What do you think of these names? Would you struggle to pronounce any of them?

[MidnightSun77]

(DH is Persian so we want a unique name that works in both cultures)

Girls

Mandana
Romina
Niloufar
Azita
Elaheh
Roxana
Elnaz
Sarvenaz
Nazanin

Boys

Ardalan
Kamyar
Rayan
Karzan
Rostam
Taymaz
Arshavir
Maziyar

Apart from Roxana I am not seeing that those names work in both cultures sorry.

I like Romina and Karzan ( tho it's a bit like Tarzan...)

I think Romina and Azita both work too, although I don't think any boys names do.
I wouldn't know how to pronounce Elaheh.

I wouldn't worry about it working in both cultures. Just choose what you like. People quickly get used to unfamiliar names.

I don't like Roxana (I think it looks a bit eighties, like Roxanne).
I think Elaheh would be a bit strange at first to British ears, the heh bit at the end looks unfamiliar. But I don't know if that matters; it is a very pretty name.
I like all the other girl names and think they work fine for the UK.
I have seen the names Niloufar and Sarvenaz before incidentally. Romina is my favourite, maybe.

Of the boys names I dont like Rayan, because it makes me think of rayon material and Ryanair, and I wouldn't fancy Ray as a nickname, but that might just be me. I think my favourite is Taymaz.

Out of your girls' names, I think Romina, Roxana and Azita work best. (I one taught a lovely Romina who definitely had no Persian heritage, so I think it must be familiar in some other cultures too). I think I'd struggle a bit with Elaheh too.

For me Rayan is probably the best of your boys' names, although I'd envisage some confusion over whether it was pronounced 'Ray-an' or 'Rye-an'. Personally I'd steer clear of Arshavir due to potential teasing issues! Other than that, the rest of your choices are perfectly fine but do sound quite exotic and unfamiliar to British ears. At the end of the day, though, you need to go with something you love - as others have said, people will get used to it, especially if you're in a diverse area with lots of non-English names.

They definitely seem very Persian rather than English but that should be fine. I think elnaz and rayan are best as you could have ray and Ellie as nicknames if you wanted. Also easy to pronounce whereas some others aren't IMO.

The only ones I have come across before are Niloufar and Rostam, both of which are nice. I think my favourites from your list are Azita and Taymaz; both are nice-sounding and easy to both pronounce and spell.

I think Elaheh sounds lovely but then I'm probably pronouncing it incorrectly.

Don't worry about fitting in with both cultures just choose a name you love and that 'fits' your child.

The only one I would struggle with pronouncing is Elaheh.

Roxana reminds me of Roxanne too, which is a bit 80s yes and not particularly classy IMO.

That really pretty actress in Homeland who played Fara is called Nazanin - she's the only person I've ever heard with that name.

Karzan will get called Tarzan and I'd be worried this will lead to teasing.

If the DC will have a Persian last name wouldn't a more 'your culture' first name be a better way of balancing it and reflecting both cultures?

Don't go for an unfwmiliar (to English ears) boy's name starting with K. People will think it's made up. Apart from that, they all seem easy to pronounce- just pick your favourite.

As an aside- fascinated that he calls himself Persian- is that different to Iranian? Please ignor if that's too personal a question!

all fine, I have dyslexia so new words are always a bit tough and even I could read the names easily. People will only need to be told the name once.

I like Romina and Rayan.

They are all fine. Honestly even the countryside they'll cope and I assume they are all roughly phonetic so it's not hard ( they aren't Niamh or Siobhan after all- no way to guess those!)

In a city they wont even be unusual.

Chose what you love. Some can be Anglicised eg Mandana to Mandy ( as some of the Sikh names when I was growing up in a small rural town in the 1970s were - my friend Sindy was really Sukhvinder- even then if her parents had told school her name was Sukhvinder we'd have been fine ) but don't feel you have to.

I would avoid Karzan due to its similarity to Tarzan.

I like these, purely because you can shorten them to nicknames a like!!

Romina - Romi
Niloufar - Nilo
Nazanin - Naz

Rayan - Ray
Rostam - Ross
Arshavir - Arsha
Kamyar - Kam

And khazi

My last comment was meant to follow SoupDragon's.

The only name I had to read more than once to work out how it might be pronounced was Elaheh, although I suspect that might be the prettiest of the girl's names. The only name I have come across before is a friend called Mandana.

Favourites are:
Romina
Elaheh

Ardalan (assume the emphasis is on the first syllable?)
Mazivar (also first syllable emphasis?)

Would avoid Arshavir in case of nicknames.

Romina
Azita

Kamyar
Taymaz

I think they are all ok apart from Rayan and Rostram as they sound like Rayon and Rostram (the noun!). Arshavir is maybe a bit close to Arse None of the other names look too tricky to pronounce. Assuming they sounds like they are said.

Girls

Mandana. Yes
Romina. Yes
Niloufar. Yes
Azita. Yes
Elaheh. Yes
Roxana. Yes
Elnaz. Yes
Sarvenaz. Yes
Nazanin. Yes

Boys

Ardalan. Yes
Kamyar. Yes
Rayan. No
Karzan. Yes
Rostam. No
Taymaz. Yes
Arshavir. No
Maziyar. Yes

I love the name Niloufar and knew a very cool performance poet called that. I also know an admirable little Rayan (he goes to a toddler group with my son and none of the other children or parents seem to have any difficulty with the name). Other favourites from your list are Elnaz and Ardalan.

Girls

Mandana - I knew a Mandana, it was shortened to Maz
Romina - Love this
Niloufar - Ok
Azita - Love this one too
Elaheh - Struggle to pronounce, but if it's how I think it is it's really pretty
Roxana - Dislike
Elnaz - Ok
Sarvenaz - Quite pretty
Nazanin - Ok

Boys

Ardalan - Inoffensive, reminds me of Aslan though
Kamyar - My favourite of your boys names
Rayan - Thought this was pronounced like Ryan but other posts make me think Ray-an?
Karzan - Not a fan, mainly because of Tarzan
Rostam - I hear rostrum.
Taymaz - Ok
Arshavir - Too close to Arse-shaver (sorry)
Maziyar - Like this!