"Spanglish" Boys and Girls names.

[Zorion]

Baby will be British but spend a fair amount of their childhood in Spain.

I'm looking for the perfect combination of a name which is pronounced more or less the same in both languages, and doesn't scream "foreign" in either country! And that isn't in the top 50. DS is Albert which works well as even though Alberto is Spanish, Albert is Catalan so everyone knows it.

So far I have these, but I'm not really sold on them, they just feel a bit compromisey:

Girls:
Clara
Penelope
Isabel

Boys:
Daniel
Oliver
Oscar

Thank you.

I like Mila, I teach one here who is lovely which probably helps (!) how would you pronounce it in the UK? Another local name here that's nice is Aida, but again, how would you pronounce that?

Because we are English and will end up back in England one day, I'd rather the name wasn't a Spanish one that will be mispronounced, better the other way round.

I also like Marina, it reminds me of a book I love. Eva is lovely but here would be Ava and in the UK eeva. Dh doesn't like it sadly!

I like Ramona for a girl. I don't think it's a Spanish name, but derivative of Ramon? Might be weird in Spain.

Sophia or Carla for a girl

Carlos for a boy

Spelt Ava it will be pronounced the same

Ava would be pronounced Avva in Spain.

Since Spanish is phonetic you want an English name that fits Spanish phonetics eg: An(n)a, Emma, Maria, Isabel, Sof/phia, Tina, Lisa, L(o)uisa, Talia, Clara, Marina, Maya.

I have 2 spanglish daughters....we went international...I read my shortlist, he read the same kist and where the pronunciation varied we axed it.

I still like (but was vetoed)
Elena
Alba
Nora
Alina

He still likes (but was vetoed)
Amanda

For boys we didnt discuss so much...
Oscar
Thiago
Diego

Elena is lovely and works well in both

Miranda
Pandora
Caterina
Lola

Boys - Luca, Ramon, David, rafael, nico

I have an Elena (no Spanish connections ) - no problems with pronunciation here. But is it a bit old fashioned in Spain?

I'd pronounce Mila as My-la if I came across one in the UK and hadn't been told otherwise (because Milo seems always to be My-lo).

Irene in English can be Eyereen, but an also be Eye reen ee.
Irena is an alternative.

Iago.
Maria
Daniela
Guido
Fabian
Teresa

Elena sounds totally different to me in Spanish & English.
Mexican friend was MerryLena, which works in both lingos.

in reply to the Anna and /or Maria reco....both beautiful names. And very common in the spanish speaking world. I don't know a single Maria who goes by Maria...they all use either their 2nd first name or a contraction of both. E.g. Maria Eugenia becomes Maru; Maria Alexandra is Maex; Maria Elizabeth is Betty; Maria Guadeloupe is Guada....you get the picture. Same with Ana...Ana Ines, Ana Maria, Ana Catalina all get the 2 name treatment. Maybe worth to choose a middle name you love if you go that route.

Hector
Anton/Antonia
Marcus
Miranda

Do you mean Elena as in El-ay-nah or El-ena?

Calamityjam in my head it's El-ay-nah but I guess if you are in a Spanish and English mix situation you have to like both pronunciations as you will hear both!

OP, I would say Mila as mee-la, like Mila Kunis.
I would say Aida as eye-ee-da, like the opera.

Carmen

Marc

Elena in Spanish = (phonetic English sounds) = ay - LAY - nuh.

in English could be ee - LAY - nuh, or el - ay - nuh or who knows what.

Carmen is a good bet for OP.

Alexia
Aliyana
Bianca
Catalina
Julia
Liliana
Lucia
Marisa
Marisol
Melia
Nadia
Paloma
Patricia
Ria
Viviana
Zara

Benjamín
Cristian
David
Eric
Gabriel
Ivan
Isaac
Julian
Lucas
Samuel
Sebastian

How about Felicia?

Nope Elia is a Catalan girls' name.

Élia said El-e-a in Spanish and English.

Thank you! My lists have expanded!

I've added Elia (like that a lot thanks darling ), Benjamin (Ben), Miranda (which I love the Shakespearean link to!) Anna (taken off Maria because I wasn't feeling it!) And I'm going to tentatively add Hector, which I like because it reminds me of Troy, but dislike because it sounds like 'heckle.'

I've always loved Rose as a name, I like the one syllable simplicity, but not sure about Rosa. Maybe they could pronounce Rose ok here. Also, my MIL really hates it, she declared once, totally out of the blue "I hate the name Rose." She has never had any other opinions on names so it would feel a bit like I did it to spite her?!

Carmen is really pretty but reminds me of prostitutes because of the opera.... Argh!

That's a funny prejudice about Carmen. You know it's like the 'Sarah' of its generation for people age 45-70.

How about Thomas. It is Tomas in Spain I think but as every Thomas I know is shortened to Tom he could be Tom in both languages.

Camila

You need to spell with one L for it to be pronounce correctly in Spain