Thoughts on the name 'Aslan'

[sel2223]

My OH is Turkish and we've trying to agree on a name for a little boy (we have a girls name already).

We want a Turkish name with no special characters that is easy to pronounce in both Turkish and English. Asian means 'lion' in Turkish and is also the name of the lion from the Chronicles of Narnia, which I love.

What do you think? Is it too 'out there'?

I taught an Aslan a couple of years ago. I thought it was funny for about five minutes and then got over it.

It's so hard. Aslan is the only name we can semi agree on but I'm not sold for all the reasons mentioned above!

We're trying to bridge the gap between 2 cultures here and 2 religions, no easy feat let me tell you 🙈🤣

Oooh, I like Kemal! Hayat is nice too. I wouldn't go for Aslan either, everyone outside the Turkish community is going to think of the LWW, which is a shame.

It never bothered me having my name pronounced differently in different places but I do understand why people don't like it. Even Danyal is pronounced slightly differently.

I can see little Rayf at school while grandma says Rah-ef

Not unless he is a lion cub mate.

I think it's nice. I did think of the lion from Narnia but would forget about that in 2 seconds. I teach kids and I have a Kyla and a Jaxon which are both names I would in RL. But these two are so cute I forgot what I felt about the names after 2 seconds of knowing them.

before I read your full text I thought Lion!

Tricky. I’d find the Narnia association weird (though I love the book). Would Ilias work? I came across it recently and really liked it.

@sportsnight OH's brother is Ilias

What about Koray? It means ember moon (OH will probably hate it though)

Is there a Turkish version of Imre/Imran?

DH and I avidly watch the Turkish tv series Ertugrul so if I had another child, I’d want to name him Osman (or Turgut or Bamsi...)
Neither of us are Turkish but the plot and characters are brilliant so I could definitely see us using one of those names.

@krustykittens I could probably live with kemal (although I don't love it) but Hayat sounds like something I'd say during a kung foo move 🤣🤣🤣 it means life.

I am half Turkish..i'm not keen on Aslan

But how about Zeki, Cem/Jem, Deniz, Tim(ur)?

@breakup Emre/Emrah are popular nanes

@corcaithecat really? That's funny! I've never seen it.

Just no , sorry!

I really like Aslan!
My daughter has Turkish twins in her class they are called Aidan and Kerim which are lovely and both work well in the uk. (No idea if either are Turkish names but lovely nevertheless)

@runningonmusic can/cem etc are out as the c is pronounced differently and I don't want any special characters. Zeki I associate with someone I don't like very much and any name beginning with T is o it as OH's surname begins with T and I hate double letters if you know what I mean (which is a shame as I really like Teoman). Thanks for the suggestions though x

I think it's dreadful

Erol/Errol

@Dinosaursdontgrowontrees cute! Aiden is spelt Aydın in Turkish with an 'i' with no dot and is pronounced slightly differently.
I like it though.
Kerim rhymes with the surname lol.

I like Aslan!

But then... I almost called my son Leo and strongly considered Nala for my daughter, so I must just really like lions

@liveinthenow another of my suggestions that OH vetoed unfortunately 🙈

Will your child have an English or Turkish surname, or both?

I would be inclined to "balance out" a Turkish surname with a more English first name (that still works in Turkish) and vice versa. You can also use an English first name and Turkish middle name or vice versa.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of Aslan but it is recognisable and easy to spell and pronounce so wouldn't be a hard no from me.

@Dio23489432489234 haha! That made me laugh. I just realised this child is probably going to be born in the starsign Leo so maybe that's why we're being subconsciously drawn to lions 🤣

PS You call him "OH", is he your husband or partner? If not married please give your child your surname.