Ximena or Xiomara ?

[closetclosetcloset]

Which one do you prefer for a girl? And no, we don't really mind pronunciation issues or the fact people won't be able to say them. If people can learn to say Schwarzenegger I'm sure they can say either of these names.

Xiomara is pronounced like see-oh-mara
Ximena is he-meh-nah

It would be an average British surname with easy pronunciation. I am Colombian and DH is British and we live in the UK.

Oh both are lovely but I'd go with Ximena.
I thought about this for my daughter too. Lovely.

I prefer Xiomara. It’s a lovely name

Just ignore all of the rude ‘neither’ comments. It’s clear that you were asking for people’s preference between those two names, and it’s not hard to keep scrolling if you like neither. Mumsnet can be quite awful about any name thread that isn’t “Sophie or Amelia?”, or the like.

Xiomara is pronounced like see-oh-mara
Ximena is he-meh-nah

Same as others I'd go with the first one as it's far more obvious how to pronounce, although I know you said you don't actually mind about that. I like them both equally though so that's what swung it. People who say they don't like it likely don't because it's unfamiliar to them rather than them being not nice names personally though I think they are both lovely. I think it's nice to mark their cultural heritage with a name.

Xiomara is lovely and more intuitive for English speakers. I think your daughter would have fewer mispronunciations whilst still having a beautiful name that reflects your culture.

Purely for how it's pronounced Xiomara

But both are pretty

Xiomara

Ximena but that might be because I know a Mexican lady with that name!

I think the way phonics is taught, J is more confusing than X. I have an Xavier, only one person tried it with the h sound, everyone else assumed some interpretation of zuh

@SleepingStandingUp this is where Spain vs Latin America comes into play.

If you want the H sound in Spain, you use J for names. Javier, Jimena, would get you and h sound. Other spellings aren’t common. The X isn’t pronounced h anymore like it used to be in Don Quixote. We actually spell it Don Quijote now.

The co-official languages in Spain such as Catalan or Galician will recognise Xavier and Ximena and won’t use the h sound but a very soft sh. Sha-vee-er or Shi-meh-nah. But very soft sh. Xavier is actually a very popular name in Catalan/Valencian speaking areas of the country. X is pronounced either Sh or Ch depending on the region and local accent.

Xiomara is a Latin American name with a set pronunciation, and is in the 0.05% of Spanish words that aren’t phonetically spelled. Mexico is pronounced Mehico in both European and Latin American Spanish. So the X maintains an H sound sometimes. Xiomara is an exception, was my point.

I love Xiomara - I heard it in Jane the Virgin so would know how to pronounce it. I would have guessed that a name pronounced he-me-na was written Jimena like Jimenez rather than with an x.

@EileenGC if I saw these names on the newsletter at DSs school I'd have idea they're of Spanish / Colombian origin, so I wouldn't consider a h sound. I don't think it's cos I'm ignorant or other cultures, just that in the UK the X is typically Z za-vi-air / zay-vi-er rather than anything else. Think xylophone.

However I'd mispronounce, I'd be corrected and I'd say it right next time. It really does just depend on how put out op will be when virtually no one pronounces it right from written or writes it correctly from sound. It shouldn't put her off altho I maintain Xiomena is nicest 💕

But very soft sh. Xavier is actually a very popular name in Catalan/Valencian speaking areas of the country. X is pronounced either Sh or Ch depending on the region and local accent I thought our Dr had said her brother Xavier was pronounced with a t sound (ta-vee-air) she was from Catalan. Am I misremembering? It seemed unusual but we actually joked about changing it to Tavier as it sounded so lovely. The Italian surgeon used Za-vee-air and I told DH off for correcting him from Zay-vee-er as he was gonna cut our child open so he could cal him whatever he damn well wanted 😂😂

Yes, in some areas of Catalunya Xavier would be pronounced with a sound between Ch and T instead of the more common Sh - maybe a very quickly read Ts or Zz like in pizza is even more accurate? We’re I am from it would be Zzavier with the zz from pizza. I struggle writing down sounds so they match English pronunciation, sorry 😅

So yeah, names will be mispronounced especially when the reader isn’t sure which version the child uses.

I don’t think that should put people off using names they love. Both Xiomara and Ximena are beautiful OP, so you can’t really go wrong with either

Xiomara is my favourite, it's easy to say once you know to pronounce it. Mara is also a nice option for a nickname if you or DD want one.

Oh gosh no, we didn't quite anticipate the confusion over xavier (and it's only zav-ee-aye that annoys me) but then have the next two unusual names too. A few people asked how to pronounce one and spell another. No one has mispronounced since. Anyone who cares will learn to do their best pronunciation of it

Thank you everyone for the input! We don't really like the spelling Jimena purely because of how it looks.

I also have an uncommon name (Begoña). I have learned to live with it and I love how it looks. Yes, I do have some trouble with the spelling in the UK but I still like having a special and different name. I don't know if my daughter will like hers but I sure hope she does.

Both lovely. I think Xiomara is particularly beautiful, and probably slightly easier for English folks to get their heads around once they understand it.

I have a ‘foreign’ name with a pronunciation that isn’t obvious to English people from the spelling. People cope!

I love both! Ximena slightly more, but think both are gorgeous. Yes, everyone in the UK will mispronounce it first time but they’ll learn it eventually - and makes for interesting conversation I suppose

@SleepingStandingUp Oh gosh no, we didn't quite anticipate the confusion over xavier (and it's only zav-ee-aye that annoys me)

Correct pronunciation of your son's name annoys you?

Neither. Sorry OP

Ximena

[quote TatianaBis]@SleepingStandingUp Oh gosh no, we didn't quite anticipate the confusion over xavier (and it's only zav-ee-aye that annoys me)

Correct pronunciation of your son's name annoys you? [/quote]
Well it's not correct because it's not the pronunciation we use, so yes when people have been repeatedly told it. It's quite clear from my last few posts there's more than one way to pronounce it. Do the parents of Evelyn and Mia also not get a say in which pronunciation is used?

@closetclosetcloset

Thank you everyone for the input! We don't really like the spelling Jimena purely because of how it looks.

I also have an uncommon name (Begoña). I have learned to live with it and I love how it looks. Yes, I do have some trouble with the spelling in the UK but I still like having a special and different name. I don't know if my daughter will like hers but I sure hope she does.

There's just as much chance she'd dislike being named Olivia as Xiomara op, you never can tell

Xiomara

@SleepingStandingUp

Well it's not correct because it's not the pronunciation we use, so yes when people have been repeatedly told it. It's quite clear from my last few posts there's more than one way to pronounce it. Do the parents of Evelyn and Mia also not get a say in which pronunciation is used?

It is correct. Xavier is a Spanish name and a French name. It’s not an English name. Some English and Americans mispronounce it from lack of acquaintance with foreign languages but you have been correcting people who were pronouncing it right.

I could say ‘my DD is Anaïs pronounced Anayse’ or ‘Maëlys pronounced Mayliss’ but I would be wrong.

Xiamena

[quote TatianaBis]@SleepingStandingUp

Well it's not correct because it's not the pronunciation we use, so yes when people have been repeatedly told it. It's quite clear from my last few posts there's more than one way to pronounce it. Do the parents of Evelyn and Mia also not get a say in which pronunciation is used?

It is correct. Xavier is a Spanish name and a French name. It’s not an English name. Some English and Americans mispronounce it from lack of acquaintance with foreign languages but you have been correcting people who were pronouncing it right.

I could say ‘my DD is Anaïs pronounced Anayse’ or ‘Maëlys pronounced Mayliss’ but I would be wrong.[/quote]
It isn't just an American / English error by that logic though. My Italian doctor doesn't pronounce Zav-ee-aye, neither did the Dr from Catalan, pronunciations agreed upon further up the thread. The v posh lady pronounces it the same as the Italian doctor. I'll be sure to tell the pp upthread and the Italian Dr they're wrong and ignorant. Ultimately the name you give your child is the pronunciation as well as the arrangement of letters