Claudia vs Audrey? Aurelia vs Aurora?

[Atlas2006]

Hi mumsnetters,
We’re expecting twins in the early summer and are torn between Claudia and Audrey for one of them (we don’t want to use both because the ‘aude’ sound makes them a little too similar for twins for us) and Aurelia and Aurora for the other. (Aurelia being pronounced Ah-ray-lee-ah).

Which do you prefer?

Oh if you’re the Quinn poster go for Claudia and Quinn! They sound great together. A bit matchy (C initial sound) but different actual initials. Both strong, classy, beautiful names. No tongue twister challenges. Perfect!

I have a real soft spot for Audrey and I love Aurelia but I think they might be a bit too similar together. Even Claudia and Aurelia are quite close. I would probably choose one of those and then find a different name without the ‘au’ sound/spelling.

Claudia and Aurelia. Audrey is an old lady name and not in a good way to me, and I find Aurora awkward to say because of all the Rs.

Any pairing of those is too much of a tongue twister.

Hi!

I'm also expecting twins so sympathise with the difficulty of choosing 2 names.

I really like Claudia and it's also on our list. I think Audrey has a totally different vibe and feels a bit more "granny vintage" to me.

Must admit I'm not too keen on either Aurora or Audrey and like others, think they're quite similar sounding fo Claudia.

I also wouldn't go for 2 with matching initials as I think it's nice for them to be different.

Good luck!

We never considered Quinn! Are you thinking of someone else?

Nope... but now I’m intrigued about the Quinn poster? Do you have a link to the thread?

They all sound too similar!.

Any other ideas?

Quinn Thread

We have an 18mos old Claudia, we get a lot of compliments on her name. I understand the struggle with twins, I am one but our parents just picked a name each so they don't "go". Definitely agree on picking different initials though!

Audrey - we call our Claudia "Clauds" and Clauds and Auds is probably too much for twins
Aurora - way too Disney Princess, which is a shame as it's a nice name.
Aurelia - nah, just a bit too fussy, and it doesn't have a natural nickname.

If our next one is a girl we're thinking Gabriella, Harriet, Imogen, Francesca or something. My fave is Harriet- I can just imagine a Clauds and Harri running about!

I would pronounce Aurelia as Or-EE-lee-a, (or possibly Ow-REE-lee-a), as I think would many Brits. I appreciate that that is not its pronunciation in its country of origin but, unless you're using the name in that country, I think it's going to be Anglicised by most Brits who read it.

Would you pronounce the middle as ‘ray’ or ‘ree’ ?

AuRAYlia or AuREElia

Claudia and Aurelia. Brilliant. Like Aurora as well.

Only 6 year old girls and dappy mothers associate Aurora with Disney. To everyone else she’s the Roman goddess of the dawn and Northern Lights.

Definitely 'ree' for me. It's an 'e' not an 'a'. If you want ray in English, you'd write ray or rae. Even Auralia would get some ray / rah confusion.

For example no-one ever calls an Amelia Amaylia, do they. The only name you commonly get e / ay confusion with is Esme and that has an accent on the e.

Of course people you say a name to, will pronounce it your way. But your dd will face a lifetime of people reading her name and pronouncing it as read.

quinn! audrey and quinn!!!!!

Uh-ray-lee-uh is the pronunciation used by the two Aurelias I know.

I would pronounce it or-RAY-lee-uh.

I would say or-RAY-lee-uh but I wouldn’t be surprised by or-EE-lee-uh. I definitely wouldn’t pronounce be initial vowel any other way though. I have a non-rhotic accent (modern RP) so pronounce or and awe the same if that helps.

@lottiegarbanzo

For example no-one ever calls an Amelia Amaylia, do they. The only name you commonly get e / ay confusion with is Esme and that has an accent on the e.

Of course people you say a name to, will pronounce it your way. But your dd will face a lifetime of people reading her name and pronouncing it as read.

It’s not that uncommon for an ‘e’ in a name to pronounced ‘ay’ - e.g. the way Helena Christensen pronounces her names

I would definitely pronounce Aurelia Aw-rey-lia.

Claudia is lovely. I don't like any of the others, sorry

It's not uncommon for 'e' to be pronounced 'ay' in names from other languages and countries. It would be unusual in English, in the UK.

Aurelia is a name from another country and language. It's a lovely name.

Obviously people from lots of different countries live in the UK and people are quite able to learn their names. But, for example, if a British couple introduced their baby Genevieve, I'd expect most Brits would read and say that as Gen-a-veeve not Gen-eh-vee-ev (attempt to render French pr.). Similarly Camille as Cam-eel rather than Ca-me. And, Claudia as Claude-ee-a rather than the Italian Cloud-ee-a.

I don't think people's mispronunciation need be a huge issue but I did want to temper OP's expectation that it would be pronounced a certain way, by pointing out that while she might pronounce it that way and could train people to do the same, quite a few people would read it differently.

To answer the question though, I like Aurelia better than Aurora. The ray pronunciation gives you Ray as a nn too. Claude and Ray is quite sweet.

Love Claudia and Audrey.

Really dislike Aurora and Aurelia.

I also thought this was going to be the Quinn poster...she was considering Audrey and Aurora and was also having twin girls. What an amazing coincidence!

Claudia and Aurelia