed friends around the world and most of them now prefer more modern names that are slightly Indian sounding, have Indian meaning but are easy to pronounce globally. So picking an Indian name doesn't mean that it has to be a hard to pronounce name. Some names that I have heard from friends & Family that l like are:
Boys:
Aarav
Vihaan
Samar (pronounced "summer")
Kabir
Aarnav
Ishaan
Kiyan / kiyansh
Reyansh
Aryan
Ranbir
Viraj

Girls:
Aliya / Alya
Aarna
Sameera
Samaira
Myra
Meera
Maya
Kiara
Rhea

If you are going for an Indian name, may be give a an English middle name? I feel the name should reflect both your cultures and not just one.

Roshan and Dhillon.

Both names I think work well in English, easy to pronounce.

I know a Tarrin and Ellian, lovely boys

@BabiSiarc explains it really well, especially this point:

wonder if your husband feels similarly? A name like Hari sounds a good compromise for example but perhaps he fears it will just be anglicised to Harry by your family and will lose it's feel as a reflection of his heritage?

DH and I are different ethnicities and cultures. We named DS a name that works in both cultures but is not so common in my culture. Even though I was born and raised in the UK, and DS’s name is from both cultures, I do feel a twinge of sadness that he ultimately has a very anglicised name that does not reflect his mixed heritage.

Ravi is good.

I know a Srijan here in the US.

YANBU.

Rohan is a wonderful name.

I have a friend named Rajesh; not sure if he is Hindu but it's a very stylish and dignified name.

My sister's husband is Indian, they chose Indian names and had similar issues. I'm not sure why your baby will need an Indian name to reflect his culture when it will also be half British. Just seems to roll like that a lot of the time in my experience.

I like Rohan for a boy. I helped search a lot and didn't like many Indian boys names tbh.

It's really unfair to saddle you child with an unpronounceable name. Its also really fucking twatty an arrogant of him to want to do this to his child. How unappealing.

Always loved the name Sachin.

I know a Reish.
Pronounced 'Ray-shh

I think you sound quite sensible. You've also chosen to go with an Indian name so I think it's only fair that he compromises. You both need to agree on a name.

There are just some names that carry over and work better in some cultures than others. I met a Finnish man living in Scotland called Lassi. And likewise, when I was in Japan teaching English there was an English name that all the kids laughed at as obviously, it must have sounded like something dodgy in Japanese. I think it's just practical to take this into consideration. It's not offensive that certain names work and others don't.

Anil
Amir

I know an Ishaan and love it.

Alek
Ashrav
Avi
Bodhi
Danush
Dhilan
Edi
Hari
Jonty
Kamal
Logan
Miki
Orion

These are all names of children I've taught/who have been at school with my DC that might work?

I'd have said Hari would be the obvious one - not least because it would appeal to the OP's parents.

Otherwise, how about Shanti?

In your shoes I’d pick an anglicised name or something that works in both English and Hindi if possible. I wish things were different than this isn’t a considerations, but as he or she grows up, goes for jobs etc your child will likely come off worse due to unconscious bias around his name if it sounds foreign.

I understand why you might choose differently - everyone has different priorities - but as a mixed ethnicity person raised in the UK I can honestly say having an English-sounding name makes a huge difference to how others perceive you.

I would worry that your DH doesn't care if your child is bullied for his name. It would really set alarm bells ringing for him. If his is this insensitve about something so obvious, what his he going to unreasonable about next.

Bit of a leap

Absolutely to what @BabiSiarc said.

My name looks a bit like an English name but it isn't, it isn't spelt the same or said the same.

Whole life - what are you called for short? Can I call you English name?

Answer: I am called Whole Name. And No.

I don't make people spell it correctly anymore unless it's for an official document but they do have to say the whole name. What is it with the English obsession with 'for short' my name isn't difficult!

Is your DH getting pressure from his family to name baby a traditional impressive Indian name?

I’m Indian heritage and was very careful to name my children names that were east to pronounce with the English tongue, and also couldn’t be interchanged with an English word that could be used to tease my DC.

Can you both come up with a longer complicated name (your DH seems to like long names), which could be shortened to a name on your list?

Alternatively wait till you’ve had baby then revisit the names but have a shortlist you’re happy with and push for those.

Is it possible that your husbands family is pressuring him for baby to be named a traditional name from his side picked from a list by a priest? My traditional Hindu friends named their children from a list of options given by their priest, based on their star charts, because those were considered auspicious for the babies.

Ravi is lovely - but you could ah e an English first name and Ida in middle name? The Herriot is there but not pronounced everyday?

Is the surname to be Indian also?

I was grateful to my parents for giving me two names, only one international, that I mostly use now. I got tired of spelling.

I love Ravi and Vijay

@BabiSiarc finally someone who actually gets it 😂

On top of all this, my very traditional British family are piling on the pressure to give the child a "proper" English name like William or George and won't drop the issue.

You really need to tell them very firmly to butt out. I suspect your DH may be more inclined to dig his heels in if they're going on about it constantly.

I am Welsh and my DH is English. His parents are very insistent that I am not 'allowed' to use Welsh names for my child because it's 'cruel'. Every time they say this my list gets 'Welsher'.

In my case I worry that if I use a name like Harri they will ignore the spelling and use Harry. I worry that if I use a name like Aneira they will find an English shortening like Annie and insist on only using that.

It's silly really as names like Harri, Jac and Tomos would work well but I worry they won't be respected in the way a name like Aneurin for example would be.

I wonder if your husband feels similarly? A name like Hari sounds a good compromise for example but perhaps he fears it will just be anglicised to Harry by your family and will lose it's feel as a reflection of his heritage?

Equally your husband needs to be practical and acknowledge some names are easier to use in the UK than others.

For example Myfanwy in Welsh is 'muh-van-we' but most people who don't speak English won't know the letter F is pronounced V in Welsh. So I would never consider it in England - the 'my fanny' jokes are inevitable.

Your husband also has to accept some degree of compromise - you have agreed to use his surname and a first name from his culture but you still have to like the name.

If you had agreed to use an English name and he didn't like Oliver for example I'm sure he wouldn't want you to insist on it.

From experience I can say it is extremely difficult to choose Indian boy names that translate well, especially if you don't want a religious connotation to the name.

I have a Rishi, a name that I didn't think twice about for difficultly pronouncing. Now we have the chancellor people are saying his name correctly but for ages he'd be call "Reeshi". I hated the stress on the initial "i" it's not like it's even a natural stress in English. I think I have to blame Americans for that one.

We spent forever choosing my 2nd son's name. We chose Nikhil in the end. He can go by his full name or Nick in the future. At the moment he gets called Nicky.

I adore Kush but we know 3 so didn't feel right but a lovely name.

My mum loved Soham but I had to point out what the connotation would be for most when they heard it. Huntley was the first thing that popped into my head when she said it even though the name is beautiful. Kovidh is a Hindu name that means wise if you know, you want to name him after the current times. (Joking!)

Whilst most people try very hard with ethnic names because of the softer sounds in Hindi they invariable get butchered by English pronunciation. Anything with "A" for example was out for us as I like the soft "uh" pronunciation but I know it'll all be "ah" here. Ravi had been mentioned loads. I love it too but only as R-uh-vi not R-ah-vi which I'll bet is how 90% of the posters pronounce it.

I also totally think Indian first name and English middle works and would allow your son to go by either when he's older.