Ivar in the UK?

[Hakarl]

We don't actually live in the UK but I'm from England and all my side of the family are still there so trying to find something that would work reasonably well for their sake.

We are considering a few options for our son. One is Ivar, which we would pronounce EE-var. It's a fairly common name where we live (Nordic country).

I don't think it's a challenge to pronounce once you know how, but would everyone see it as Ivor (EYE-vuh) spelt funny? I like both pronunciations but only one is valid where we live so there's no chance of us using the other one.

Do you like Ivar?

I don't think it really works here if that's important to you. I'd assume it was pronounced like Ivor, but as you say it's not a big deal to correct people. But then the correct pronunciation sounds like Eva.

Yes, I think it's great. It doesn't sound like it will be a problem where you live, but in the UK people will pronounce it "EYE-vuh", by association with Ivor and Ivan. However, if he's going to be brought up abroad then I don't really think that's a big problem. I'm sure family members and friends over here will soon get used to the correct pronunciation, and strangers getting it wrong doesn't really matter if it's not going to be an everyday thing.

But then the correct pronunciation sounds like Eva.

Yes, I did have that thought as well. But it doesn't really if you say it right because the second syllable is 'ar' like in 'car', not 'uh' like in 'the'. It's not a schwa.

If you want to hear what I mean, you can listen here: forvo.com/word/is/%C3%ADvar/#is

The fact that it requires explanation might be a good hint, though

It's fine.

I think there are so many other Nordic names which are more translatable.

This was a consideration when we named our DCs, as DH is Norwegian and all of his family still live there, but I'm Australian and we live in Australia. Something like Ivar wouldn't have worked. Something like Magnus or Felix would've.

@SuperBeagle - Magnus is MAHG-noose for us and Felix is FELL-ix, so neither are the same as in English. I'll be more specific than Nordic - we are working with Icelandic names, which tend to be more Nordic than Nordic, if you know what I mean (the Old Norse forms are still used in most cases).

Yeah there are a few that translate really well with no / barely any problems at all (e.g. Johann), but really not that many! We honestly have tried to find an 'issue free' name but haven't managed to identify one that we both like and which doesn't have some other problem, like sounding stupid with our daughter's name or being already a first cousin's name.
So we kind of have to take a hit somewhere :(. Or give him an English name which would be a complete pain in the arse for his life in Iceland (I live this reality as a foreigner myself). Or just say fuck it and go full Icelandic, I suppose, but I'm trying to be considerate of my child's heritage and the linguistic abilities of family and friends.

If it were completely up to me I'd probably name him Emil as I think it is lovely and an almost perfect cross-over name. Sadly it was vetoed!

In the end I think our most likely choice is Matthias. Which I am sure will also get pronounced incorrectly sometimes but is probably a bit more 'UK friendly'. But I kind of want to have more than one option on the table as we won't name him until after he's born.

I think English people might find it hard to pronounce the way you'd like because to me the way you say it does sound very similar to Eva. I'd pronounce Ivor Eye-vor (like more) and assume that Ivar was Eye-var (like car). But that's because I think of Ivor as a Welsh name.

Assuming that your ds will have an Icelandic surname I'd imagine that most people will think that Ivar is a foreign name and ask how to say it and you'll probably be fine.

Which full Icelandic names have you thought about? You might do better to pick something you really like rather than compromise on a name you don't really love and still have it mispronounced.

I like Matthias. I am in the UK, not English, and would say it as Mat-TEE-as. I think English people would say Math-EYE-us. Emil, I would say as EM-eel but I think you'd also get Emmul and Em-EEL.

I wouldn't worry too much about how it goes with your daughter's name. It depends what your DD is called. If she is called Jerry you might want to avoid Terry or Tom.

I though Ivo was Eye-vo until I worked with an Ivo.

I googled Icelandic boys names and Nordic names and there are some really nice ones.
www.nordicnames.de/wiki/List_of_approved_Icelandic_male_names

Maybe not Adolf

My sister dated an Ivo, pronounced Eye-vo. I think he was English, and it might have been a nick name or short for something else perhaps.

I think Ivar is a great name. Sure, it might get mispronounced when people first read it, but so what? It's easy to explain.

And it really doesn't sound like Eva with the r on the end.

I like Gylfi !
I don't see a problem with Ivar, is the baby's surname Icelandic because that will help as a pointer. Once corrected people will learn how to pronounce..I like it

There are a few similar old-Norse names like Ivar, Ingvar, Ingemar, etc. The pronounciation of Ivar is a bit like 'Yngvar' or 'Yngve' in my opinion. I understand 'Emil' was vetoed. If you must have a Old-norse sounding name I noticed that the name 'Vidar' has made it to the top 100 (very unexpectedly if you ask me) and ranked no. 46 last year on a Scandinavian popularity list. 'Vidar' refers to the son of Oden and is considered a strong person (according to a 'key' for Scandinavian names) with the alternative spelling 'Widhar' - and if you ask me 'Vidar' sounds a bit like 'Ivar'. It says 'Vidar' is becoming increasingly popular.The name 'Ivar' means 'ivy tree' or 'bow' (and arrow).

Thanks for various suggestions, but unless you speak Icelandic I don't think it will help as you are very likely to be pronouncing them wrong in your head. No offence and really thanks for trying to help but I have thought to go through the list already (about 100 times) and I don't think there is any new information I'm missing.

@nooka - Thank you, I do understand what you mean with the Eva thing. A lot of British people think DP's name is a girl's name because it is if you end it with a schwa instead of a long ar sound. So I guess I can ask him how much it bothers him.
Yes, nobody will have a chance in hell of pronouncing his last name so I suppose everyone will indeed know that he's a foreigner ;)
Fully Icelandic names that I love are names like Kjartan, Ingimar, Erlingur, Höskuldur, Kári, Sverrir, Þorlákur, Þráinn... I just don't think most of those would be fair on my parents, especially my poor father who makes such an effort to pronounce things that he sounds like he's being strangled. Ingimar might genuinely be OK and it is probably my favourite name but DP is lukewarm on it. Sigh.
I do love Ívar (and Matthías, Emil, Benedikt, Róbert, Óskar, Tómas, Viktor, Alexander, Felix, Leó - loads of international ones). The love is not the issue, I love so many names. It's just that they all have some strike against them.

@Mike I think English people would say Math-EYE-us.

Exactly. I think they will too, at least some of them. We say MAH-tee-us, similar to the German way but with the stress on the first syllable. The thing about Ívar is that at least I like the mispronunciation.

@Visitor - I have no need to use an Old Norse name. Matthias isn't Old Norse and neither is Emil. But a good example of what I mean is that Vidar and Oden are not Icelandic. The forms used here are Viðar and Óðinn, so Viðar is just not an option as most people outside Iceland understandably have no idea how to pronounce ð (it's not a d). Iceland != Scandinavia.

@Limpid & @Yikes - Thanks for the votes of confidence!

Another one in the running is Róbert, which is not pronounced the same as Robert but I thought if we just called him Robbi, which is so close to Robbie that I wouldn't care if everyone in England called him that, we basically could sidestep the issue. Elías is also a contender, but has pronunciation issues (ELL-ee-as vs. el-EYE-us) and he'd probably end up being called Elli which is obviously very girly in the eyes/ears of British people.

If you are going to live in Iceland, Ivar sounding a bit like Eva shouldn't matter. Ivar is used by a well known company for some of their products. I thought it would be EE-varr. Eva I would say as Eve-ah. so I guess it would a bit be like saying Joan sounds like John.
Matthias MAT-ee-as is nice. I like Felix and Magnus. Not keen on Elias although the Arabic form Ilyas is said as ILl-yas, so it would be quite international.

ILL-yas or EEL-yas. Lower case L looking a bit like uppercase_i.
I know several Eliases, and they say it as El-EE-as.

I prefer Ivor (pronounced Aye-vor)