Spanish/Portuguese names that work in English

[Jabuticaba]

The name needs to work in both languages but I really want a classic English middle name.

I really like Marcos Christopher but we already have a Lucas and Marcos and Lucas might be a bit too much on the s's.

I also like Emanuel but I can't think of a classic English name to go with Emanuel. It sounds better as Christopher Emanuel only the "ph" makes it complicated as a first name. DH is not convinced about Emanuel.

For a girl DH wants Ana Luiza or Ana Luisa but I'm not keen. I like Lívia or Lara but as we have a Lucas L names are out. I cannot think of a classic English middle name other than Rose, but Rose is out as the R is pronounced like an H.

Any suggestions?

Rafael, Gabriel and Xavier spring to mind.

And I like Ana Elizabeth for a girl.

Rafael, Gabriel and Xavier

All pronounced completely differently in Portuguese

What about the name Paloma? I love that name and I know it's a Spanish word, not so sure it is a Spanish name though!

Carla
Liliana
Olivia
Natalia
Mae
Julia
Catarina
Safira
Veronica
Mariana
Lucia
Lucille
Monica
Sonia

Benjamin
Leo
Lucas
Max
Filipe
Miguel
Tomas
Clemente
Andre
Silvio
Vincente
Carlos
Daniel
David

Adelaide
Doroteia

Chinio very true which I guess would be difficult for those unsure if it was being pronounced the Spanish or Portuguese way.

farenchielala I think it means Dove in Spanish, might also mean pigeon though

Spanish names are more commonly known and some can be used, I thought I might get some new inspiration from Spanish but I didn't realise quite how many common Spanish names are different in Portuguese. I think we're down to Marco/Marcos, Arthur (Portuguese pronounciation) or George (English spelling) with Christopher, George or Arthur (English pronunciation) as a middle name. Davi is also a possibility as it works well in English.

Emily is now a strong front runner for a girl. Emily Claire or Emily Catherine.

Thanks everyone

We have a Claudia which works both ways. Although it is pronounced differently by the Portuguese side of the family to the English but that doesn't hugely bother me as we live in the UK so she is mostly Claw-dia and then when we visit she is Cloud-ier.

We never had a boy but we were considering Hugo.

Claúdia is beautiful.

I have a colleague called Hugo so that's out but I've also pretty much rejected all H and R names due to pronounciation, although I really like a lot of them.

Theo is another good possibility, but we have a Mateus whose nickname is Teu, so it's too similar. Arthur is my current favourite even though it's quite different in Portuguese and it's really really popular both here and in the UK.

I'm in Spain. Alex works well in both languages.
Don't go with Noah, here it is a girls name, Noa, and very popular, it would be like calling your boy Sophia.

Names in the DC's class at school.
Boys -
Lucas
Adrián
Joan (pn Joe-An)
Erik
Iker
Tomas
Ryan
Jan
Raúl

Girls -
Sofia/Sophia x 3
Paula
Marta
Estefania
Maru
Luisa
Emma (pn Ee-Ma)

I know a sibling set with one Spanish, one portuguese parent. They are called Christina and Victor which I really like.

Would Brazilians know how to pronounce Claire? I can imagine them pronouncing it Clay-ree. And Catherine Catt-eh-hee-nee.

Clara is pretty and works in both Brazil & UK

venusinscorpio no they cannot pronounce either name well but they can learn. The middle names are not so important as our other children all have very English middle names. My 7 year old has a classmate with the same first name so they are known by their first and middle names. My son got quite irritated and spent weeks making sure everyone could say his middle name perfectly.

Clara is very pretty another top runner.

Noah is common here but it is spelt Noé (no -Eh) although I suppose they could also go along with Noah as I don't think it is a girls name here. The problem with using Noé would mean he may be called No in England. I think the female for Noé here would be Noa without the H, but I have never come across a girl/woman with that name here.

Fair enough! I've travelled around Minas, in the historical cities, the interior and the mountains. I thought it was beautiful.

It is a beautiful place, one of the reasons I don't leave! Some of the nicest people in Brazil. Our small town is nothing like Ouro Preto or Mariana though, it's the more scabby and could do with a facelift part of Minas but we have a farm in the mountains, which is heaven for me.