Ylva

[Gigiandme]

Just discovered this name / stole it from another thread. I love the sound of it and the meaning which is "she-wolf" - I think it's a great meaning! What do you think - too 'out there'?

Thought that said vulva at first glance!!

I like it!

Ylva is nice but I think Brits will struggle with the prononciation and spelling. Ilva maybe better but then you run the risk of the I and L getting confused. Tricky. I quite like it.

Just checked in to see if other people were thinking what I was thinking. Definitely not a good choice in my mind!

...and Ilva sounds like liver...

I knew an Ylva. She was interesting and artistic, so that’s good.

I know an Ilva and she is not 'hounded in the playground'. Its a lovely name. But any non-english name will get ridiculous xenophobic responses on mn.

Yes, Vulva

First thing I thought too.

I don’t dislike it generally but it is too close to vulva in pronunciation so wouldn’t use it.

I know a baby Ylva, doesn’t seem to have caused any problems.

I think it's lovely! Might also consider Sylvia or Silva perhaps (I actually prefer Ylva exactly as you've written it, just those names immediately came to mind). No harder for people to learn the pronunciation/spelling than Yvonne or Yvette, surely? Nice nod to heritage too.

I just saw this&though"vulva" sorry😂

No no no no.

I know someone with an Ylva, all of her girls have ‘less common’ names. I think it’s pretty.

See it in active threads and immediately thought vulva. Not a good name.

Actually, my reaction was a trigger-happy one. Sorry!

Spell it Ilva. It's actually a lovely name and no, you won't get playground ridicule. I think if you're raising the child here, it would be better to spell the name with I than Y. With a Y, it'll just get demolished by most people, pronunciation wise.

Venla and Vendela are other Swedish/Finnish names I like.

Ilva is nice but Ylva did make me think vulva too

I like it
And if you are worried about people who can't read you could spell it Ilva.

@Littledryad

🙄 it's nothing to do with not being able to read. When you read at speed or glance at a word the subconscious mind can missplace similar looking words.

It’s quite a common name in Sweden - although I did a statistical search and apparently only about 7500 women are called Ylva and I would have guessed more? I hear it quite often. I think it’s a nice name but agree that it’s hard for English speakers to pronounce. Ilva is ok as an approximation. It wouldn’t make me think of vulvas etc but then I’m very broad minded and bilingual and all and can even separate the names Pippa and Fanny from their other meanings dontchaknow.

banivani what has being broadminded got to do with anything?

I am fully aware that Fanny is a name as well as slang for vulva. If I was introduced to someone called Fanny I would have no problem using their name. But I would still advise against using it as a given name for a baby!!

(And what does Pippa mean to you? )

No point suggesting anything that isn’t Maud or Martha or equally old lady-ish on here OP, and particularly anything ‘foreign’ people can’t cope. It’s no more like vulva than Eva or Ava or Alba or Isla etc etc
I like it, it’s easily pronounced and kids will not give a shit, I know kids with all kinds of names and none of other kids care.

MrsD it was lighthearted. Pippa means shag, as in have sex, in Swedish. Kiss means pee, by the way. When you’re bilingual you separate all that so after a while you don’t even see the oddness. When English speakers laugh at how “speed” in Swedish is “fart” it genuinely takes me a moment to see the funny side, my brain has separated the words.

Sounds nice but not with that spelling- ILva is better. It's also the name of a big furniture store in Denmark (ILVA) so might be similar to someone being called Ikea in that country!

Because of all the vulvas, my advice would be don't do it!