Updated shortlist: Shanaya, Serena, Eliana for a baby girl (Indian)

[meera454]

Shortlist: (top 2 = Shanaya or Serena)
Shanaya (pronounced SHA-NAAA-YA, like Shania Twain), the spelling Shanaya is the Indian spelling
Serena
Elina/ Eliana (saw these on another thread and think they're quite pretty and Indian-sounding), similar to the Indian names Leena, Leela and Ila but different.

As a wild one... we quite like Larissa (totally unrelated to our culture but we like the name and it is our Western name option incase we decide to go for a completely western name. Would this suit a British Indian baby or is it too Greek/Russian?)

The ones we ruled out thanks to all of your wonderful and helpful comments:

Jiya (sounds like jeer)
Ruhi/ Rohini/ Ruhani (not international enough, too old school for us)
Maya (overused and a bit bland for us)
Siya (sounds like see-ya later)
Ananya (sounds like a-nun)
Aria (masculine name in some cultures, harsh sounds to our ears)
Leela (too simple as a first name and overly common in India, parents not keen on it)
Anushka and Anya (too harsh sounding)

I like Serena or Larissa (perfectly fine for any baby -not too Greek/Russian).

(And I can't hear anything harsh sounding about Anya - very gentle to my ears!)

@MercyBodle I think when you say Anya in an Indian accent and in Hindi, it can sound a but harsher than the other names, the 'n' and 'y' is stressed a lot more

I like Eliana and Larissa, I didn't even know Larissa was Greek/Russian so definitely not too much so

I like Larissa and Serena

Thanks @M0rT and @Zofloratheexplora ! :)

Love Serena. I like Shanaya too but if you hadn’t spelt it out, I would have pronounced it Sha-ny-a. That may not bother you though.
Eliana is a gorgeous name too. I think it’s quite international too as I know 3- 1 english and 2 African.

@Redcart21 Thank you for your suggestions! Helpful to know that Eliana is such an international name. Sha-ny-a is the pronunciation im after, like shun-eye-a :)

Serena is the one I'd go for if you are aiming at a name which will also work in Western culture. It's lovely, familiar, unusual but not unknown, lovely sound.

Serena is lovely, definitely Serena in my opinion

How about Sumaya? Or Sumayah. I love that name!

I like Shanaya though.

Serena is by far the prettiest!

Larissa is utterly lovely, second Serena.

Serena

Serena is nice. My favourite of all the names in your post is Anya.

I Love Serena and elliana, elliana was a sting contender for me and although not on my list serena is such s pretty name! Also both common in a lot if cultures so easy for everyone to say!

I like Serena the best.

Elina/Eliana just blends into the thousands of Eleanor's/Elena's/Ellie's around for me, and I think Shanaya could have some pronunciation/spelling issues in the UK, if that bothers you?

Serena and Larissa are both gorgeous, well known but not overused - it's hard to pick a favourite. What might swing it is whether you like the pretty Lara too - it's the common/traditional nn for Larissa, where as Serena doesn't really have an obvious nn.

Serena

Definitely not Shanaya, too Shania Twain. Serena is okay but I had no idea it had any Indian connection? Larissa is nice. I'd choose Anushka personally, think it is lovely.

Not keen on Shanaya - makes me think of overly low cut jeans and cropped tops 😂

Eliana is lovely - very sophisticated but she could also be Eli when young which is cute.

Eliana, Serena and Larissa are all lovely.

I really like Anya but I see that is out of the running.

Ah @meera454 I enjoy your name threads as your taste is quite similar to mine. So interesting to see how your shortlist has changed!

Eliana is absolutely beautiful, this would be my preference.

Serena is really nice too, was one of my fave names when I was younger.

Larissa is OK but sounds like the name of someone really prissy and fussy, it might be the 'isss' sound that puts me off a bit for some reason.

Shanaya I'm not a fan of unfortunately, it sounds a bit chavvy.

I really like Shanaya and would have pronounced it Sha-ny-a on sight.

Serena is nice too.

Don't like Larissa, too fussy and frilly. I agree with the pp who said they got a prissy vibe from it.

Eliana is lovely but fades into the hordes of generic Ellie names.

Thank you for much everyone for your helpful comments! I have ruled out Shanaya, after speaking to a couple of friends who have also mentioned that they think it sounds a bit unsophisticated (especially in the Western culture), it is a beautiful name in Hindi though, so it is a shame. I've also ruled out Larissa because I think the 'issa' part will get irritating after saying it over and over. Eliana and Serena are a bit calmer and flow better than Larissa for us.

We are thinking of going for a western first name and then giving DD a very traditional Sanskrit middle name, to maintain the culture.

What are your thoughts on the following middle name options, how would you pronounce them?

Radhika (our favourite so far)
Vaishali
Parineeti
Aditi
Aarti
Vaani
Anjali
Rohini

I'm open to other traditional middle name suggestions as well! :)

Serena with either of the first two flows so well, the same number of syllables (I think!) - both sound beautiful. I'd pronounce them Rad-hee-ka and Vye-sha-lee. Is that right?

Slightly prefer Radhika too and think Serena Radhika is amazing! Good luck.

Strongly prefer Serena by the way, again from a Western perspective, ANY name beginning El- sounds a bit less interesting... there are SO MANY Ellies, Evies, Eleanors at the moment. And it invites shortening to Ellie which is so madly overused!