Another one for the Spanish speakers out there

[ScotinSpain]

You were all so helpful the last time I posted that I thought I would ask your opinion on another name.

Our baby boy is due in just over two weeks and I feel like time is running out for us to choose a name. We live in Spain, but I'd really love a Scottish name for him, and preferably one that's not too common as I have a large family who have already used every name imaginable!

A name I've just come across and absolutely love is Corran - it originates from a Scottish place name and is also the name of an obscure Jedi knight, which seems to entertain DH.

However, I've just realised that 'corran' is a conjugation of the Spanish verb 'correr - to run'.

Firstly, would the authorities allow us to register the baby here with such a name? And secondly, would we want to? Personally I love the name and have no issues with the translation - in fact, I quite like it - but I don't want to resign my son to a life of ribbing at school.

I have a Welsh friend with a son called Cai - a conjugation of 'to fall' - and he doesn't seem to have any issues at school. He was born in Wales though, so no issues with registering the birth. And a friend called Cara, which means face, who never reports any problems either.

All thoughts much appreciated, as always. It's so hard!

Anyone?

Sorry OP no help as I don’t speak Spanish. But I thought I’d give this a bump for you and say I think Corran is lovely!!

I don’t live in Spain so can’t answer your question about whether the name could be registered but I’d probably use it if I were you. Lots of Spanish names are words too as you said like Pilar, Alma, Soledad etc so I guess Corran wouldn’t be too out there

'They run'

I remember your previous thread, but I've nc since then. Here it would be said with an accent and Cor-raan. As it means they ran, I would imagine it will come up at school when he's in the patio running around with his friends.

As for would they allow it here? Hmm difficult one. I've heard of what I wouldn't consider outlandish names not being allowed because they work of a list don't they.
Maybe go to the town hall and ask for that list and go from there/

We had our DC in the UK, but we wouldn't have been allowed to name them what we wanted here, one of the reasons being they have 2 middle names, and here you are only allowed one.

On the other thread I said the names my friend was considering. She wengt with Alberty/Alby in the end..

Sorry kids being difficult!

*She went with Albert/Alby in the end.

The Spanish pronunciation of the double rr can be quite strong, think of perro for example. Something to consider.

I like the name Corran, will you be in Spain for good? That would be a factor for me.

I just asked the DC, they are trilingual (English/Spanish/Catalan, and go to a Spanish school) I wrote it down and asked how they would say it.

Core-rran - With the Spanish double rr, like in perro. Like the PP said.

Now they are asking to go to the park with their friends, so the running around association is definitely there.

DH just said if you wanted Corran said the Scottish way you could spell it Córun

Hm, tough one. We had the same thing, DD's name is identical in English and Spanish - but her nickname isn't, so it causes confusion anyway!

DS's name doesn't exist in Spanish at all and I do sometimes think we could have made his life easier.

We live in an area with a fair amount of immigration though, so people are used to unusual names.

"Corran" wouldn't exactly mean, "They run," it would be the third person subjunctive or imperative - so eg if you were with a group of (older?) people you didn't know well and you wanted to tell them not to run, you'd say "¡Corran!" or "¡No corran!" I can't imagine ever saying this because the only people I use Usted with are very old, and I have never had to order them to run!

(I hate to say it but it's also a verb with a lot of different meanings, officially 45 according to the DRAE, and one of them is... a bit rude? - number 44 on the DRAE list: "ejaculate". dle.rae.es/?id=Ayuz2t0 That might be a time bomb for the teenage years - or not? - again the conjugation is a bit weird, so it's not a totally obvious inference.)

Sound it out with some native speakers, see how they react, I'll do the same if I remember.

As for the law in Spain, there are legal restrictions on naming, designed to protect children, but essentially it depends how local registrars interpret the law. This is the relevant law in the BoE:

www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1957-7537
Relevant bits: Artículo cincuenta y cuatro.

• you can't give a child more than one compound name or two simple names.
• you can't give a child a name that is objectively detrimental to them, makes it hard to identify them, or might suggest they are of the opposite sex
• you can't give two siblings the same name, or the same name translated into different languages.

Here's an article in El País from a couple of years ago: you can call your kid Goku, although it might take a couple of tries, but not Lobo (at least when the article was published).
verne.elpais.com/verne/2016/07/29/articulo/1469771178_257078.html

"Corran" wouldn't exactly mean, "They run," it would be the third person subjunctive or imperative - so eg if you were with a group of (older?) people you didn't know well and you wanted to tell them not to run, you'd say "¡Corran!" or "¡No corran!" I can't imagine ever saying this because the only people I use Usted with are very old, and I have never had to order them to run!

This ^

It would actually be quite unusual to say this form in Spain (a bit less so in Latin America because of the use of ustedes as the only plural "you" form). They run would be "corren".

So I wouldn't really worry about it. It's a lovely name.

If it’s the sound you like, then the suggestion of spelling it like Córun might work. Also, like a PP said, it’s the third person plural present subjunctive (and sometimes imperative), so maybe not used that much - even if it is, it doesn’t really matter too much, does it? Plenty of names in English have other meanings.

Good luck with everything!

Yeah, I agree, Corún could work well.

(Corán though would be the Koran, also spelt Qurán, Alcorán.)

I also agree that the word and the name can often be seen as totally different things. Plenty of English names are also common verbs - how often do we associate the names Nick and Rob with stealing for example?

Spanish here - I wouldn't use it, it will get pronounced with a double rr, like perro or carro and I do think the link to the verb 'to run' is to strong (despite being the subjunctive) If you like the name, then I'd use a different spelling, I think it'll make it a lot easier for the kid.

We are having the opposite problem btw, our preferred spanish name sounds like a bad word in english, so we're back to the drawing board!

Wow, thank you everyone for your detailed and considered replies. Sorry I took so long to get back to you - I didn't get the notifications about your posts and have just noticed them all.

Lots to think about and I especially liked the comparison with 'Nick' and 'Rob' in English. Changing the spelling is a good suggestion - sometimes the simplest solutions are the best!

@pixietheginger I know what you mean - we thought about Laia for a girl, which I think is beautiful, but doesn't work so well in English!

So, I think it's still a contender, maybe with a different spelling. We have a few other options on the table too and 38+4 now so hopefully we'll be able to see which one he suits best soon!

That is really bad

Señor Corran (por su vida)

LOL. And that was off the top of my head.

Excuse my ignorance but how is the double rr pronounced in Spanish?

I wouldn’t use it in Spain 🇪🇸 due to the pronunciation.. the rrrrrs !
I’m Scottish.. I’d love the name in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The rrs are rolled, kind of vibrating the tip of your tongue against the hard palate as you say the sound, so it's a very strong sound - the English pronunciation would be much softer. The double rr is a sound a lot of non native speakers of Spanish struggle with.

@Ohyesiam Like this -