Stiliyan for a boy?

[ttcAlex]

Hi all. What do you think of the name Stiliyan for a boy? Does it sound/look too weird? His surname would also be foreign.

(If any football fans out there - yes, his father IS a huge fan of Stiliyan Petrov from Aston Villa, and yes, we are both Bulgarian living in the UK )

I have always thought that it is kinder to give a child a name which allows them to fit in with their friends. If they will be growing up in Bulgaria it's a great name. If this country then something more British is better. You could use Stiliyan as a middle name.

It's easy to see from the spelling how it's pronounced and reflects his heritage. Go for it!

Also remember that a completely foreign sounding name puts a person at a disadvantage when job hunting etc. as employers subconsciously think there might be language difficulties.

Not a huge football fan but love Stiliyan Petrov! Nice name, unusal but not too unusual.

I have a few Bulgarian friends and they have given their dc who are born and raised here English names. Their parents generally speak to them in Bulgarian and they dont lose out culturally as they do lots in that respect. But it will be easier for your child if they had an English name. Saying this as a person without an English name but who was born here. I like my name now but as a child, I was always spelling it out, correcting people in their pronunciation, when all I wanted was just to fit in. Maybe use it as a middle name

It's OK but I would anticipate Stallion nicknames.

He'd soon become, "Silly Jan", or "Stillborn", at school.

Definitely not.

I had never heard or seen this name before opening the thread. It reminds me of Stiles from Teen Wolf. I think it’s appropriate given his heritage and his name will reflect his culture.

Where I live there are a lot of children with Polish names as there’s a large Polish community here. It doesn’t seem to be an issue for the kids with more unusual Polish names from what I’ve seen.

I like it! I assume it rhymes with the Irish name Cillian?

To be honest (and I have a full on Eastern European name) he will be called forever Stiliyan the stallion as annoying as Ewka Konefka ( if that translates into Bulgarian) but with slightly sexual conoatations.

Stillborn 🤣 Do you have teenagers or kids for that matter? Noone would say that
OP if you like it why not!

Still Ian.

Is it pronounced Stilly-yan or Still-yan?

I think all the vowels make it a little frilly and tricky to know how to pronounce.

I used to teach a Stiliyan in an area rural England without established eastern European population and his classmates managed fine. No mention of stallion's! He often got called Yan but equally went by his full name. He went on to study at a good university and has recently returned to the area taking up a great graduate job in Biochemistry. His 'non British' name had no effect whatsoever. Strangely I'm guessing that his winning personality and excellent academic achievement was what they were interested in. Who would have thought it!

It is pronounced more like"Stilly-yan". I would hope any future nicknames would be more in the way of Stan or Stanley, which is cool...would people call him that 🤔
Tbh initially I wanted to give him an international name, which would be better known in the UK, but his dad wanted a more traditional Bulgarian name that would reflect his heritage and would feel special to us in some way. I love the name Stiliyan btw, I just worry whether we will be making life more difficult for our boy with all the potential pronunciation and spelling corrections, fitting in and the other reasons from some of the posts above.
Then again, it's the person that makes the name, not the name that makes the person, isnt it (if that makes sense 🙂).
I wish I was more decisive

I like it. It reflects his heritage but is easy to pronounce

Look just think about your child and make life easier for him. It's all well and good for parents to name a child with their own culture's name but your child is growing up in a different culture.

However, you should use it if you are really going to big up to him what a great name it is, its meaning and big up his culture. Definitely insist he at least speaks to you in Bulgarian at home.

I really like it. The familiarity of Stiliyan Petrov will help a lot of people with it. My daughter goes to school with kids with a range of Scottish and international names and the diversity of names is a complete non-issue amongst kids.

I’m really shocked and saddened at some of the answers on this thread. The UK is a pretty multicultural country. There are plenty of kids out there with “foreign” names. I knew a girl called Sarah and kids used to tease her about her name. I think it’s great that you are choosing a name that reflects your heritage.

I haven't heard it before but I like the sound of it.
How in earth does one arrive at stillborn from that name ?I'm stumped!

I agree @Nikori. It is embarrassing to read some of these responses.

It's a great name.

The only slight caveat is if you live in Scotland. Big Yin, Wee Yin, Still Yin. If you see what I mean.

Otherwise it sounds great, easy to pronounce and unusual enough to be interesting.

My first thought was Stilian Petrov, I wondered if u were in Scotland its a well known name here ! I think its nice and you should go for it. I work in schools and I have never heard a child made fun of for having a 'foreign' name, its certainly not a concern in the school i work in or in my children's school. A name is a name and the children just take the sound as it is and use it.

It’s ok, it’s a bit frilly. It’s nice that it’s a name from your culture but it wouldn’t be my choice. If the main attraction is the footballer link... give it as a middle name. He’d be Still for short. Hmm. Not a disaster, not very attractive either.

I really like it.

Call him Stillian and nn him Yan? No one would have a problem pronouncing that. I think the 'they'll call him names' concern is not an issue. If children want to call each other horrible names, they will find a way with any name.