Accent ruining all our name choices.

[mangoespadrille]

DP and I, and both our extended families, are Manchester born and bred and speak accordingly (think The Royle Family, Gallagher brothers, Coronation Street etc.) DD1 is on the way in January and we're trying to think of a name. The problem is the huge number of names around at the moment ending in -ee -ia and -a sounds. We like a lot of them but, when said aloud in our accents, they sound terrible; for example, at the antenatal clinic yesterday there was a lady with girls called Lexi (Lex-eh) and Olivia (Olivi -uh).

We don't like the current trend for "old lady" names (I have one despite being born in the 80s and have never liked it). Any ideas? Do you think our accent matters or am I over thinking this?

Sympathise - my name is Heather and I've had a lifetime of people pronouncing it 'eth-uh', which I absolutely hate. I think you'd be doing DD a favour to steer away from names ending in 'ie' or 'a'.

How about:
Madeleine
Alice
Kate
Rose
Camille
Louise
Megan
Imogen
Isobel
Fern
Wren
Beth/Elizabeth
Caitlin
Niamh (Neve)
Eve

It strikes me that Rachel (suggested by pp) might be ideal.

Wow, this is bizarre to read as a non-Brit.

Pronouncing something "properly," this idea is so ludicrous. This thread is bafflingly snobby.

thecaroline I'm Australian and we have a similar sort of problem. Some names sound lovely until you throw in a strong Aussie accent and then they sound dreadful!

In the US I would think there are names that sound nice in one accent but not another.

Not sure where you're from, but it must be somewhere with a very uniform accent.

I'm from the south, so no. It's not the "names sound better in one accent than the other," it's the idea that there is one "proper" way of pronouncing something and other pronunciations/accents are less than, that bothers me.

It's not snobby, really - it's the fact that different accents mangle names that sound pleasant to the ear of the beholder in others. The pleasant sounding accents are not necessarily accents of wealthier people, just people who pronounce their vowels or their THs, etc, differently or without regard for the phonetic conventions of standard English or whatever language a name is from. As an example, I cringe a little when I hear the name Orla pronounced Awla or when I hear the vowels and one particular consonant in my (Irish) name distorted by a London accent. It's a matter of correct and incorrect, not less than.

thecaroline That's hardly a UK thing, though. Plenty of that goes on in the US and even here in Aus.
Our last Prime Minister's accent was widely considered to be far inferior to a more rounded, educated sounding accent, and we're just talking within the limited scope of Australian twangs!
Lots of people in NY and Boston sneer at southern and mid-western accents.

I know South africa has similar because I've been asked more than once by a new arrival to help them understand the differences so they can more effectively judge and rank the people they meet!

I meant to say it's not just a UK thing.
Obviously the UK takes it to a whole new level, but I think it's a fairly global phenomenon?

it's the idea that there is one "proper" way of pronouncing something and other pronunciations/accents are less than, that bothers me

It isn't that at all. You pick a name because you like the sound of it, so when that sound is changed by an accent it becomes a different name.

We moved from the SE to the SW. Our DDs name has a long A sound in the first syllable - the same as we say grarss, carstle, barth. Here the accent shortens the A - which has changed her name completely. I hate it!

Ha, I remember having this debate with names before DS1 was born. All my family are Glaswegians, DH's are proper Brummies and we live in the heart of cockney East London. DH and I would sit on the couch and repeat the names we liked in three accents

E.g. Margaret

"Magrit" (Glasgow)
"Maaaawgret" (London)
"Maurgred" (Brummie)

T'was a difficult task to name poor DS1!

I went one fitness weekend and there was a girl from Northern Ireland called. ...... "E M I"
That's how she said it

E
M
I
Took a day for someone to twig and say "are you Amy?" "Yay us" she said
"E .. M .. I"

I didn't mean to imply that this is only something that happens in Britain. It's just that the sheer variety of accents in the UK is amazing to me.