Sarai?

[FartnissEverbeans]

I’m not a fan of Sarah but I think Sarai (suh-RYE) is really interesting. It’s the sort of name I’d like to be called myself - unusual but not frilly, with a long history.

I worry that it sounds too much like psoriasis or ‘sore eye’...

Any thoughts? Thanks

Tbh I havn't heard the name before and was wondering when I saw the title, how it would be pronounced. I get where you are coming from with the 'sore eye' now you have clarified.

I was thinking maybe Soreya as an alternative, but that could also sound like 'surveyor' (dont know if I'm overthinking too much now!)
Maybe Sara (if you dont like Sarah), pronounced more like Zara, but with a softer 's' ?

Never heard it before either but it’s pretty!

One of my oldest friends is Sarai, beautiful name

I like it. Lovely ancient name.

I like it in theory and prefer it to my more boring Sarah. But I do get what you mean about ‘Sore eye’ and think that would put me off using it. It was Sarah in the old testament’s original name but God was supposed to have changed it to Sarah. Maybe he thought about Sore eye too. I think Soraya or Sara could be alternatives. My Grandma used to call me by the nn Sorelie whIch is a Yiddish diminutive of Sarah. An aunt who was also Sarah was always called Sadie.

One of my best friends is Sarai. I have lovely associations with it because she's so lovely. It's an old biblical name that I never knew until I met her. A few things to consider (frustrations she's shared with me): people rarely know how to pronounce it because it's rare - your daughter will be in a position to explain to almost everybody she meets for the rest of her life. Also my friend is Indian, so people always assume the name originates in India - this annoys her since she feels more British.

It's okay but I think Soraya is nicer. It's my daughters middle name. I almost used it as a first name but I prefer it pronounced Su-ray-ah rather than Su-rye-ah.. But you might like it pronounced the second way.

It's got a lovely history to it (ancient Persian name derived from Thurayya)

My dd has Sariah as a middle name but she is not too fond of it. Too girly she thinks

Also I was going to give it to her as her first name but my older son has psoriasis and somebody put me off it a bit by saying what if she gets psoriasis then that's what kids will call her.

@Shadow1234 I do actually really like the name Sara. I might love it up my list a bit. I’ve known a few lovely ones too.

@Messalena it’s good to hear that as people tend to be funny with names they’ve never heard - I’m glad it has a pretty sound!

@UsuallyJustLurk It’s good to hear there are some around, and that it works well in real life!

@daisypond I love the history of it. It’s one the most important things for me.

@SmallDalek Maybe God did think about the sore eye thing!!

@Margles21 Thanks for this. My son has quite an unusual name and, because we live in the Middle East, everyone back home assumes it’s Arabic but it’s not really. In fact Arabic speakers tend to assume it’s Arabic too. I don’t usually bother correcting them as the Arabic ‘version’ is lovely Our surname is very plain and easy to spell so I think that might make a more adventurous first name less of a pain? My own name is the other way round (easy first name, difficult surname).

@Cosmoa Soraya is a beautiful name. It’s a bit more fancy than Sarai though and I’m a very un-fancy person! Of course my daughter could be the opposite...

@MySweetAudrina Saraiah is lovely but the psoriasis thing is exactly what I worry about! My husband is prone to eczema and I have a mild skin complaint too...

I suppose it is a little fancier.. But I also love the nickname Raya for the Su-ray-ah pronunciation which is less fancy!

Sarai in the Old Testament meant 'contentious one'. So she'd be feisty. 🤗

@Cosmoa Raya is beautiful! I might add that to my list too

@OrdinaryGirl I like that!! She’ll take after her mother then... (I prefer the word ‘feisty’ but DH would probably say ‘grumpy, argumentative bugger’ ) p

It's gorgeous isn't it! I call my girl Raya Sunshine 😍

I've also seen it spelt Raeya but I feel that's a bit OTT!