Ximena

[stopandquarantine]

Would I be setting up my child for a lifetime of misspelling and mispronunciation?

He-meh-nah

There is some Spanish background so that's the reason behind the name.

Other options:

Alba
Lua
Constanza
Luisa
Carlota
Manuela
Loreto
Regina - Even though I don't think it'd be possible to keep the Reh-he-nah pronounciation and it'd always be Reh-Jee-nuh

(There's a longer list but this is just an idea of what our preferences are so far)

I mispronouned it in my head when I read it. I find the name really clunky sorry!

I like Alba, Luisa, Carlota and Manula

I pronounced it wrong when I read it, but now I know how to say it correctly think it's lovely!
Is there a meaning behind?

HollyBen
Do you think it could work as a middle and would it still be too much? **

Keshabecky
It is meant to be the female version of the Hebrew name Shimon. The X letter sometimes carries the sound "sh" which I guess was the case for this name until it evolved into the "h" sound. And it's just a Spanish name that I like to be honest, everyone I've known with that name has been absolutely lovely. It means "listener"

It can also be spelt Jimena buy you may get people saying "je"instead of "he". It's a lovely name but maybe in the U.K. people aren't familiar enough with Spanish sounds to say it correctly.

I like it. X is a very soft 'J' sound in my country so I'd still get it wrong I guess, as in 'Jih-meena'.

However I'd choose one of the other names if I were you. X is pronounced 'ex' here, folks will make her name sound like Eczema

I knew someone with this name. It made her unforgettable. I think it's beautiful.

It's lovely, but your child will spend their lifetime explaining their name.
I love Alba - was 1st choice for my DD but vetoed by DH

I read it wrongly, but it would be fine once I'd

I know a Ximena and really like the name! But I'm not sure I would name a UK-born baby Ximena for the reasons you've mentioned. Alba is a lovely name and it's difficult to get wrong.

I said it correctly and I’m not a Spanish speaker but know enough to get by. I think it will be mangled in the U.K. You only need to look at the threads on Xavier. It’ll be pronounced like Ex-imena.

I didn't know how to pronounce it, but now you've explained, I do. I think it's lovely.

Luisa, Carlota and Alba are all gorgeous too. My favourite is Luisa.

Ximena would have pronunciation issues in the UK, whereas I think Luisa, Carlota and Alba wouldn't. You may get Louisa and Carlotta written down sometimes.

I would have pronounced it 'zim-ee-na' it's a nice name but I think in the uk it will involve a lot of correcting the pronunciation

I think that it would be a lovely middle name (with a very cool initial!).

Luisa Ximena
Carlota Ximena (although isn't Carlota spelt with two Ts? So Carlotta.)

I like it! I also like Carlota, Luisa, Constanza and Lua. I know an Ana Lua.

You'd be mad to call her that if she's going to live in the uk. Even Spanish speakers might get it wrong - I read it as Shimena like it would be in Latin Spanish.

You may get more people pronouncing it chee-men-a I think.

I love Alba and it was one of the names we considered if we had a girl (two boys)

I love Lua and Alba. My first instinct about Ximena was that I should go for a Chinese X sound, like a zh.

Now you’ve explained the pronunciation I still think Lua and Alba are nicer on the ear.

I know two people named Ximena, and I absolutely love it.

Alba is also really lovely.

It's lovely and a great nod to your heritage, but you dd will forever be telling people how to spell and pronounce it. I like the idea above of ot as the middle name.

For the first name Alba is lovely too and can't be got wrong. (all the others you could have spelling issues with the English ;))

Alba Ximena sounds great.

I'm a Spanish speaker so would know how to pronounce it but would be more familiar with Jimena.

Love Alba, also like Miren, Arantxa, Luz. Macarena is a great name but that stupid song totally spoiled it.

It's a lovely name, but I also went for the Chinese Zh sound to pronounce.

As with most others I like Luisa, Carlota and Alba the best from your alternatives. The worst you'd face is misspellings to Louisa and Carlotta, but there would be zero pronunciation issues. I also like Constanza and Manuela as unusual names. I wholeheartedly agree with you that Regina would be mispronounced every time.

Ximena would make for an amazing middle name. If I had X as my middle initial, I would totally sign off as Dyra X. Surname wherever I could.

Ditto Jimena, not Ximena. Maybe as a middle name.
I love the name Alba.