Naming your child something that is difficult to pronounce in English.

My husband wanted to give our son a Welsh name that requires one to be able to roll their r's really easily - Arfon, and the f is said like the English v. I can't really say it properly as being born and bred in England we're simply not taught to roll our r's with ease. So he has a different name. My son now wishes he was given that fairly unusual Welsh name, he speaks Welsh and can pronounce all the letters easily, he thinks it would have been really cool to have an unusual, very Welsh name. Despite the fact that his Grandad would have called him Half-on (dropping the H).

My husband has a fairly unusual Welsh name his mum loved (and I struggle to say!) but she gave him a very English easy middle name in case he'd rather something less unusual. He stuck with the original first name but has a whole range of nicknames from locals and English friends, which he is totally happy with!

I'd say go for it if both of you love it, your husband may get it eventually, give her a easy English option as a middle name?

My children have mixed heritage. We chose English names as first names and other heritage names as middle names. All spelled correctly and easy to spell, pronounce and shorten. It isn't difficult and as parents we need to make sure our children can navigate society as painlessly as possible.
Giving a child a child a name nobody can pronounce or spell is cruel and egotistical.

Our heritage is Scandinavian. The children are bilingual.
We have adapter the childrens' names so they are well known in English.
They work in Scandinavian too but the names are pronounced slightly different.
It's so much easier than a 'strange-foreign- name' and the child known for thatsll the time.

Yes. Very cruel. I was that child. Bullied and teased my whole school life because of it. I told my husband that when we had children, I would veto any name which put my child in the awful spotlight of being the one with the tricky name, he was happy with that, and all ours have middle of the road classic names. I beg you not to give your child a tricky (in England) name.

Don't do it, everyone will just pronounce it wrong. I know so many people who have had to change their names to something 'easier', it shouldn't be necessary, but unfortunately it is

My parents, well grandparents really, were from a selection of different cultures!

My middle name is weird looking to Anglophile eyes, not quite pronounced how it's spelt and very unusual, it's a place name (from my dad's country) rather than a commonly used given name (from any culture). Along with my awkwardly spelt Irish surname, I am quite pleased that's it my middle name.

Obviously dad couldn't let me fly under the radar with my first name either. It's a well known name, but so very heavily linked to a particular literary character that my childhood was peppered with constant references to her.

I have three kids and all three have names that are either hard to pronounce or present opposite sex in the country we live in. Kids say they do not mind it, but I mind it, because people butcher their beautiful names. If I were to do it again, I would definitively pick different names of spell them differently at least. Definitely give her a name that people around her can pronounce and your favourite name can be her middle name so you can call her that.

Yes but in most cases there is a similar sound or a way to facilitate pronunciation

There are sounds in many languages which cannot be replicated and make pronunciation, even phonetically, nigh on impossible regardless of the persons dis/inclination to try.

Take the Ll sound in Welsh, names like Lleucu, Llewelyn, Esyllt would be very difficult for anyone not exposed to the sound in childhood to replicate.

Disagree.
Some Gamons/Reform voters/Tories simply don’t attempt or entertain a name if it isn’t Ingerlish
Be it Irish,Scottish,Welsh , Dutch,or African names - the ingerlish just won’t go there and make up excuses oh it too hard to pronounce
Utter Rubbish! Every name can be broken down phonetically for pronunciation

Effie is beautiful

I allowed my non English father to name my child. I do love the name but discovered later on that it's the equivalent of Doris in her grandfather's country. It's not a problem though because it's a really pretty name. Having said that, it is one of those names that get mispronounced because of the way it's spelt. She hated it when she was younger but loves it now.

Make it a middle name.

DH just glares at people and says it extremely slowly till people get it. I wouldn’t change any or our names for anyone.
Even though your husband sees it as a reason to be hostile to people you've just met?

I think it depends how much the mispronunciation would annoy you. When we were looking at Danish names (husband is Danish but we live in the UK) he preferred something that most English speaking people would have half a chance of pronouncing. It rules out an awful lot of Danish names, even ones that look phonetically simple are often just about impossible for a native English speaker to pronounce correctly according to a Danish person.

There are a lot of Danish names that i still can't pronounce correctly, despite knowing how to in theory. I can hear the sound in my head and i can hear other people pronouncing them incorrectly, but I just can't create the right sounds. We accept that with the best will in the world, I'm never likely to pronounce Dorte as a Danish person and I accept that many non-english speakers won't be able to pronounce the th in my name and it's not through lack of effort

I'm not saying call your DC something like Leo or Eva, I'm saying read what we are posting and accept that we are saying it for a reason.

I think that unless you are going to immerse your child in their heritage with very regular visits to her grandparents, lengthy holidays there and a passport in your nationality, speak to her in dutch/flemish etc, then I think it is unfair. She is a generation removed again from her grandparents and is unlikely to really identify as Dutch [?] without significant support from you.

I am not an English national and don't visit home very regularly. I don't observe national celebrations or speak my home language. My kids very much identify as English and an Irish name would grate on them I think as they really don't see themselves as half Irish. Entirely my own fault and I deliberately didn't give them Irish or anglicised Irish names out of sentiment. I've chosen to live here, bring them up here with minimal contact with my home country and I think I need to own that.

You'd be fine with Dutch names in Scotland! Yeah, right. All Scottish people know intuitively how to pronounce Dutch names?

I like my name and don't mind spelling it, but it is a PITA.

Tom won't get called Tomb or Tum or whatever. Harry won't get 'That's an unusual name, where is it from?' or 'Harvey/Harley/Henry/Harrey/Harrie'.

If you haven't lived it, you won't know what it is like.

I think there’s a difference between people being unwilling to learn the pronunciation of a name which is unacceptable and people being unable to pronounce it. A lot of language and sound acquisition is done in early childhood and if people aren’t exposed to it then, they genuinely either are unable to distinguish it from a another sound they know (which is clearly distinct to a native speaker) or make the sound. I can’t roll my Rs for example. I’ve tried, I’ve watched videos to try to teach me and my mouth just can’t form the sound. Lots of people are unable to pronounce the fricative th if it’s not in their native language. It wouldn’t be ignorant or small minded of them not to be able to pronounce Theo as I would - they simply can’t do it. I wouldn’t give my child a name their other parent genuinely can’t pronounce and if the child is only going to be exposed to English, she might not be able to pronounce properly either.

To be honest, native people in the UK have problems pronouncing and spelling English names most of the time. My surname is English and isn't exactly difficult but I've had years of people butchering it. It's now got to the point when people ask for my full name or email address, my heart takes a bit of a sink as I've had years of spelling it out. Give your child a break.

Your child can have as many names as you like. My dc have a first name, 2 middle names and 1 surname. They also have dual nationality, speak both languages and use their names accordingly. It makes life easy for everyone.

If it works in English pronunciation then I would say it's fine. My DC have foreign names and some of my English relatives completely butcher their names with their accent and pronunciation. Makes me cringe sometimes.

I wouldn't choose a name your DH can't pronounce, not least because it sets up a slightly off dynamic at home, let alone outside it.

I have a northern English surname which is mispronounced 95% of the time even by native speakers, despite being phonetically straightforward. Not a huge issue but it's been mildly tedious having to decide whether to correct people (which can be socially awkward), let it go, spell it out, etc. Nearly every single time. Why not use the unusual name for a middle name and let her decide? Or make it a family nickname?

My families names are sometimes difficult to pronounce. DD’s is actually really easy 3 syllables and yet people still struggle. DH just glares at people and says it extremely slowly till people get it. I wouldn’t change any or our names for anyone. Naming a child is important imo, a lot of people name for meaning not just whether it’s easy to pronounce. I don’t much care if someone anglicises Dd’s name, anglicise away, her name is still her name and I pronounce it properly.

And just for balance again, I love my foreign name. It has a beautiful meaning, heritage and significance.
I have to spell it out daily but I do not care. I don't want to fit in. I want to be me.