Help me come up with a nickname for a difficult-to-pronounce Scandinavian name

[hejdu]

My daughter's name is Mette which is pronounced Meh-deh.

We relocated to the United Kingdom a while ago and have yet to meet anyone who's been able to pronounce her name correctly, hence the need for a nickname.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Edda or Eddy. As others have said,I wouldn't give up on teaching others how to pronounce her full name.

It’s not difficult to pronounce. I would let her keep her real name. My children also have Scandinavian names. We live in London and there are so many people with non-English names here much more difficult to pronounce than Mette.

they struggle with the T being pronounced as D and they can’t get their mouth around the second vowel

Honestly if they persist in mispronouncing after you have explicitly told them to read the T as a D then they are just bloody rude. Its really not that difficult a name.

I don't really understand why - if you're happy to use a name that isn't hers (a nickname) then why you don't just let that nickname be the way these UK people pronounce her real name. Metta!

I mean, if it should be pronounced meh deh, tell people that (and anyone who hasnt seen it spelt/written down, will be able to copy the correct sound). And for those that see it written down first and pronounce it wrongly will effectively be calling her by her nickname!

I went abroad and people pronounced my name wrong, but I found it endearing and half the family now say my name like that when they want to be cute.

@Smidge001

I don't really understand why - if you're happy to use a name that isn't hers (a nickname) then why you don't just let that nickname be the way these UK people pronounce her real name. Metta!

I mean, if it should be pronounced meh deh, tell people that (and anyone who hasnt seen it spelt/written down, will be able to copy the correct sound). And for those that see it written down first and pronounce it wrongly will effectively be calling her by her nickname!

I went abroad and people pronounced my name wrong, but I found it endearing and half the family now say my name like that when they want to be cute.

Yep. My name was mispronounced always. It was endearing. I just answered to it.

I agree with others who say you shouldn't change her name - it's not exactly a difficult one to pronounce. I have a very unusual surname which isn't pronounced as it's spelt, so people meeting me for the first time invariably mispronounce it, and sometimes it take a couple of times thereafter to get it right if it's been a while since the last time we met. It's just one of those things though - after that it's fine. Unless your DD is getting very upset by it and wants a nickname then I would just perservere.

How about Medal as a nn? It's different and quite cute and is fairly close. Is it a winner?

Meddie.

I’d nickname her May, or possibly Metty.

Another optionnis to change the spelling on non-official forms. People probably won’t struggle to pronounce it if you write Meda or Mehda.

Medi is nice but I’m so angry on your behalf that people can’t make the effort to learn to pronounce her actual name, which is lovely.

It sounds like the double-t is pronounced in a similar way to most American accents, as a glottal t (softer sounding than a regular ‘British’ d sound). Maybe get people to say ‘butter’ in an American accent then try Mette again?

Not sure where you're from but can guarantee that most of the people saying it's not hard won't actually be pronouncing Mette correctly. The soft d sound in the middle is actually quite difficult for English speakers imo. I still cannot pronounce my OHs Danish name after many years despite it being a 6 letter name that on the face of it looks straightforward.

I'd go with M (em) as a nickname personally

Mel? To me, the D sounds soft, halfway to being an L.

@Meloncurse Agreed, anyone saying it's not hard will still be doing an English accented mangling of the original name.

It's one of the hardest sounds to pronouce for a non-native speaker.

On the other hand, the Scandi relatives couldn't pronounce my DF's totally standard English name either so it cuts both ways.

I agree with others who say you shouldn't change her name - it's not exactly a difficult one to pronounce.

Especially children will pick up the correct pronunciation. And even if it's not perfect, still better than changing her name imo

@KirstenBlest

Could you call her Medi as a nn? Before anyone starts ripping it to shreds, it is a real name.

We nicknamed her Meddy for a while but then people started calling her Metty which she dislikes so that's a no-go.

How old is she? And what is her preferred name or nickname?

@Smidge001

I don't really understand why - if you're happy to use a name that isn't hers (a nickname) then why you don't just let that nickname be the way these UK people pronounce her real name. Metta!

I mean, if it should be pronounced meh deh, tell people that (and anyone who hasnt seen it spelt/written down, will be able to copy the correct sound). And for those that see it written down first and pronounce it wrongly will effectively be calling her by her nickname!

I went abroad and people pronounced my name wrong, but I found it endearing and half the family now say my name like that when they want to be cute.

Because then it's a mispronunciation of her name rather than a nickname and she doesn't like being called Metta.

It's interesting that a lot of you seem to think her name is easy to pronounce. We haven't met anyone who's been able to pronounce it correctly; the ones who actually make an effort to try to learn it pronounce it as "Meh-duh". Getting any closer to the Scandinavian pronunciation is a lost cause.

@Skysblue

Another optionnis to change the spelling on non-official forms. People probably won’t struggle to pronounce it if you write Meda or Mehda.

We've considered that but it wouldn't change the fact that British people can't get their mouth around the "eh" sound at the end of her name (which is pronounced Meh-deh).

@Blubells

I agree with others who say you shouldn't change her name - it's not exactly a difficult one to pronounce.

Especially children will pick up the correct pronunciation. And even if it's not perfect, still better than changing her name imo

If it wasn't difficult for English speakers to pronounce, I wouldn't be asking for nickname suggestions

Meg?

I'm nevér sure with the Ette and Jette that I know if I am getting the tt sound right, or the last sound. It tends to Edda and Yedda, which I hope is okay.
My thoughts are:
Mederina/Medelina
Medetta
Pearl
Maddie

HTH

I learnt Danish and agree that it pretty much impossible for an English speaker (without any other exposure to Danish) to hope to pronounce it properly. The tongue and other mouth movements are totally different.
It isn't just the letter sounds, it is the shape of the mouth and position of the tongue.
It is nice that people are willing to make the effort to try, but the OP themselves says that no English people have yet pronounced it right.

If DD doesn't like the anglicised version, which sounds like 'Meta' then I actually think your original nickname of 'Meddy' is the best you can hope for. Or the suggestion of 'May' by pps.

I'm with the keep reminding how it is, if people can make a 'viv' sound from the bh in Shiobhan to make 'shivone' they will get there!

You could always consider moving to some parts of the north west, where names ending in an "ee" sound tend to become an "eh".