Eviah

[Emmelu]

Came over this name and thought it was beautiful for our little girl :)

But how would you pronounce it?

I have no idea. It sounds totally made up to me, and like a cross between Evie, which is very common, and Neveah which is just naff and awful.

When I look at it I just think of Evian Water.

I would pronounce it "and how do you pronounce it?"

Or it could be fun at health clinics. See if Eviah is 'eavier than last week.

To me it rhymes with Isaiah. And is totally made up.

It'll look too much like Evian when it is hand-written.

I would guess Ev-ee-ah or Ev-aye-ah. The thing is it's up to you really, like Evelyn.
Although I will be very blunt and say that I don't get how you can thing a name is pretty when you don't know how to pronounce it? What if it was an Irish name and was actually pronounced Jamjar or Horseshoe or something.

I'd pronounce it like Evian but with an "uh" sound at the end. Ev-ee-uh. That's a guess though! Where's it from?

Sorry, that came across as a rude post. I blame the drugs.

I know how I would pronounce it in Norwegian, but since we're probably gonna move to the UK in a few years I wanted to see how it would sound in English..

In norwegian I would pronounce it like Evie-a

• only the first E would be more like the E in Evelyn and not in Evie.

Ev rhyming with bev?

How can you think it's beautiful if you don't know how to pronounce it?

Honestly never heard of it before, so I'd be making up a pronounciation. However, what's interesting is that you describe the "e" as like the "e" for "Evelyn" ..... Whereas there's (at least) two accepted pronunciations of Evelyn I.e. Ev-Lynn and Eve-Lynn. So even though you've got a pronounciation in mind, you'd have to accept others would have a different one.

It would be pronounced utterly randomly in English as no-one would know how to pronounce it and would guess. Lots of people would pronounce it Evian, thinking they'd been a spelling mistake.

Fraid I'm with Pipbin and don't understand how you can think it is beautiful if you don't know how it is pronounced.

I repeat!!!

I know how I would pronounce it in Norwegian, but since we're probably gonna move to the UK in a few years I wanted to see how it would sound in English..

In norwegian I would pronounce it like Evie-a

• only the first E would be more like the E in Evelyn and not in Evie.

I think in English it might sound like you were trying to say "heavier" and had dropped the initial H.

Yes.. I accept that people would pronounce it differently than I would.

I guess what I really wanted to know was if the pronunciation would be much different from the one we 'have at home'.
Eh-vee-ah

I thought it would probably be more like Ih-vee-ah in the UK.. or possible Ih-vai-ah or Eh-vai-ah..

Didn't honestly think it would get so much negative feedback ..

I think the thing is Emmelu that your first post made it sound like it was a name that you had never heard of before and read in a baby name book.

I see now that what you are saying is that this is a Norwegian name and you were canvassing opinion about how English people would pronounce it to see how her future teachers, friends etc would get on.

It might be marginally better without the "h" at the end.

Evia.

I think it will still be pronounced by a lot of people in UK as "heavier" without the "h".

I have a name that can be spelled at least three different ways and pronounced at least two ways. It is a pain in the arse.

OP - I don't think people intend to be negative but Eviah really isn't a name in English. What are its origins? What does it mean? It's hard to pronounce because it doesn't 'fit' with normal English name patterns.

I think people would be more positive about Eve, Eva, Evie, Evelyn etc (Eeve, Ee -vah or Ay-vah, Ee-vee, Ev-uh-lin, Eeve-lin etc ) and about names traditionally ending in 'iah' such as Keziah (Kez -eye-ah) - or even about Mariah, as in Carey. It's mixing these elements together that causes problems. By putting an 'h' at the end of the name, you change 'ia' ( which can be ee-ah or eye-ah) to 'iah' (just eye-ah).

If you really want to use Eviah, I think you might expect people to say Ev-eye-ah or Eev-eye-ah or just possibly Ayv-eye-ah. But it would not sound 'natural'.

As others have said, there is a very similar word - not a personal name - in French: Evian = Ev-ee-ohn.

I think if it's an existing name in Norway then use it and use the pronunciation in Norwegian. Just be prepared though that you/your DD will have to spend a lot of time correcting people once you move back to the UK. Sorry, that's not supposed to be negative, just the sad matter-of-fact!

Yes Pipbin.. That's what I'm saying, I guess.
It's not really a common norwegian name though, but my fiancé heard it this weekend - I'd never heard it before, but I really liked it.
But I guess it would be a troubling name in the UK

No, no, no. Just choose a name that is a recognised name with a spelling that is normal in the country you intend to live in. What is wrong with Eve or Eva? (Speaks from 66 years of experience). A name which is commonly misspelt/misunderstood is a lifetime's pain in the ass. With naming children, it seems to me parents fall into two camps. The first are those who want above anything to seem different/unusual/cutting edge/please themselves at any cost and the second are those who choose a name which is not wacky/difficult to spell/unheard of/from a totally different cultural background and which the grandparents may actually like.

Think of the baby!

Are you sure it's a Norwegian name? It doesn't sound remotely Scandinavian and the spelling is v odd for a Scandinavian name.

I suspect your fiance may have met the only one.

Not on the Danish approved baby names list either which would include all common and uncommon Norwegian names.

wishes lived in Denmark where they actually have a list of names you have to pick from

I like it.

No, it's not a "norwegian" name, but the most common name's in Norway aren't.

This is the top 10 list for 2013:

1.Emma (Germanic/English)
2.Sara/Sarah (Hebrew)
3.Sofie/Sophie (Greek)
4.Ingrid/Ingerid (Norse/Scandinavian)
5.Nora/Norah (Latin)
6.Maja/Maia/Maya (Danish/Scandinavian)
7.Linnea/Linea (Swedish/Scandinavian)
8.Thea/Tea (Greek)
9.Sofia/Sophia (Greek)
10.Emilie (Latin)

Personally, I'm not very fond of names like: Ingrid, Astrid, Berit, Arnhild, Ragnhild, Hildegunn, Hildur etc.

I like names that are a bit more international. I myself have a very common "norwegian" name, which is Marthe - and whenever I'm traveling, people have big trouble pronouncing it. Mostly is becomes Martha or Mertha.
That's why I want my children to have either international name or at least a name that's easy to say or pronounce in most languages.

I liked Eviah because it's not a common name, and I though.. since Eviah is so much like Evie, Eva, Elvira (and norse names like Elida, Elvida, Evina) - it would be an easy name to pronounce abroad, but I see now that I couldn't have been further off.

But it's good to know.. because I don't wanna give my children a name that turns out to be inconvenient.