Serbian names shortlist

[Nottingha]

My dh is Serbian, and we've agreed that we'll give our dc a Serbian first name. Our surname is double-barrelled, my very English surname followed by my husband's very Serbian name. Middle names are likely to be English.

I was wondering whether anyone could tell me their opinions on our shortlist. Many are Serb spellings of names also common in English.

Girls

V. Serbian...
Milica (it's very popular in Serbia, prounounced as written)
Mirjana (pronounced Mirry-yana)
Jelisaveta - Serbian version of Elizabeth, pronounced as written (hard j)
Isidora - pronounced as written (I know it's an English name too but I've never met one)
Ivana - kind of like it but is it tarnished by Ivana Trump?
Dragana - Dra-garna

Serb variants of names common in English...
Vera (pronounced with a short e like terror, not like the long e in the English version)
Sofija - pronounced like Sofia
Lidija - pronounced like Lydia
Julijana - pronounced Julie-arna
Emilija - pronounced like Emilia
Anastasija - etc.

Overall I think Milica is my favourite, as the spelling and pronunciation are straightforward, and it has the Millie nickname as a possibility, but it will be unusual in England and she'll be the only one in her class (though it's really on a par with Emily/Sophie in terms of popularity in Serbia). So I'd be very interested in any thoughts any one has about Milica!

Boys

We're finding boys' names quite a bit harder - many of dh's favourites sound too like girls' names to me e.g. Aleksa
He also likes Aleksander, as do I

Aleksander
Dimitrije - Dimitrije, with a slight 'ye' sound at the end
Ivan - e-Van, with the stress on the 'Van'
Jovan - yo-Van
Mijalko - Me-yalko

I like Milica though it wasnt actually obvious to me how it was pronounced and when I googled it said ' ‎MILL-its-uh', is that not right?
I also like Isadora and Dragona, Aleksander for a boy

My fault, sorry, it's prounced Militsa, like you found. I've been in Serbia trying to speak the language for three weeks and I'm getting my English and Serb pronunciations mixed up!

I like Mirijana for a girl. I like all the names for boys - Jovan might edge it slightly.

I like all the girls' names but I wouldn't choose ivana though there's nothing wrong with it as a name. Milica is lovely.

Aleksander is fab, so are all the others! Not much help. Don't worry about pronunciation, people learn it really quickly if they need to.

I like Militsa. It’s pretty.

Mirijana is a bit too close to marijuana for my liking.

Boys I love Aleksander. That would be my choice.

Isidora and Aleksander are my favourites and I think will be easier for non-serbs to grasp.

Agreed about Aleksander and Isidora - also Ivan. And Vera which is the easiest of the girls' names to spell, and must be due a revival in Britain with all these other early twentieth century names coming back into fashion. A small Vera would fit in very well among the little Ivys and Archies.

Dragana is cool but it would require a certain personality and sense of humour to carry off.

I love Milicia!! I'm half Slovenian and that was on my list. So pretty.

Oh and Dimitrije (even though I had to copy and paste for spelling ) is a great name too.

Might nick that one for DC3.

I love Milan. I have a lovely friend called Milan.

If not Milan, could you get away with Roman?

For girls, I like:
Milica
Mirjana
Isidora

For boys, I like:
Mijalko
Jovan

I like Milica and Vera. Also Aleksandrr and Ivan. I also love the Polish name Milena, pronounced Milenna.

I like Milica it's very pretty sounding
I'm not a fan of the rest of the girls names other than Isidora which is gorgeous though although I know it's the official spelling I do prefer Isadora

I realky like Aleksander nn Sascha. I actually prefer this spelling to Alexander

I also really like Ivan and Jovan is nice too but may encounter people commonly saying it wrong

I like Mirjana, Isidora and Lidija. Not keen on Dragana (too much like dragon). Also like Jovan and Mijalko.

Milica and Ivan I think they translate well

Going against the grain here but not keen on milica - if it’s pronounced militsa it reminds me too much of “militia” (and my phone’s spell check seems to agree :) ) Other than that, I like any of your options

I like the Serbian pronunciation of Ivan but think you'd struggle to get people to stick to it in the UK, so avoid if you don't like the English pronunciation.

Isidora and Ivan,

Isidora is the only girls names listed that I like. I think Ivan is a pretty cool name and very underused. Aleksander is also a good choice. Not Mirjana as it reminds me of marijuana

Love Dragana. The English variants would really just end up mis-spelled, so would be better with more anglicised spellings.

Mijalko does not sound good in Serbian at all... between old-fashioned and just strange.. Milica is very common (as in too frequent) but it is a nice name. I would prefer Mila or Vera (both a bit old fashioned in Serbia but they translate well), and Aleksandar (though in Serbia everyone will call him Sasha).. you can try to push Aleks for short.

My favourites:
Milijana for a girl.
Mijalko for a boy.

I’m half polish and had the same struggles! We settled on English first names and polish middle names

I have a Serbian colleague called Vladan, I've always quite liked the name. Vlad would be a cool nickname too

Milica and Jovan 🙂

I love milica and mirjana. Miri for short?