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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Robyn, Raphaëlle or Rowan?

59 replies

Lucasboo · 27/01/2023 18:52

Girls names beginning with R (tradition here of naming with initial of grandparent. For a girl so far
Robyn (Robbie)
Raphaëlle
Rowan
Rain
Ruri (Japanese name not Irish)
Romy
Reva

Any others apart from Rose

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FlutterbButterfly · 28/01/2023 22:49

Rowan is lovely, I know more girl Rowans than boys and I'm a teacher.

How about Remi? Raya? Rae?

LaTangerina · 28/01/2023 21:46

Richelle ?

unvillage · 28/01/2023 21:35

Can you pronounce Ruri? You know the Japanese R is not the same as the English R? If you pronounce it Roo-ri please don't pretend it's a Japanese name, it's so far removed from that.

Romy, Robyn are lovely and Raphaella would be nice too. How about Raquel? Or Rachel or Rachelle?

Viviennemary · 28/01/2023 21:19

I dont mind Robyn. Not keen on any of the others.,

TheOriginalEmu · 28/01/2023 21:15

YouJustDoYou · 28/01/2023 09:14

It's not. It's as I said, hard L. Japanese mixed race family here.

Show quote history

I’m also half japanese. And a linguistics graduate. The sound made in : Ra, ri, ru, re, & ro in Japanese is called a apico-alveolar tap [ɾ], it sometimes is a alveolar lateral approximant [l] or as you say ‘hard L’, but it’s usually not. The sound is like a combination of L, R and a little bit of D.

ofwarren · 28/01/2023 18:33

Robyn (Robbie) - Not my taste but a perfectly fine name. I don't like Robbie as a nickname though.
Raphaëlle - Is this pronounced the same way as the boy version? If it is, I wouldn't choose it.
Rowan - Again, not my taste but I wouldn't bat an eyelid if I knew someone with that name
Rain - No, I'm really not a fan
Ruri (Japanese name not Irish) - I don't like the sound of this one.
Romy - Lovely name
Reva - Lovely name. Does remind me of Reeva Steenkamp but she was a beautiful woman so that wouldn't be a problem for me.

Wrongsideofpennines · 28/01/2023 18:21

I know someone called Raine, but spelt like that with an e on the end. I like Raphaelle but would just have it spelt the anglicised way to avoid confusion or frustration if people miss it off. Rowan I think more of a boys name. Robyn is nice - I would shorten to Bobbie.

What about Rosalie or Romilly?

ANewDayDawned · 28/01/2023 18:20

Yes to Robyn, Reagan, Roslyn, Rosamund, Rita

BridieConvert · 28/01/2023 18:14

I like Robyn and Rowan from your list.

I'd also add Raegan and Ruby

BridieConvert · 28/01/2023 18:12

CallieQ · 28/01/2023 01:14

Rowan is a boys name

I only know it as a girls name in Scotland

mynewname25 · 28/01/2023 11:31

My favourite R names for a girl are

Reeva
Remi
Rya
Raven

Swingingonastar77 · 28/01/2023 10:45

I love Robyn and Roberta

Giggorata · 28/01/2023 10:43

Rowan is more usually a boy's name. Why not the more feminine Rowena?

Raphaelle is OK, but as it is more usually heard as a boy's name, as Raphael, why not Raphaella? The diaresis will never be used in the UK.

Robyn, I don't like it spelt with a y, it seems unnecessarily fussy.

Rain will produce endless teasing

Ruri will always be mistaken for Ruari, Rory

Romy and Reva sound like something off Star Trek.

EyesOnThePies · 28/01/2023 10:35

Are you 100% committed and embracing of the R thing?

I would drop for a first name it unless I absolutely loved a name as a favourite.

EyesOnThePies · 28/01/2023 10:33

Not Rain (any spelling).
Lifelong ‘witticisms’
Rain rain go away
Acid Rain
etc

Zola1 · 28/01/2023 10:30

Remi
Rosa
Roma

Out of your list I like Reeva

Rauha · 28/01/2023 10:26

Raphaëlle is my favourite from your list

rattlinbog · 28/01/2023 10:25

Blufelt · 27/01/2023 22:24

Why would you give a British child a name with an umlaut in it? Bizarre if you have no connection to any country which uses umlauts in its language. And why would you add an umlaut to a French/Hebrew name anyway, when those languages don’t use umlauts?

How weird... the French word for Christmas is Noël. It's a diaeresis that separates the vowels into separate syllables.

LeCarre · 28/01/2023 10:17

Rowena
Rowenne

Actually maybe just get a name dictionary lol

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 28/01/2023 10:15

Lucasboo · 28/01/2023 09:33

It isn’t an umlaut it’s a dieresis and is very much part of the French language. It shows how the name should be pronounced (with seperate vowel sounds)

Show quote history

It’s very nice to see a parent considering a name with a diacritic who actually knows what it’s called and what it does

As pp said you can’t have any diacritics on UK passports but this is really not a big deal. French people omit the diacritics from capital letters so often in everyday use that it doesn’t look especially jarring to me, and how often do you read your own passport?

Raphaëlle is lovely but people will have to learn the spelling and you will get some eccentric attempts on party invitations and birthday cards.

My favourite R names are Romilly and Rosemary.

fairtrauchled · 28/01/2023 09:54

Ruth
Rachel
Rhonda
Ruby
Reagan
Remi
Rhea
Rosalie
Ramona
Rowena

Findyourneutralspace · 28/01/2023 09:36

Rhiannon
Roisin
Rosa

PermanentTemporary · 28/01/2023 09:36

I knew a female Rowan at school so it's at least unisex to me. Isn't one of the girls in Wicker Man called Rowan?

Original poster

Lucasboo · 28/01/2023 09:35

Interesting thank you. It is a family name from my mum’s side but didn’t realise about the passport thing

OP posts:

Original poster

Lucasboo · 28/01/2023 09:33

Blufelt · 27/01/2023 22:24

It isn’t an umlaut it’s a dieresis and is very much part of the French language. It shows how the name should be pronounced (with seperate vowel sounds)

OP posts:

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