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Baby names

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

Original poster

Short name for a trilingual kid

217 replies

BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 10:46

Dear mums, it's the first time I am writing here, but I read this forum quite a lot before :)
We are getting a second baby soon, and we won't know the gender until birth, so I am preparing two sets of names.
We would like a short first name (3-5 letters maximum), but to make it more complicated, it should sound well and have no negative associations in 3 languages.
I am Russian, my husband is German and we have lived in England for the past 7 years and are planning to stay for at least a few more. We have filtered out quite a few names based on our knowledge of German and Russian culture, however I would be grateful for advice from native British mums. For example, after having read through some threads here, I realised that Kai and Ian are not widely accepted in the UK.
Ok, to cut it short, we came up with the following names and I would like to hear your opinions or suggestions.
Important: it's not really about personal opinions on the name itself - we all have our tastes. It's more about cultural acceptance and country associations I may not be aware of. Also, the name may sound exotic in one of the languages, but still sound pleasant. Thank you!

For girls, we are thinking about Liv (as a full name) or Zoe.
The middle name will be Anastasia (connected to a family situation)
I am not up for Olivia, but my concern is that there are many baby Olivias nowadays whose names are probably shortened to Liv?

For boys, we are considering Elias or Jan. Middle name is still to be chosen. Maybe Theodor.
I am not sure if Jan will always be pronunciation correctly (/Yan/), and Elias seems to be getting too popular in Germany (my concern), but not so in the UK.

Whay do you think about these 4: Liv - Zoe, Elias - Jan? Any other suggestions?
Please be mindful with "I like / I don't like" as you may hurt someone's feelings. Again, it's more about general cultural acceptance.

Many thanks!

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AntiHop · 05/08/2021 20:50

Anna or Maria work in multiple languages.

Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:48

@EllaBlaire

Ian - there are lots of them about but mainly over 40. It’s a bit like Gary. Maybe in 20 years it will come round again.

Kai - sounds a little bit chavvy to me, sorry.

Love pp suggestion of Ida. Zoe is nice too.

Jan - yes it is often short for Janet, but mainly in women over 50, so people shouldn’t have too much difficulty pronouncing it Yan when they discover it’s a little boy.

That's exactly what I understood from the general feeling towards Ian and Kai, yes... and Jan - exactly my concern, thank you for confirming!

Ida is just not too Russian, but Liv also not Russian at all, so I cannot complain :) Will think about Ida, and fingers crossed it's a girl, as it seems I have more variants for her :)

OP posts:
Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:46

@ZoyaTheDestroyer

I think how people sight-read Jan will depend on the surname: Jan Smith might get /dʒæn/ (jan) but Jan Schmidt would be much more likely to get /jæn/ (yan).
Really good point. The surname is unfortunately not too German-looking, although pronounced slightly differently in English and German, too.

Oh my, I hope it's a girl then, too many complications with boys names.... :)))

OP posts:
Dudelsack · 05/08/2021 20:45

For a girl I like Nika. The only Nika I know is Russian so Im assuming that it is known in Russia name. In english and German I think its clear how to pronounce it and that it is a girls name.

For boys I would probably want to go down the traditional route with something along the lines of David, Daniel or Thomas.

Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:44

@BlackLambAndGreyFalcon

And Anastasia won't be pronounced the Russian way - but if it's a middle name it probably won't matter too much.
Yes, same thing, the kid can decide and some point, and I am fine with all variations. I am also slightly adjusting my name when speaking different languages, and oh, my surname sounds very weird in German :)))) But it's ok, I am used to it, drawbacks of a multilingual family, or benefits :)
OP posts:
user89764 · 05/08/2021 20:44

As it's a boy's name I'd assume Jan was pronounced "Yan" which is very much a male name. I know a male Jan though so whilst it's my first thought might not be others.

Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:41

@BlackLambAndGreyFalcon

How do will you be pronouncing Elias? In English it's traditionally pronounced "El-EYE-as" but we have a German Elias in our school (which should be pronounced "El-EE-us") but many British people can't seem to get their head around this pronunciation and it comes out as "ELLY-ass". Just something to bear in mind!
We'll just be pronouncing it slightly differently in different languages I guess :) My elder kid is fluent in 3 languages and responds to variations of his name, especially the Russian one sounds a bit stronger than the others. Funnily, he presents himself differently when speaking different languages. I am happy for him to decide on whichever he likes when he grows older... Although yes, that's a good point to consider overall.
OP posts:
dementedma · 05/08/2021 20:39

Ian is nice. I think Jan will be pronounced with "j" sound leading to people thinking its a girl.
Elias is lovely.
Zoe and Liv are ok.
What about Anna?

Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:35

[quote queenmeadhbh]@BigHedgehog just a side point, I somehow got the impression from your posts that Ian and Jan are same pronunciation different spelling - Jan is “Yan”, one syllable, but “Ian” is more like EE-uhn, two syllables.

Sorry if I picked it up wrong and you know that already![/quote]
Oh yes, I considered them as similar but different names, yes. The English pronunciation would be different, but in any case my husband is not keen on Ian from the German perspective, so I crossed it out (also after reading multiple forums)

OP posts:
Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:33

@Sunshinegirl82

How about Ivo instead of Ian?
Great name, but I have a strong association with it (a lot of people of my age would have it in Russia), just difficult to get rid off...
OP posts:
Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:27

@Ozanj

Max for a boy, Ida / Iris for a girl
Love the name Max, and it was suggested many times here, but.... It's my husband's name :) and he alsio doesn't have a full form, just Max, so it's a kind of a family tradition. His brother also has a 3-letter name which sounds a short form of a longer name
OP posts:
Original poster
BigHedgehog · 05/08/2021 20:25

@QueenStromba

Don't call your baby Elias if your surname starts with an S. My first name ends with the same letter as my surname and I hate it. I can't just say my name normally, I have to put a clunky long gap on the middle and end up having to spell my surname most of the time anyway.
Thank you, yes, it starts with S, but is pronounced as Sh in German, so should be fine, I guess, but it does bother me a tiny bit, yes... The problem is, we don't really have a good alternative :)
OP posts:
Yahtze · 05/08/2021 17:19

Or Lukas?

Yahtze · 05/08/2021 17:18

Toma (Thomas) for a boy?

LynetteScavo · 05/08/2021 17:06

To me Ian and Jan are two very different names.

Ian = Eee-un
Jan = Yan

Zoe is lovely, timeless classic and a tiny but funky and cool.
Liv seems like it's short for something else to me.

Max?
Ivan?
Lena?
Mila?

thriftyhen · 05/08/2021 17:03

Would you consider Max or Luka for a boy, or Anna or Eva for a girl?

LadyCatStark · 05/08/2021 16:41

Liv and Zoe are fine. Elias and Jan are too. The only child I’ve ever met called Ian was the wettest child I’ve ever met. He was in year 6 when DS was in reception and I got taken to one side by the TA to say that DS (aged 4) had punched a year 6. I was surprised at this as DS isn’t aggressive in the slightest and people often commented on his gentle nature. When I got to the bottom of it, DS had given him a fist bump as a thank you for holding the door open for him 🙈🙈🙈.

OverTheWater · 05/08/2021 16:40

I think Ian is pretty timeless particularly in Scotland, and it's a great name.

Jan is also lovely, traditional in some parts of the UK e.g. Cornwall and people will get the hang of saying it quickly- as long as you don't mind correcting them once/twice I'm sure it would be fine.

I do know a lot of Olivias known as Liv.

dft6432 · 05/08/2021 16:39

@Coogee

I’m also surprised about Ian. It’s a widely used British name, and not just for 40 year old IT consultants.
You've described my friend Ian perfectly ;)
Feather12 · 05/08/2021 16:34

Ian is just seen as an old fashioned name here, many babies in the 60s/70s were called Ian, maybe due a comeback at some point? Jan is fine, I don’t think any babies have been called Janet since the 50s so if I saw Jan, I would assume it is Yan. Not sure about it rhyming with your last name though, it could sound a bit like a cartoon character.

BrownEyedSquirrel · 05/08/2021 16:26

Zoe or Elias. Both lovely.

Caspianberg · 05/08/2021 16:25

Ida/ iris aren’t pronounced the same in German. I is more like ‘ee’, so would sound like ee-da and ee-ris

ZeusandClio · 05/08/2021 16:25

Spanish/Catalan/English here. I have Natalia, Saskia and Alex - easy to read, spell and pronounce and can't be translated!

Ozanj · 05/08/2021 16:22

Max for a boy, Ida / Iris for a girl

ODFOx · 05/08/2021 16:19

Kia
Jon

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