Desparate for your honest opinions pls

[Nazly]

So We are having a baby boy in a couple of months and we are struggling with the names; we need a Persian name which sounds and reads well in English

So I know most of these names will be unfamiliar to you, but just tell me how they sound to you and if they can be bullied in schools (!?)- a couple of them have equivalent irish/english and I am keen to know your opinions please

Also, when I am using capital A in the middle of name or two Aa, I mean they are pronounced like both A in Dara or like O in John - if they are not going to be sound as they should can you tell me pls and suggest alternative spelling perhaps
I wouldn't mind if some of you hate them all, we'll start from scratch; just say your opinions pls - thanks a lot for helping x

Arash (pronounced Aarash)
Pendar (pronounced PendAr)
Dario
Dara
Radin (pronounced RAdin)
Sepehr
Ryan

[Nazly]

Thanks looki for that, that's very helpful to know

Select your first pronunciation is correct in persian... My british friend said they will call him Panda in school ! There are a few other things here too apart from bender !

Pebble i haven't heard of Avan ? I'll check it but it is not a popular persian name ; I think we may discount Sepehr now as it causes many confusions
His surname will be Burman ; so both Dara Burman and Dario Burman may remind of Dara o Brian; but hey... I am not too worried about that...

[Fizzyplonk]

I like
Sepehr best. Could be shortened to Sep which is a bit like Seb or Seth
Dara is also a lovely name.
I actually like Radin and Arash too.

I don't like Dario but that's just personal taste, same for Ryan.
I'd avoid Pendar as the Bender joke is too easy to make.


I've just had a look at Persian names and think Kaspar and Roshan are lovely too.

[PixieofCatan]

I only found out my cousins name fairly recently and I'm trying to remember how I first thought it was pronounced, I think I assumed ah-rosh (I don't speak farsi, hopefully will learn one day!) as I remember my dad telling me off for mixing up the 'a' sounds.

I think dara would be brilliant if that's the one you like though, and a lot of brits know of the comedian, so will be able to pronounce it.

[Nazly]

Thanks Pixi :)

Pebble I just found out you probably mean Aban meaning waters, it is also the name of a persian month ; I agree it is a nice name

[Nazly]

A message of thank you to everybody helping here:
RhondaJean thanks, Darius is a great name but a bit dated in Persian and different pronunciation there, both Dara and Dario's origin is Darius

wafflyversatile That's just scary about Pendar! Thanks for other points too :)

Thanks MrsBungle - popular opinion

Thanks Fideliney, I think those are the two which are more unusual?

Thanks SelectAUserName ; not happy that Dara reminds some of you of girls name , very funny about Radin :) that just put my DH off it :) and about PendAr pronunciation, I guess after choosing it we have no control how people pronounce it, that's why I would like to check now... Unless we spell if differently? Like Pendaar or Pendahr? But that could be more confusing?

Thanks KoalaDownUnder ; it is just nice to know a very persian name with no latin association can be liked here, again funny about Radin :) and you are right, Dario is used more in Italian ;

MuttonCadet Thanks, no you are not alone, Microsoft word changes it to a rash immediately which is irritating - I hope people don't associate it ... Perhaps if we chose it we should write it as Aarash?

Pebbles0934 thanks again for your posts, Aban also really nice but it could be more associated as an arabic word rather than Persian

[Nazly]

A message of thank you to everybody helping here:

IkeaFurnitureAssemblyChampions: Thanks, that's interesting about Sepher...

ChasedByBees Thanks :)

TheLastThneed Again, interesting... People get my own name wrong for the same reason... So I know how it may work for him

justhayley Thanks - very funny about your points on bullying

EverythingCounts Thank you

aprovinciallady Good to know about bullying :) how do you know persian names, yes, Ashkan is also nice... Not sure why it didn't make to our shortlist

Katietate1987 Thanks, I think Benjamin is a great name as it can be turned to Ben too - but for us a little bit associated with prophets which my dh isn't too keen on (he has too many criteria IMO) ... Sacha is lovely but it is really Russian

weegiemum Thanks :)

WelshWereRabbit Thanks, so funny about Oliver - I would never think of it but because it is so established here ; I know nothing about game of throne so will check it out

AWombWithoutARoof Thanks again

scarletforya Thanks :) so funny that you say Dara and Ryan just blah :) :)

niceupthedance - very interesting ... I wonder how you actually pronounce it

florascotia Yes you are right, but Eskandar is very old fashioned in persian and not really used these days anymore unfortunately

[ViviPru]

What a courteous OP!

[Nazly]

A message of thank you to everybody helping here:

florascotia Zubin is a nice name, but you know sometimes British people may have reservations on posh sounding names? Same case for us here in Persian :) I am also not so keen on nickname Zoo :) haha

SantasLittleMonkeyButler even I don't know what that insult is, should search it :)

ViviPru Thanks - I am worried about having to clarify the pronunciation all our life! I want him to like his name not suffer from it ... He will have enough to deal with , two languages, learning two cultures, etc...

NeverEndingLaundry Heartwarming to think people will just learn it quickly... But you know how it is, as parents you think it is very important decision as hopefully it would be with him for the rest of his life...

CorusKate Lovely posts, thanks

thegreylady Thanks , nice message :)

Itsfab No, I caused confusion there... I can write these names anyway I want in English, our alphabet is different anyhow...

looki Thanks again

PixieofCatan Thanks :) love that you might add Sepehr to your list even after it confused so many people here - funny again. About Bullying...
Nobody can pronounce my surname here... But then I didn't go to school here to experience how it works


squoosh Nice thanks x

Thanks indie

Fizzyplonk We thought about Sep too, which is a nice nickname, that was one of the reasons we had Sepehr in our shortlist ... But it appears it causes too much confusion from this post ? Interesting you checked persian names :) I like Roshan a lot, but can't convince dh - Kaspar, not sure if and how it is Persian, if it is not popular at all

[Nazly]

Vivi I am just really thankful : it has been great help from all of you - and has helped in understanding what goes into people's mind hearing these names. You know I have asked friends' opinion but it is very difficult to get an honest opinion unless people don't know you closely...

And I am impressed how many good ones I got here xx

P.s. We have not decided yet but definitely closer to decision and out of dark a bit :)

[minipie]

Hi, of your list I like Arash (but would have pronounced it A- rash not Ah-rash until corrected, I like both pronunciations), Dara and Dario best

Another suggestion - I recently met a little boy Laith and thought that was a great name.

[PomeralLights]

FWIW Sepehr is the only one I find confusing - if I first saw it written down I would have to ask how to pronounce it and wouldn't feel that confident saying it. So if you're worried about English people struggling with the name I'd say that one jumped out at me as 'hard'

I imagine a lot of people might initially pronounce Arash wrong but I do think it's lovely - spelling it as Aarash might help that as you suggested. The rest are all 'easy' names from my pov in terms of pronunciation. I think it's lovely of you to be thinking ahead in terms of how he will cope with his name, yes people do get used to 'hard' names but if in the future he wants to move out of London it'll just be much easier for him if he's got a name that's easy to pronounce and people can guess at the spelling of.

[Hulafox]

Ryan is a great name ... My favourite.
Dario is my next favourite and I think will be fine at school.

Arash is an interesting name but the first syllable will be pronounced 'A' like apple not Aa like 'are' so if that is an issue, i would avoid.

Dara sounds feminine to me too.

Sepehr too hard to spell and pronounce.

Good luck!

[BeckaH123]

Dara is a popular name in Ireland. I really like it.

[BeckaH123]

Popular BOY's name I should say.

[monkeymamma]

Nothing especially helpful to say other than I like all your names - they sound lovely. Daario in game of thrones is a middle to important (not main) character; he is very handsome but a little bloodthirsty and roguish (does that help?). He's not a baddie and doesn't do anything dodgy to my knowledge.
Aarash and Pendar both especially nice.