Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Are these truly terrible names?

127 replies

kiylahskies · 18/08/2018 22:21

Hello Smile. Me and DH have decided on two names for our DD when she arrives 1)Leilani (pronounced Lay-larn-ee, not sure how we're going to spell that yet) meaning: Heavenly flowers. And 2) Eyanah (pronounced Ay-yah-nah) meaning: educated/ a pretty flower.
MIL hates them both and says she'll cringe every time she has to call her grand daughter. One of DH's friends gave us a bit of a face when we told him. Are these names really that bad/ which one do you prefer?
Thank you so much!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
BertrandRussell · 19/08/2018 22:00

There are 30/40 Leilanis every year in the UK.

PetraRabbit · 19/08/2018 22:03

Leilani is the better name. It's pretty. The only thing that would put me off is that there are so many Leila/Leela/Lila/Lola names at the moment so if you do go for Leilani, don't shorten it.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 19/08/2018 22:04

They just remind me of the sort of nonsense names that seem to be in fashion atm. They look like made up.

FluffyMcCloud · 19/08/2018 22:06

I adore the name Leilani, it’s so beautiful. Eyanah kinda makes me think of Eeyore Blush

Movablefeast · 19/08/2018 22:08

Isn’t Leilani a Hawaiian name?

C0untDucku1a · 19/08/2018 22:11

Leilani is nice. But theres no ‘larn’ sound in it. More like lei LA ni

JennyHolzersGhost · 19/08/2018 22:13

One or the other, not both. Too many vowels is rapidly turning into the new -May/-Rose.

Leilani is fine; as for the other name, I presume you mean Iana? Perfectly acceptable as a recognised name. Just too much vowel action when paired with Leilani I think.

Hogtini · 19/08/2018 22:21

Sorry but they sound like a brand name of hotel toiletries. It's nice to have unique names but they are a pronounciation and spelling headache.

WhenTheSharkBites · 19/08/2018 22:42

You asked the question so I will answer. Yes. In my opinion those names are truly dreadful and awful.
But it's your kid.

AdaColeman · 19/08/2018 22:49

I'm with Team MIL.

BurtTyrannosaurusMacklin · 19/08/2018 23:44

I don’t see the issue with Leilani at all, it is a perfectly accepted “real” name. The other one sounds nice but the spelling just looks odd to me!

INeedNewShoes · 19/08/2018 23:52

There's a baby Ayana in our antenatal group of friends. It never occurred to me to not like the name but maybe that's because it was overshadowed by a truly bizarre name choice for one of the other babies.

ArchbishopOfBanterbury · 20/08/2018 16:33

Leilani is lovely. Ayana is nice. The other spellings are bizzare.

TeaAddict235 · 20/08/2018 20:14

Op asks which of the two cultural names she should choose.

Pp suggest names like Emma and Jane wtf???  how would the OP explain that to her family who probably don't hold names like Jane in esteem as they probably don't mean anything in any other culture.

The world has gone bonkers.

Name your kid what you want @kiylahskies .

AnnieTheAlpaca · 20/08/2018 20:19

They’re awful. Are they just made up? Your DD would have a lifetime of mispronunciation.

What about:
Layla
Lola
Ellianna
Liliana
Iona

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 20/08/2018 20:23

I know a beautiful little girl called Leylani they call her Lala for short. She is the only one in her school

Hushabyelullaby · 20/08/2018 21:27

My friend has a daughter called Ayanna, this is what google brought up

Are these truly terrible names?
JennyHolzersGhost · 20/08/2018 21:56

What are ‘cultural names’?

OutPinked · 20/08/2018 21:59

They won’t thank you for it when they have to spell it out every time they need to give their name.

toothtruth · 20/08/2018 22:02

Leilani is lovely and shortens to lots of things that she could go by if she wants... so id go with that

Thesearmsofmine · 20/08/2018 22:16

I’m not keen but if I had to pick one I would go for Lailani.

Anya is a lovely name with a similar sound to your second choice.

manicinsomniac · 20/08/2018 22:24

I think they're both really pretty, though I agree that Eyanna is better spelled with an A.

I can't imagine there are many people who won't have heard of Leilani and know how to pronounce it.

Ayanna is fairly obvious, even if you haven't seen it before.

VanillaSugar · 20/08/2018 22:28

I knew a Leilani - she was from Honduras.

Ihuntmonsters · 20/08/2018 23:46

TeaAddict235 the OP says that one of the names is from her culture, the other one is not. Leilani is from Hawaii, it's not at all clear where Eyanah is from - vary it up a bit and it could be Arabic, Somali or possibly Native American (although that seems to be disputed). Emma or Jane could be just as alien to her family, or they could be totally familiar, as we have no idea where the OP's family is from there's no way of telling really.

Catsandbootsandbootsandcats · 21/08/2018 06:30

"They won't thank you when they have to spell out their name."

I've been spelling my name out forever, and I have a common name. One of 3 in my class at school, all spelled differently. I can't say it bothers me that much, and I've never thought to blame my parents. Whose pretty normal names also have a couple of different ways of spelling them. As do most of my friends names!