Do you love or loathe the name Elhan for a boy???

[Claramam]

Hi
Myself and husband are trying to pick a boys name but cannot agree on the name Elhan which I adore and is my only choice.
I'm due in 3 days, Can I have everyones honest opinion do you love it or hate it?
I won't be offended 😜

@Changechangychange

Pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, Élan as in “panache”, or stress on the first syllable, as in Ilhan Omar?

well yes, if he was introduced as Elan with the stress on the second, it might be ok, but if you see it written, it feels like either Ethan, or Ellen.

i do think that people don;t say words with second syllable stress well, they don;t sit well under an Enlgish pronunciation pattern, so what happens is that the word gets mis-said over time.

Not a name I would choose

Oh I think pronouncing it “Élan” is far worse! Like calling your child “Panache” or “Stylee”. Really cheesy.

“Eel-han” as in “Ilhan Omar” is lovely. But odd on somebody with no Muslim heritage, but no weirder than posh white kids called India.

In terms of people thinking it's a mistype when reading it depends a lot on your last name too imo, which will guide people's assumptions.

An Elhan Bashir is likely to be called Elhan, in whatever way they pronounce it.

An Elhan Thomas is likely to be assumed a mistype and called Ethan.

Awfs

Poor kid. He deserves better. Also why are you so set on a name that your husband does not like? Don't you want a name that you will both be happy with (and a name for your child without him having to correct people's pronunciation and spelling it out over and over again).

I thought it was a spelling mistake too. Sorry!

Seeyouontheothersideofcovid, I think your being pretty ignorant. Every human has a right to choose the name for their baby. How it sounds to one person, is completly different to another. As I said in a previous post I wouldn't dare give my baby a name my husband wasn't 100% happy with. The issue were having is I've found a name I love, I knew how to pronounce it from the get go and therefore I liked it. It isn't pronounced as Ellen as most people thought, it's pronounced as Eel-han so it's very much masculine in my eyes. The issue is I wanted other opinions on it as I've stated before my husband is knocking every name that I'm putting out there. Its now two days to go till the due date and he's looked up names once and hasn't contributed in anyway really. So what the answer I was really striving for was, is it really not that nice. As most are saying its the pronunciation that's making it most confusing and therefore could be mistaken for a girls name, therefore it's a no by most which I've appreciated but some comments don't need to be said in such a hateful way.

So you haven’t actually asked him if he likes Elhan?

Surely his opinion is the one that matters. Not some randoms. The majority consensus on MN is that plain old Christian names are favoured (see the baby boards) and in my experience doesn’t reflect that in the real world (just like many opinions on MN) and names are pretty 50/50 or 30/70 in DD’s class for Christian vs unusual/from a different culture.

Put it to him.

I would have to be told how to pronounce it, but I think it's quite a nice name.

If you or your husband are from a culture that has this name or similar, then sure. If not, then I would find it strange.

Also I did read it as Ethan about 4 times and wondered why anyone would have a strong opinion about that name!

No I don't like it. I do like Ethan though.

OP whilst it is a choice parents can make, please consider a name that is spelt the usual way, and does not need to be corrected or spelt out by your child throughout their life. Out of love and kindness for your child.

I hope the birth is a joyous and happy experience for you.

I know a few children with this name (they are Muslim) and it’s fine. I really think we are past ‘it resembles so no’. I have a foreign more difficult name than this and whilst people don’t get it spot on, I just tell them my name and that’s what they call me. They ask me how it’s spelt and then they spell it correctly.

My default of Elhan would be el-an which is too close to Ellen. It's a shame because written down it's beautiful. I'm not keen on the actual pronunciation either.

What about Lachlan?

Or Alan?

Made me think of 'eaten ' as in I've just eaten my sandwich.

No. I don't like it.

Sorry op

@MiddleClassProblem

So you haven’t actually asked him if he likes Elhan?

Surely his opinion is the one that matters. Not some randoms. The majority consensus on MN is that plain old Christian names are favoured (see the baby boards) and in my experience doesn’t reflect that in the real world (just like many opinions on MN) and names are pretty 50/50 or 30/70 in DD’s class for Christian vs unusual/from a different culture.

Put it to him.

Also, this. If you're genuinely that short of names, ask him verbally.

If he's not being v helpful is it because he's a dick, or is he waiting to see what the baby looks like, or does he have one he likes that he's pushing?

But your need to verbally ask him.

There's lots of names o don't like, I'd never tell the kids parents cos I'm not a dick. I also have unusual names for my kids which nameboard posters would consider try hard and pretensious. I just don't care enough to care.

I have an Ahyan, pronounced exactly as it is spelt Ah-yan. We live in Scotland, anything other than a traditional white Scottish name requires you to pronounce it for them. No biggie for me and my ds will get used to it. My name is similar to a common English name for girls, only one letter is different, I still get asked to spell it. Pp are being unreasonable and some quite rude, if you wanted to name your child Ethan I am sure you would. My children have Arabic names (we are muslim) although dd's is a popular Scottish name too so people can say hers easily.

I don't mind the name Elan although would depend on the meaning for me and maybe spell it Elaan so the 'a' sound is stretched.

@user2021

I'd also assume it's a typo for Ethan.

This. Don’t saddle your child with a name he’ll be explaining to every new person he meets once he’s old enough.

Nothing wrong with it but people will pronounce the h. Do you want your child to have to spell their name and correct pronunciation constantly? Second thing is that it is an Arabic name so unless that's your cultural or religious background, it might not be considered pc to use it - cultural appropriation is one of the issues my DD's are always discussing, I can but guess this might get more of a movement

Seeyouontheothersideofcovid, I think your being pretty ignorant. Every human has a right to choose the name for their baby. How it sounds to one person, is completly different to another. As I said in a previous post I wouldn't dare give my baby a name my husband wasn't 100% happy with. The issue were having is I've found a name I love, I knew how to pronounce it from the get go and therefore I liked it. It isn't pronounced as Ellen as most people thought, it's pronounced as Eel-han so it's very much masculine in my eyes.

Yes I probably was a bit harsh in my post. I agree everyone has the right to choose the name for their baby but I see a lot of threads where parents are asking for opinions - for names that potentially could cause a lot of grief for their offspring. Think having to spell it, having to correct others' pronunciation, having to put up with teasing or worse from other children. And having to do this again and again, year after year. So I think parents should take their 'right' very seriously and really, really think about all implications before naming their child (often it comes across that it's a name the parent wants, full stop, with little thought on how their child might cope with it).

Perhaps I've now just reached peak fed-upness with parents choosing names that appear to be made up, or regular names with 'younique' spelling or just downright weird monikers on an ego trip of their own making.

I would suggest though - please work on agreeing a name you are both happy with, as all three of you are going to have to live with the name for a very long time.

Another suggestion that can work well - how about your preferred name as a middle name?

Its a no from me.

Is eee-lan not spelt Ilan?

Nope. Really strong dislike of the name and the spelling. Don't do it

Sorry but I think it’s awful and your child will constantly be correcting spellings and pronunciations.

Is it actually a name or did you make it up?

Now that you have clarified the pronunciation as Eee-lan it's much clearer and it sounds perfectly decent to me. I think you confused people with Ethan/Ellen comparisons.

The only thing I would say is if you use the name, that you many find that many mispronounce it. My children go to a diverse school with lots of names I haven't heard before and I overheard an online lesson today and the teacher they have had since September is still mispronouncing some names.