Name Koa for a boy?

I wonder if your baby has already arrived OP but I gave birth to a Koa this year. We’re not Hawaiian but absolutely adore the name and was the only one we really agreed on. Go for it if you like it!

I've never heard of it but it's a great name @Soph903

It sounds strong and handsome to me. A good leadership name. Really love it!

(I am very passed the age of babies now so I'm going to keep this in my pocket for any future pets!)

I thought that was a codicil.

It's also a word for an addendum to a person's Will.

I love these threads! As soon as OP says they have a younique name they want to use but aren’t sure about, it’s
name-bingo for everyone else to pile in and say they personally know at least 3 children for each of the suggested names. Double points for siblings and a bonus for one child with more than one of the names suggested.
Just call him Arlo. There’s so many of them that they’ll band together in the Arlo Club by secondary school just as the George Club did in my DS’s. Ready made mates 😎
Seriously, if you’re coming on here to ask about your name choice, you’re not really sold on it yourself, are you?

I quite like it. What about Bodhi? Similar in style and has a beautiful meaning

I think it’s a nice name, I personally wouldn’t use it though because I have no link to the culture.

Whilst a bunch of 20 plus somethings might think it’s okay to “borrow” the name I know allot of younger people that wouldn’t. There is allot of sensitivity around certain cultures taking from other cultures.

Im not trying to start a debate on cultural appreciation (honest) but taking a name from another culture can be (and is) considered cultural appropriation. You see a name, you like the name, you take it, with no link to the culture whatsoever.

I don’t think we can compare using names of French/Germanic origins.

You obviously aren’t sure about using it, which is why you asked, so that’s my honest opinion.

Many congratulations on your little boy, good luck with finding a name it’s so difficult. Pick a unique name that won’t cause your little boy to have to explain his lack of a link to the culture it’s taken from.

Noah and Arlo are top 20 names that are 'of their time' and are unremarkable. I'd bat an eyelid at Cove as it has connotations.

Congratulations on your pregnancy 💙

I think Koa is a lovely name, strong sounding yet sweet and melodic. Go for it, I am sure it will befit your beautiful boy perfectly.

I don't get all the posts here negging on the name. It fits in very well with modern name trends and isn't weird or notable or liable to get harshly judged any more than any other name.

When I was growing up you'd never hear of a Noah or Arlo or Cove, but times have changed and nobody bats an eyelid, they just enjoy the sound and feeling of them.

I really like Koa! I think this spelling is the best. I've seen Noah spelt Noa which I like too, makes it stand out a bit (though I am aware it would sound the same in the playground)

Arlo is very popular and Oakley is reasonably well known too.

Other unusual names - Aston, Axel, Bodhi, Bram, Cassius, Flynn, Harlo, Holden, Lando, Lux, Micah, Nate, Otis, Rafe, Shay, Tate, Wyatt

I think it's OK, however I have heard of a couple very recently, so it may not be too unusual in a few years if that's a concern for you.

https://www.wood-database.com/koa/

Koa?

That's the name of a type of wood, isn't it?

I think they make good quality guitars out of it.

Same

@TheOriginalEmu , You do not need a TV licence to listen to BBC radio on BBC Sounds. You do need a TV licence to watch BBC iPlayer.
Do I need a TV licence to listen to BBC radio online? | BBC Sounds

I posted a simple comment on here only to get lectured over and over again about how you pronounce English words and how I can't distinguish between sounds.

Stop derailing the thread.

You are taking my points completely the wrong way and being quite rude tbh. I am not insulting you by saying you may not be able to hear the difference, it’s just how brains work. If you DO hear the difference then great, you’ll understand how in south wales accents at least high and cai don’t have the same vowel. I posted a link with the difference. I can’t use any bbc affiliated links because I don’t have a tv license and I can’t sigh in without one. But I have seen plenty of pobol y cwm to know they say it like I say it, but the word high or kite is not the same in our accent so posting people saying cai is only half the story, you need the other sound.

It’s definitely not a huge deal for me and I lived with a guy named Llyr with multi-national housemates for long enough to understand that close enough is good enough! I’m not an accent purist by any means, and I don’t know if I’ve someone given the impression I am to but it wasn’t my intention.

Sorry but Koa and Oakley are try-hard and chavvy names for me. On that basis, I'd go for Arlo.

Thanks, this has definitely cleared it up for me. I can hear a very subtle difference in the first vowel between recording one and three. Not enough for me to personally see it as a big deal but I can see how it could be a bugbear for some Welsh people.

My exes Granny was Irish and would go crazy at me for how I’d say his name (Eamonn). She’d insist I got the first vowel wrong but I simply couldn’t emulate her! I’d say AY-mun and she’d shout at me and I’d try and correct myself to closer to her pronunciation and it would come out “EE-mun” and she’d scream at me even louder. I genuinely couldn’t help it. I just wasn’t a native Irish speaker. And neither was he lol!

Back to Koa, if you like it @Soph903 , use it. It seems to have a strong meaning.
Best wishes with your pregnancy.

@TheOriginalEmu
You seem quite upset and I’m not sure why really.
Because you are annoying and you keep saying I can't distinguish between sounds.

I don’t know what you know about language, I don’t know you. I was trying to explain why it might be that you don’t hear a distinction...
I DO hear distinctions between sounds. Stop telling me I don't.

I know how Cai is pronounced in my accent, I know how high is pronounced in my accent. They are not the same sound. That’s all my point is.
You said you have the same accent as the Pobol y Cwm Cai actor. His screen family say it the same way as I, the people I know IRL who are called Cai or have a Cai in their family, Mali Harries and the cast of Rownd a Rownd say it.
I don't care how you say high. It is fairly clear that you think that your pronunciation is the only one that is correct.

I don’t know what your accent is but if you don’t hear them differently then chances are you don’t have that distinction in yours.
Which part of there is nothing wrong with my ability to hear sounds are you struggling to understand?

https://www.howtopronounce.com/cai

If you click the first and 3rd pronunciations there, to me they are not the same. I say it like the 3rd lady, the man is saying it how I would pronounce the vowel in high.

Ok. You seem quite upset and I’m not sure why really. I don’t know what you know about language, I don’t know you. I was trying to explain why it might be that you don’t hear a distinction, using dark L as an example. I wasn’t suggesting you don’t hear the difference in those Ls. It’s not an insult to say some people don’t hear distinctions between sounds; it’s just factual that If those sounds are the same phoneme in your accent/language your brain filters out that difference as unimportant.
I know how Cai is pronounced in my accent, I know how high is pronounced in my accent. They are not the same sound. That’s all my point is. I don’t know what your accent is but if you don’t hear them differently then chances are you don’t have that distinction in yours.

@Gibs0nGirl Well spotted, there’s so much of it on MN these days.