Baby girl, Aditi?

[Veggiestirfry]

The d and t in this Indian name are soft. Opinions? I am aware this name won’t be pronounced perfectly or sound as nice in English as it does in an Indian accent , but we still love the name & its meaning.

I’ve never heard of this name as I have no Indian links but I think it’s lovely!

I love this name, although I’m Indian and know how it’s pronounced. Very hard to pronounce correctly for people who only speak English.

I know a little girl called this whose nickname is Edie to avoid the mangled d and t.

I know an Aditi, her name is said Uhdeeti by everyone. But 'everyone' in this case is non-Indian, so I don't know whether we are saying it correctly. Aditi has never corrected us. Her name certainly sounds lovely to me.

I'm not English and neither is my name. English speakers cannot get the vowel sounds quite right. I find that I introduce myself to English speakers using the English pronunciation, and to speakers of my mother tongue using the correct pronunciation for my mother tongue. I'm quite happy to have, effectively, two very similar names. But I do correct English speakers if they get the consonant sound wrong in my name, as it is the same sound in English.

I know a couple, never had my pronunciation corrected but now I worry I've been saying it wrong. Lovely name!

Thank you everyone for the positive response!! Feeling a lot more convinced about this name now!

It looks fine to me - but I've personally never met an Aditi, so I'd have to guess at the pronunciation (Ah -dee -tee with the emphasis on the first syllable would be my instinct seeing it written down).

I’m guessing most people will say A-dee-tee when they first see the name

How do you pronounce it?
I've not come across it before but it looks very pretty and looks as though it would sound pretty too.
I would say A (short a like in cat) - di (short i like in in) - tee if I saw it with the emphasis on the A.

It’s pronounced Ah, then di (like in, as you said) and a long tee. But the d and t are a soft d and t, similar to how they may be said in an Italian word

I know an Aditi. She's lovely so I'd say it's a beautiful name and go for it.

I like the name (though unlike everyone else I assumed the stress was on the second syllable).

But I have no idea what you mean by a soft d and t. So far as I'm concerned the Italians pronounce them the same way that we do.

I like it if it's pronounced adeetee
If it's aditty, no.

I love the name but it will be mangled. The d and the t will be mispronounced by non-Indians.

I guess in an English accent it will sound more like A-Di-Tee, the di part is shorter than the tee part.. so the name is longer on the end sound if that makes sense! Sorry it’s so hard to explain in text!!

@merryhouse

I like the name (though unlike everyone else I assumed the stress was on the second syllable).

But I have no idea what you mean by a soft d and t. So far as I'm concerned the Italians pronounce them the same way that we do.

Having listened to some pronunciations I now know what you mean (but it's definitely not like the Italians).

Anglophones will not pronounce it the same - and would probably feel very strange if they attempted to. There's a fine line between "Not Making Any Effort" and "Imitating Someone Else's Accent"...

@merryhouse I totally get what you mean! As long as it also sounds nice, elegant, pretty in an English accent, we are happy! I just wanted to see if others think it sounds horrible in an English accent as A-Dee-tee (which is what most people will say I think) or even Aditty (another possibility). Most of DD’s friends/teachers will say it as either one of these and I wonder if it still sounds nice being said in that way. I know for sure it sounds beautiful in an Indian accent but I’m not so sure when I say it in an English accent. Most people stay away from this name and go for something like Anjali or Maya, Hena etc but I just wanted something different and not have to settle for a name that I don’t like as much as Aditi because of the pronunciation issues :(

I don’t know exactly what you mean by a soft d and t, there’s only one d and t in my accent so I suspect I would mispronounce it.

Without reading your post I would have said a-dee-tee. I suspect it might sound more like add-it-tee but I’m not sure how to soften the consonants.

‘Most people stay away from this name and go for something like Anjali or Maya’

I hear you, OP. There’s a cultural value to this name that isn’t present in the alternatives above.

You don’t need to change your name choice to appease the monolingual. It won’t sound terrible (ie Harsha, Shitala) in an English accent so go for it.

@drainrat Absolutely! I love the meaning of Aditi, it’s just such a beautiful name, I’ve always loved it since I was a child! Anjali, Maya, Suhani etc are on my list but they just don’t have the same feeling.

I absolutely agree with what drainrat said. We get this issue with Welsh names all the time. And with people on mumsnet sneering at spelling like Alys and Betsi as yooneek, when they are actually the Welsh spelling. It would be sad for cultural names to be eradicated and only be left with those that work in English / have anglicised spelling.

I agree! I would be very sad because there are some really lovely names out there in so many cultures, that many have to reject due to pronunciation issues :(

Very pretty!

Lovely!

It sounds lovely in my Scottish accent

Thank you ladies! :)