Inès or Mia?

[NameChange30]

Which name do you prefer: Inès (with or without the accent) or Mia?

We are a French/English family, living in England, so the name needs to work in both languages. I think Mia is easier to pronounce and spell. I worry that a lot of English speakers might struggle with Inès?

(Don't even know whether I'm expecting a girl yet - it's very early days - but I'm struggling with first trimester exhaustion, nausea and anxiety, and shortlisting baby names is cheering me up )

[peachgreen]

I've only ever heard Inès pronounced "eye-NEZ" (as per Hairspray) - not saying it's the right pronunciation, just that there are some of us that would default to that.

[WeirdPookah]

Mia is really common. Over popular.

[Iamagree]

Inès all the way (I have one 😁)
Yes it gets mispronounced but I also use the "rhymes with finesse" to assist!

[Iamagree]

I think the Eye-nez is a US version, and the zh pronunciation is Portuguese? (But prepared to be corrected)

[NameChange30]

Ha yes I already have a "Saul, like Paul but with an S" so I might as well also have an "Inès, like finesse"!

I can imagine Americans saying "eye-nez", they pronounce everything wrong

[Lavenderblues]

Inès should be Een-es just like Iris should be Eeris

[NameChange30]

Nope.

[SemperIdem]

@Lavenderblues are you thinking of Eris?

[minipie]

I like both but have never ever heard Ines rhyming with finesse. I guess I’ve only heard the Spanish pronunciation.

Based on this thread both you and she when older will spend a lot of time hearing it mispronounced and either correcting it or letting it go (whilst being silently irritated). I’d rule it out on that basis, sorry.

Mia is lovely. MN has a thing about names being too popular but that clearly doesn’t put off the thousands who call their children popular names each year...

[NameChange30]

Thanks minipie. I am inclined to agree with you on both counts. The thread was making me lean towards Inès over Mia but after taking a break from it I'm leaning back the other way!

Or I might just pick a completely different name... roll on 20 week scan (only 13 weeks to go 😭)

[XXcstatic]

Love Inès but no one in the UK can pronounce it, which would put me off. How about names that sound similar in both languages? - Sophie, Marie, Isabel, Lucy/Lucie, Anna etc? Or a French name that the English will mostly guess correctly -Corinne, Elisa, Gabrielle?

[TatianaLarina]

How hard is EEnez to pronounce?

[Cineraria]

To me the differences in pronunciation don't seem that huge, other than the potential for the first syllable to be pronounced as "eye". I think there will always be variations in how people pronounce even very common, well known names due to regional accent and those could easily be more varied than the mispronunciations from those who only know the Spanish/Portuguese pronunciation. Even Mia would be pronounced by some as Mee-yurr rather than Mee-uh where I lived when I started school.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

Ines

[Chocmallows]

Mia or Maia

[Astronica]

I think both Mia and Ines are really lovely names, and both have a cool international vibe. I would have leant towards Mia except for the popularity of similar names - eg Maia, Maya, Mya, Myah, Mila being everywhere. Whether you go for Mia or Ines I think you'll find there are people who misspell and mispronounce it. I have the most common name of my decade spelt and pronounced the usual way and I continually have people misspelling and misspronouncing it... so it amuses me when people think they can avoid this. Not much help here but to reiterate I do think both are lovely.

[Andersonx3]

I have a Mia (9 weeks old) and only know 1 other. DH and I decided on the name before realising how popular it is at the moment but couldn't imagine calling her anything else. Before I'd have avoided top 10 names but have realised that if you like it, choose it! Obviously bias to the name but Ines is also lovely but comes with more pronunciation issues than Mia, although as PP have said it can be confusing with so many spellings/versions of the name.

[NameChange30]

XX
Thank you for the suggestions, I like a couple of those but not enough to use them - sorry! I tend to like names that are simple but not too popular (apart from Mia, it seems, but I didn't know any growing up so it still feels fresh to me).

Tatiana
You've answered your own question, as that's not how it's pronounced Not in France and not by the majority in the UK either.

Thank you cineraria and Astronica for your thoughts, good points both.

Anderson
Congrats on your little Mia

[XXcstatic]

To me the differences in pronunciation don't seem that huge, other than the potential for the first syllable to be pronounced as "eye"

One of my cousins is an Inès - lives in Switzerland but has often been to the UK. Brits tend to know that the last letter of a word is typically not pronounced in French, so call her "Eeen" or (confusing an acute accent with a grave) "Ee-nay" . Also, English often stresses the first syllable of a word, unlike French which almost always stresses the last, she gets "Ann-ay" or just "Aaan".
It's funny for her because it's a couple of weeks a year. I think it would get really tedious to encounter this 24/7, as a Inès living in the UK.

[MrJollyLivesNextDoor]

Both lovely names but I prefer Ines

[CruCru]

I love Ines. I would always spell it Inés though, because that is how my friends' daughter's name is spelled (they are Spanish). Will it annoy you if other people do the same?

Mia is okay but very popular. I've heard it in so many places that it would put me off - from memory, it was even the name of the character in that Milka ad that was so controversial.

[Happyandglorious]

Mia

[Urkiddingright]

Ines but it is supposed to be pronounced in-ez.

Mia is too common.

[Carouselfish]

I've taught a lovely Brit 13 yr old Ines. Never had a problem with her name. Why cater to the lowest denominator?

[hairyxmasturkey]

I absolutely LOVE Ines. I would have it without the accent if you're living in the Uk. Such a beautiful name