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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Do I tell her?

162 replies

03cg73 · 20/01/2026 17:53

i have a slight situation with a friend of mine and the name she has chosen for her little girl

my friend is French, living in London where this child will grow up. She’s 39 and this is a very much longer for baby

shes been saying since the start that she wanted a Latin name. Her partner is Spanish and they thought the Latin influence would connect them. All lovely. Very excited for them. Until this afternoon when she sent me a picture of a baby blanket she’s had personalised to reveal the name to me and the name they have chosen is Saline.

I’ve checked and it genuinely is a Latin girls name. I asked the pronunciation thinking it could be said like Celine or something. But no. Pronunciation is Saline. Like the wound wash

normally I’d just keep my mouth shut but years ago a friend of SIL (again, English was not this persons first language) named her baby Chanel, thought it looked better spelled with 2 N’s and ended up naming her poor kid Channel. No one said anything, and when it came out months later she was annoyed that no native English speakers had pointed this out at the time and has since removed the extra N

so do I tell my friend she is naming her daughter after a surgical wash? Or keep my mouth shut and hope the the kid doesn’t grow up getting the piss ripped out of her? friend absolutely loves the name and has been gushing about how perfect it is 😬

OP posts:

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TheBirdintheCave · 20/01/2026 22:34

03cg73 · 20/01/2026 19:54

Thanks everyone. Have spoken to another friend who also received the photo and was feeling the same as me. we’ve agreed that we need to mention it.

when I asked her about pronunciation it was over WhatsApp. I asked if it was pronounced like Celine and she replied saying no, it was pronounced say-leen. Which is exactly how people round here (I’m not from London) pronounce the medical wash

‘Say-leen’ sounds (to my English ears) like how a French person would say Celine/Selene when it has an accent over the first ‘e’. This seems like an accident of spelling rather than anything else.

muggart · 20/01/2026 22:28

I would tell her and also about the Channel example so she understands why you are saying something

TessSaysYes · 20/01/2026 21:21

Telling her gently and sweetly is what friends are for. But I d only tell her once, then not bring it up again.

allthingsinmoderation · 20/01/2026 20:57

Depends how close a friend you are and what your friendship is like.
It tricky, ihad a similar situation when a friend (from china) called her newborn daughter Chlamydia.
In the end i said are you certain about your daughter name choice and do you do know Chlamydia is a sexually acquired infection ?
She didn't believe me at first and insisted it was the name of a flower.
She did change the name though...

BaldMouse · 20/01/2026 20:30

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 20/01/2026 20:23

Tbf @BaldMouse I have heard both (in context of discussing contact lens solutions over many years!).

BaldMouse · 20/01/2026 20:01

Saline as in salty is usually ˈseɪlʌɪn, @03cg73 .
(Say-line not say-leen )

Original poster

03cg73 · 20/01/2026 19:54

Thanks everyone. Have spoken to another friend who also received the photo and was feeling the same as me. we’ve agreed that we need to mention it.

OP posts:

MissAmbrosia · 20/01/2026 19:53

FraterculaArctica · 20/01/2026 18:46

What really doesn't make sense here is that the vowel sounds in Saline are pronounced nothing like the salt solution in either French or Spanish (the a would be short, and the i would be an ee sound). So her name is weird in English and equally weird in both the countries of her heritage!

Exactly my thought. Either way they'd be more Saleen or Saleena. A genuine french person would never pronounce it like that.

FullLondonEye · 20/01/2026 19:48

I'm confused. Saline pronounced English style bears absolutely no connection to the same word as it would be said by a Spanish or French person so completely defeats the object of what they were apparently going for. As well as the unfortunate medical connotations. Not a single French, Spanish or even English person hearing the name Saline pronounced English style will realise it's supposed to be a Latin girl's name.

Myswweetchild · 20/01/2026 19:39

Suggest Sabine

OttersMayHaveShifted · 20/01/2026 19:32

The pronunciation of Saline in Spanish absolutely would not be like the English word 'saline'. Her partner would know that if he's Spanish.

ChocHotolate · 20/01/2026 19:28

The blanket could be easily adapted to Satine maybe?

BaldMouse · 20/01/2026 19:20

Ask her 'Le deuxième prénom de Saline est-il Solution?'.

Parsleyforme · 20/01/2026 18:57

Reading that, I assumed she was going to pronounce it like Celine (very pretty and easy to keep the same name) so I do think you need to tell her. I would probably send her a picture or link so she realises it’s an everyday word and not something obscure that people won’t recognise

MeganM3 · 20/01/2026 18:55

You could tactfully say that Celine is probably the spelling of the name she likes.

Blinkblank81 · 20/01/2026 18:53

Maybe she’s a mumsnetter 🤞

FraterculaArctica · 20/01/2026 18:46

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 20/01/2026 18:44

But "saline" does not mean "wound wash". It means salty. In English and surely also in French - so she'll know?

You could say "some English think of that word in medical terms" and just see what she says.

LeedsLoiner · 20/01/2026 18:42

I was friends with a lad who’s surname was Clark and was invited to their daughters christening.
I felt uneasy about the choice of her name but couldn’t think why until we went to “wet the baby’s head”.
In the pub toilets I was drying my hands and suddenly realised why you shouldn’t call your baby Kimberley Clark!

HollyIvie · 20/01/2026 18:40

I take it the baby isn’t here yet? I would definitely mention gently.

MarshmallowsOnToast · 20/01/2026 18:38

Kittylala · 20/01/2026 18:14

Ask her 'do you mean Celiine? because Saline is a medical product. It would be like calling a child 'Doliprane'

Doliprane is basically calpol in france.

This sounds like a good idea!

GoldenRosebee · 20/01/2026 18:35

gotohellforheavenssake · 20/01/2026 18:18

I think the name is fine. Yes it’s salty water, but it has lots of medical purposes, calling it “wound wash” has deliberately negative connotations and not the first thing I associate with it. Naming your kid after IV fluid doesn’t seem that bad. I teach in Birmingham secondary schools and tbh it wouldn’t even register as being weird with me.

No one will think it that way.

I like previous suggestion of telling her friend once.