Short name for a trilingual kid

[BigHedgehog]

Dear mums, it's the first time I am writing here, but I read this forum quite a lot before :)
We are getting a second baby soon, and we won't know the gender until birth, so I am preparing two sets of names.
We would like a short first name (3-5 letters maximum), but to make it more complicated, it should sound well and have no negative associations in 3 languages.
I am Russian, my husband is German and we have lived in England for the past 7 years and are planning to stay for at least a few more. We have filtered out quite a few names based on our knowledge of German and Russian culture, however I would be grateful for advice from native British mums. For example, after having read through some threads here, I realised that Kai and Ian are not widely accepted in the UK.
Ok, to cut it short, we came up with the following names and I would like to hear your opinions or suggestions.
Important: it's not really about personal opinions on the name itself - we all have our tastes. It's more about cultural acceptance and country associations I may not be aware of. Also, the name may sound exotic in one of the languages, but still sound pleasant. Thank you!

For girls, we are thinking about Liv (as a full name) or Zoe.
The middle name will be Anastasia (connected to a family situation)
I am not up for Olivia, but my concern is that there are many baby Olivias nowadays whose names are probably shortened to Liv?

For boys, we are considering Elias or Jan. Middle name is still to be chosen. Maybe Theodor.
I am not sure if Jan will always be pronunciation correctly (/Yan/), and Elias seems to be getting too popular in Germany (my concern), but not so in the UK.

Whay do you think about these 4: Liv - Zoe, Elias - Jan? Any other suggestions?
Please be mindful with "I like / I don't like" as you may hurt someone's feelings. Again, it's more about general cultural acceptance.

Many thanks!

@ClaryFairchild

Jan in English is a girl's name more than a boy's name.

This

And there is nothing wrong with Kai or Ian. I don’t think I know an Ian under 50 though, it’s time for a revival!

I was going to suggest Anna until I saw middle name will be Anastasia.

Lara, Tara, Sara?
Tanya?

Adam? Alex? Ivan? Alec?

@QuiltedBear

It may be because I’m in Wales, but Kai and Ian are both common names here. (Though it’s really Cai and rhymes with hi rather than hey so maybe not the name you’re thinking of...)

All your names sound fine to me though I think Jan probably would be pronounced with the J sound rather than the Y sound.

I was actually thinking about Kai as Hi 😁 but many comments around Wayne Rooney's son and Kardashians (yes, try to find a link...) put me off, unfortunately, although I love the name. I haven't thought that it can be pronounced as Hey. Also, a close colleague in another country just gave birth to a baby Kai, so we shouldn't probably repeat :) And Cai won't work in German, I am afraid :(

Zara or Suria for a girl

Matt (Matthew) or Theo (Theodore) for a boy

For UK perspective, Ian is much better than Jan for a boy.
Jan will be mispronounced.

We are a bilingual family and have a Zoë (the accent gets dropped by English speakers alot). So I vote for that!

Anna, Sophie (v populär in Germany at the mo), Maya, Laura, Sara,

Max, Alex, Lukas, Finn, Markus, Tobias

I'm in Germany and these are all names of friends of my DC.

@ancientgran

I was surprised about the issue with Ian, I thought it was a perfectly normal name. I only know one Olivia and she gets called Ollie so not sure about lots being called Liv, I think Liv is nice but sounds like it is short for something, Olivia or Livia I suppose. I like Zoe.

Jan will probably be pronounced incorrectly at least at first, also on written things people might assume he is a girl. I have a friend with a name that gets mistaken for a girl's name and it irritates him. Not the end of the world but he just gets fed up of it. I think Elias is lovely.

Having said all that I'm old so probably not your target audience.

Hope all goes well with the baby.

Thank you! Any age is our target audience ♥️ I was also surprised to read and hear about Ian, honestly. But my husband wasn't keen in this spelling from the start, so it's fine. A very good point about Jan, thank you. It bothers me, too. I love Elias and different forms of it, and I love its Russian version Ilya. It's just getting too popular in Germany, and our surname starts with S which may sound a nit difficult with a name ending with S, but we can live with it. And I am jumping between Zoe and Liv every day changing favourites!

Nina for a girl?

@newstart1234

Ida? For a girl? Liv sounds more like a shortened version of Elizabeth to me. Still nice, but people probably will think she (if a girl) is called Elizabeth. Zoe is totally acceptable. Like Ian, it was more popular among people now in their 30s but it’s still in common use. I don’t think there are any negative cultural associations with any name you mention.

Thank you for bringing up Ida! My husband also suggested it ages ago, and I wasn't sure, but now when I pronunce it, it is actually nice. Not too Russian, but I am fine with this, as we don't go there often. I need another thought, thank you.

Stepping in with a lone vote for Jan! It's a lovely name for a boy and works in multiple languages. Anyone who has friends/family from a European country would instantly recognise Jan as a boys name.

Sam? Works for both

I am English and DH is German and we spend a lot of time in Spain
We have an Oscar, which we find works in most languages.
I do like Liv but it does tend to be short for something

I know an Ian who is a 45 year old Accountant!

Alexsi or Saskia.

I work in a school that has a huge mix of children from all over the continents. If we're ever in doubt we ask the child to model the name. Just go for a name you really want and love, rather than last resorts . People will adapt to it.

All your names are fine. Easy , generic spelling and nice as well. I'm particular to Zoe, as it's the name of a really kick ass character in a book series I love.

Can I also suggest Andrew (Drew or Andi nn ) and Samuel (sam/sammy) even if they're longer? Maybe Emma , Clara , Lily for a girl.

I'd say if you really love all those names, keep them all and see what your heart says once the baby is born.

Iliyas
Eric

Ada
Petra

@SionnachRua

I agree with the people saying Jan may be assumed to be a girl. Ian is a bit dated perhaps but I wouldn't say unacceptable? And afaik Kai is widely used. I really, really dislike Liv.

I'd use Elias or Zoe personally. Both lovely names.

Same feelings about Jan now, yes. Elias and Zoe are my favourites today, but it was Liv yesterday 😂 May I ask why you dislike Liv as a name? Just trying to understand the context

Lola
Clara
Grace
Amy
Elise
Ada
Edith
Layla
Chloe
Freya
Maya
Mia

Ben
Max
Cole
Arlo
Alex
Caleb
Alfie
Dean
Henry
Hugo
Eli
Cain

We had a similar issue but just 2 languages to contend with English and Polish! I like Ada for a girl but in English it's pronounced with the long A not the short one as in Polish which I suspect would be the same in Russian? I also love Nora but that's short for leonora which was my Grannie's name so some significance. Max is good for a boy but I agree with Jan being pronounced wrong in English. I say it correctly for a boy but that's because I know a Polish Jan! Maybe Luke? Jon? Or John? Said the same.

Liv and zoe work well

We had similar, short names we considered:

Meg
Nora
Alma
Erica

Eric
Ned
Tim
Hal

I like Liv, makes me think of Liv Ullman.

Ian/Iain is fine in my part of the UK.

Jan is a rather old fashioned woman's name, never met one under 35 tbh. Whereas I have heard Jan for European men and boys so I don'tt think it's too much of an issue as a boy's name these days at all.

If you're really stuck between Liv and Zoe, go for Zoe. Not only is it (IMO) a beautiful, timeless name, but it's completely 'accepted' in British culture. Liv will always sound like a shortened name.

Elias is more 'accepted' than Jan for a boy's name in the UK however I think it's a bit of a mouthful and I'm not sure how to pronounce it? Is it El-ias or El-i-as?

Although I've always spelt Zoe with the umlaut - Zoë

We have quite a few Polish families round here and no-one would think twice about a boy Jan pronounced Yan. As soon as people know it is a boy and how it is pronounced it isn't an issue.
You can have the same problem with any unisex name, you only need to say it once.

I think Liv sounds cut short, and most people would assume it is an abbreviation of Olivia, and it doesn't sound liek a whole name to me in English. Sounds like a nickname.

Zoe is lovely, and so is Elias, although you may find pronounciation differences with Elias (I think in Russian it would be El - eeee - as, in English I think it would be El eye as?)

Would Fin(n) work for a boy's name?

I always liked Florian for a boy, Flo for short. I think generally people will adapt to most names over time. I also love Nickolas (Sorry for derailing - I know you’re not after personal opinions).