Anais

[umbrellahead]

A friend has asked me to get some answers for a question she has about this name.

Although she knows the proper pronunciation is a-na-ees, she loves this spelling with the pronunciation a-nay.

So, that got her thinking that the first pronunciation is dependent on the ï (Anaïs rather than Anais) so, if she spelt it without the ï could she use her preferred pronunciation of a-nay?

If not, she would love suggestions of names close to her preferred pronunciation!

Sorry for the jumbled post, I'm not very good at articulating this sort of thing, especially trying to write down the various pronunciations!

I need my eyes tested! I thought it said anals.

I thought it was pronounced Annay anyway.

If she pronounced anais "annay" I would assume she was illiterate. It's like taking the name"Jane" and deciding the pronounce it "Kevin" . Call her "anay" if that's what she wants her name to be.

I also thought anals

I love the name and the pronunciation

Without the dots it would be pronounced a-nay. I prefer the correct version myself, but each to their own. Doesn't she worry that everyone will assume she just doesn't know how to say the name properly?

I would pronounce it an nay anyway
I thought that is how it is pronounced

Lovely name! I would pronounce is the same either way though, she would have to change the spelling to be pronounced an-nay.

Anaie
Anaii
Anai
Anaey
Anae

The more I say it the more it sounds like Annie! Maybe stick to Anais but have an-nay as a nickname?

Lovely name but there is future potential for bullies. Anus! You know how kids work at school, some can be very cruel. I dread dds starting schook for fear of bullying.

I personally think its a lovely name

A-nay?

Good God, no. People will think her a half-wit if she pronounces it like that.

its my daughters name, and its pronounced Anayss

Youre supposed to put a slight emphasis on the i, but not enough that youd really notice it when you spoke.

and please dont pronounce it Anay

Annie is a lovely name and everyone would know how to pronounce it. It could be short for Anneliese. Or how about Alice?

Even without the umlaut on Anais, I'd just think she was being lazy/didn't have them on keyboard etc, and pronounce Ana-eece regardless.
Either pronounce it right or pick a different name.
Also Anay sounds like she'd get a lot of horse jokes.
Annie is a good suggestion, and there are lots of other lovely A names: Anna, Anya, Alyssa, Alice, Anastasia, Antonia etc

What about Anaia?

Anais is beautiful, but will always make me think of Anais Nin, lover of Henry Miller and his wife June. Do you want a child, teenager, student's name to conjour up images of an over sexed nymphomaniac?

Just make sure she never visits anywhere where Portuguese is spoken, because Anais does mean anals there.

Do you want a child, teenager, student's name to conjour up images of an over sexed nymphomaniac?
If you were going down that route, there might be examples of "not normal" for virtually any name.

Very eighties. Cheap and sickly sweet perfume. Didn't stop me wearing it though. So good they named it twice (or something).

I would pronounce it Anees, but I also misread it as AnaLs, so something to bear in mind!

I pronounce it anay-iss. Anay is just wrong.

What about Annie?

To be pedantic, it's a diaeresis, not an umlaut. I'm afraid that it's so common to omit the diaeresis in English that I'd assume it wasn't there and the name was being mispronounced through ignorance.

Thanks for all of the replies, I shall show her all of the suggestions!

No.

I know how to pronounce it, but she'll be nick named anus. Maybe Anus Anus like the cacherel scent if she's lucky. So good they named her twice.

Anya is lovely. Maybe not kooky enough for your friend.