Aziza, Izuka, Iruka and Zikora

I don't like any of them. They all sound harsh.

Leila

Nora/Noora

Mariam

Nadia

Samara

Dana

Dina

Samira

Salma

They sound like car brands. Perhaps not the vibe you are looking for?

Aziza makes me think of beloved, deserts, flows from the tongue name
Izuka I would have guessed this to be a boys' name because of the harsher -Ka sound, to me like Hakim
Iruka - same as for the above
Zikora - makes me think of Sikora in Polish - I think it's a bird

Apologies, my bad. I was trying to find a meaning in a language I speak and completely missed the point.

I think most people would pronounce Izuka and Iruka as “Eye” before meeting her but after knowing her they should / would pronounce it semi correctly. I don’t particularly like Aziza because it has a random meaning, except if I’m missing something. Zikora would be my first choice and off course every reasonable person without any speech impediment should be able to pronounce it. No need to shorten it for acceptance.

A lot of English names aren't English...how do people manage to spell Christopher or Sophia with the ch and ph.
And Catherine, Catherine, Katherine, Kathryn is a nightmare.

Aziza is beautiful. I love Zizi as a NN.

Totally agree.

Both my DC have names from our heritage that are hard to spell by many English people.

FWIW they love them (and are old enough to have a considered opinion now!).

If we all ignore our heritage so we can become one homogeneous mass with the English, it's the death of culture in action.

Aziza is my favourite - I've never heard it before but it sounds strong, elegant and pretty at the same time. Also reminds me of Aziz from A Passage to India.

Just pick a name from the top 10 girls names in the UK and use Rose or Grace as a middle name, or her life will be ruined.

I like Aziza best but it's the only one I'm familiar with.

My (Western) name has only 4 letters and I still have to correct people's pronunciation so I wouldn't worry too much about those comments. I like them all but with a preference for Zikora for what it's worth.

I have to spell my boring names too . One is constantly adored on mumsnet.
They are all fine names, op, some people are very bad at spelling, don't worry about that.
Re shortening, I had a set of cousins with names like Peter, David,Suzanne and Rosemary. Never shortened until they began working...Pete, Davy,Sue and Rosie!

I think Zikora is the prettiest, and nicest to say. Aziza is hard to say, and the other two both have unfortunate rhymes (bazooka and verruca).

Aziza is the nicest IMO - plus I love the shortening Zizi which is really pretty: that way you get a cute nickname for a little girl, but also a longer formal name for when she’s older.

Izuka is my next favourite. Sorry to echo previous posters, but Iruka makes me think verruca (and the potential for teasing at school), and Zikora does make me immediately think of the Zika virus.

Aziza is my favourite

Zikora is the only one that jars for me as it sounds a bit like the floral disinfectant called Zoflora.

People from white foreign background also have to spell their names too! I have a foreign name that I have to spell every time I ever say it but I love it as no one else I know has it. My parents just made sure (as I grew up here) that my name sounded pretty here too if pronounced the way a British person would pronounce it (which everyone has always done here and I don't care) and that it didn't have any unwanted connotations that I might not wish for. Otherwise what more can a parent do other than name their child what they like!

Don't be so rude. Why shouldn't the OP pick a name from her culture? None of these are hard to spell or pronounce

Aziza, Izuka, Iruka and Zikora

I think they're all lovely in themselves but sorry to say Iruka brought to mind Verruca for me too.

Aziza- pretty, sing songy and flowy plus I like Zizi but not my favourite. Something a bit generic girl's namey about it.

Izuka- punchy and cool. Love

Zikora- favourite. Potential slight zika virus echoes but I don't think enough to rule it out. Not if it's a short /i/ sound. If it was pronounced Zeekora maybe different.

Well said!!!

Aziza is my favourite- it’s very pretty, and I love Zizi for short. Zikora is my second favourite. Iruka is my least favourite just because my initial association was verucca.

Hold your ground. I have kept my Indian name and given my kids Indian names too. No way are any of us Westernising our names to Joe or Annie. Those days when we had to break ourselves into two to assimilate are over. I have a 3 syllable name. If people cant get their head around it, tough.

I like Izuka but I would choose the name with the best meaning.

Zizi's nice though Aziza might also be shortened to Az, which may not be so desirable...