Name Halen for baby girl?

[marjanecarvalho]

Hello All,

I am struggling to find a name for my baby girl, my mother language is Portuguese from Brazil, my husband's is Spanish from south america and we live in UK. The name Halen has a family meaning for me, it is a name that my father really wanted for a baby for when he would become a grandfather, but he passed away 6 years ago, will never get to meet his grandchildren.

In Brazil Halen is not an usual name but I grew to like it because it is unique and I like the sound of it, as well that it is short and unisex.

In Portuguese we pronounce Hɑlen and not (Haylen), the A is well pronounced.
However through some research I found that most people think of Van Halen when they see the name Halen. Is this a bad thing? (considering they are an old band)

1. Can you please give me your honest opinion about the name Halen for a baby girl?

2. and I appreciate any suggestions too with the specifications: short name, not very popular or unique, that sounds good in Portuguese, Spanish and English - complicated I know!!!

My son's name is Gael which I feel meets the spec above :-)

Thank you all.

Marjane

If you're in the UK won't a lot of people mistake it for Helen?

Agree with Wolfie - people will assume it is Helen.

Yes, I think people will mishear it as Helen. That's not a problem if you are prepared to correct people; most people will only need to be told once.

I miss read this as Helen which will probably be the common problem with it.
Does that worry you? Helen is a nice classic girls name in itself definitely a girls name in Europe.

Apart from my mistake yes it's a fine name.

I immediately thought Van.

I think it's lovely; unusual but that's not always a bad thing, plus it has meaning for you.

If people think Helen, you'll only have to correct them once. And if they think Van Halen, well, so what?

I'm from Wales and on it 'Hal En'
It's the Welsh word for salt.

I really like it as a name.

Halen Môn

I've never heard it before but I think it's gorgeous.

Will you mind people saying 'Hay-len' or will you correct them?

My first thought too mike!

thank you guys, that is very helpful!!!! :-)

Thank you @chimchar

Thank you Iheartkingthistle I don't mind correcting people or if they say in a different way either. People speak different languages so it is inevitable the difference in pronunciation :)

Thank you newstateswoman :)

I didn't think of Van Halen at all but did consider it being misheard as Helen. I have a name with an unusual spelling & everyone mispronounced it. Only heard of another with the same name in adulthood & while at times I disliked the uniqueness, generally I enjoyed being different.

I like the name Halen & if it is your favourite name then go for it!!

Thank you @ABitOTT :)

I thought of Van Halen, even though I'm not totally sure who they are

First thing for me too is Van Halen

Be totally different if you lived in Portugal but in the UK I reckon most people will think of the band.

I don't dislike it, although I would assume you were Van Halen super fans. Similar names here would be Helen or Hayley.

Gael is a lovely from Brittany madame.lefigaro.fr/prenoms/origine/feminin-0/bretons-0 here you have other lovely names from Brittany.

I teach here in Australia, and some names are really unusual, and I stumble on them the first week, and when I say sorry, the kid will answer, no worries, nobody gets it.

I think in the UK most people will assume it is a typo for Helen. Depends whether you mind correcting them!

Helen's not a very popular name for babies at the moment, so I'm not sure that I would jump to that as a first thought. I would assume it was pronounced Haylen until corrected, and I would think of Van Halen, but I like them so that wouldn't be a bad thing. I'd go for it, especially with your family reasons for choosing it.

I immediately think of Van Halen.

Yes, I think people will mishear/misread it as Helen. That's not a problem if you are prepared to correct people; most people will only need to be told once but do remember that there are 7 billion people in the world.

Aren't Halen and Gael a bit same-y.