Girls name -Alba

[Emilywhitwam]

Hi
Our baby girl is 5 days old and me and my husband love the name Alba. We like that there won’t be 5 in her class, that it’s easy to pronounce and spell- however, when I have said it to people they have said Albie? Or Albert? Or asked me to repeat it… I don’t want to saddle my daughter with a lifetime of it?
Do you think it’s a good name choice ?
Her sister is Willow.

Isn't Alba a cheap radio/ TV brans from some store?

It's a NO from me

Alba is a common name in Spain. It means dawn. I think it's really pretty.

Gareth Bale's daughter (born when he first played for Spurs) is called Alba.

I can't see how it would be mispronounced or misspelled in Anglophone countries as it is phonetic.

There was a thread just a few days ago of someone wanting to name their daughter Alba. Had no idea it was becoming so popular. I'm not a fan, personally. To me it just sounds like you've named your child Scotland. (I'm Scottish)

I love it.
However for me it signifies Scotland or Spain
If you’re not connected to either of those you/she will likely always have those reactions

@MehMahMoo

As mentioned above, in Gaelic it means Scotland, and is pronounce Alapa. Runrig have a song called Alba with it as the chorus if you want to hear that pronunciation.

Nothing to stop you going with other pronunciation as others have said, it's a word/name in other languages too.

I just think of the Runrig song.

ALLLL-AH-BUH!

I think it's a lovely name and I think people mentioning the Scottish connection are overthinking it. No one says a bit called Jack must be super British, or George is too English

I know an Italian Alba, short for Rosalba which I think means white rose. I love the name Alba as I associate it with her. And only her mum calls her Rosalba (with heavily rolled Italian R) when she is in trouble!

Gorgeous name!

We know a few Alba's strangely enough, a 4 year old, a baby, and a dog.

I mainly associate it with 'white', from the Latin origin (albus) plus the dog is named thus, as a white west highland terrier. The children we know of named Alba both have a Spanish parent.

I think it's a nice name, though for myself I prefer it for pets rather than a name I'd choose for a DC, but I'd feel the same about Willow, despite liking the word. Most names will ultimately have negative or positive associations OP, you can't control that. I don't think Alba is specifically unusual a name or difficult to spell or sound out.

I have a fairly dull name with a standard spelling that most will have heard of and still have to correct it and spell it the majority of the time, it's just how it is.

I like it and I know a few.
I think Alec Salmons makes it less wearable in Scotland but I'm not sure it makes a big difference elsewhere in the UK.

I know 3 Alba’s all preschool age. It’s Gaelic for Scotland, hence the tv channel BBC Alba. But it’s a lovely name.

I know two Alba's, I'm in South East. One has a Spanish mother, the other has British parents but was born in Spain. It's a lovely name.

I know two Spanish Albas and both are great, so I vote yes. I've never had any issue spelling or pronouncing it.

No - it’s the name of every taxi or skip hire firm up here and becoming quite popular as a name. As others have said, it’s Gaelic for Scotland and is the name of a independence political party, so I’d assume you had strong connections to this part of the UK and had nationalist leanings

As I said, I love it as I associate with a friend. But having read the comments about Scottish nationalism, I don’t think I’d use it now. It slightly reminds of a local naming phenomenon. I live near the upper reaches of the Thames and there used to be an awful lot of small girls (and dogs) called Isis……. They all seem to have disappeared now which means that a lot of people have had to wrestle with a tricky name change.

I would assume the child's parents were Scottish nationalists. Sorry.

@FrankieBoyleSezLoveOneAnother

I would assume the child's parents were Scottish nationalists. Sorry.

This would pass through my mind too, but probably isn’t an issue outside Scotland.

I know an 18 month old Alba, I hadn’t thought of it as a girls name until she was born but it’s really grown on me.

There were three Albas in my son’s year. One had Spanish parents, one Scottish, and the other just liked the name.

If you like it, go for it!

I loved this name. Im scottish but dh isnt. At the time alex s didnt have his political party he was snp leader.

Mil straight away said "like the tv brand" when i said we liked this name. That annoyed me because to me it means Scotland. But if people are from other parts of the uk they may not know.

If im honest im glad i didnt use it now since AS created the Alba party, as others have suggested Alma is just as nice

I’m sure it wouldn’t be an issue as such, but the nationalist politics (and the dubious - to say the least - behaviour of Salmond) might be something to bear in mind, esp in the longer term when there are still court cases to come and an Indy ref on the horizon.

If you've Scottish connections I would think you're a bit try hard.

Connotations with BBC Alba ("alapa") and Alex s almonds party.

I immediately think of Curry’s, I bought an Alba stereo in there. Never heard it used as a girls name. Many congrats on your baby girl OP

How about Alma?

Makes me think of the brand new Scottish Political party for independence and Women's rights!

You know it's not pronounced as written (in Scotland anyway).

Al-pa is how we'd say it. With a teeny pause between the syllables and more like a 'p' sound than a 'b' sound.