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!

Sometimes the approximations can be worse than it being completely off the mark. If you spoke to us in real life and heard us say it, you'd probably shudder.

God knows what my foreign aquaintarnces think of how I say their names. Most of them just put up with the approximations, but it's not great is it.

Meh-duh rather than Meh-deh sounds like a the second one is turning into a schwa.

I'd probably go with Em (M), or Emmy.

Or translate it "directly" — somebody said it was a Danish diminutive of the equivalent to Margaret, so there are dozens of nicknames for that.

On the basis that some of the people using her nickname will at some points need to use her full name, such as class teachers, I'd emphasise the D-sound in Mette in the nickname. Dee? Dima? Or does she have a middle name or a shortening of nickname she likes?

I have a French name and managed to find a couple of English words which rhyme pretty well, so these days I introduce myself as, ie, "Mette that rhymes with head air" but of course no one gets the vowel sounds precisely right as they are just so different between the languages. When I was younger and that bothered me I used my initials as a nickname instead, ie, MJ.

Missing the point somewhat, but just listened to different people pronuncing Mette on Forvo and noticed that the Danish pronunciation (soft d sound) seems to differ from the Norwegian (hard tt sound) one? Mette immediately makes me think of Mette-Marit of Norway and I'd only ever heard her name pronounced with a hard double t. Could be one reason why people keep getting it wrong?

I am guessing OP is Danish - this is what you get when your written language bears no resemblance to the spoken language.

Most people with foreign names do accept some compromise for accents but I think OP's daughter is too young to realise this. I worked with a colleague for years and she said I said her name right but it bore no resemblance to when she or another native speaker pronounced it.

Same as when I ask a patient how they say their name 'Oh you are saying it right' after I practice. And then they say it and it sounds nothing like

Most foreign language speakers will let things go as being accent differences as long as you are trying. I'd count saying Mette as Metta with an 'a' sound on the end as trying but perhaps after 40+ years I now have v low standards or have thrown in the towel

English people will never get your DD’s name right, I can tell you that now. It’s all about the tongue movement and English is so different from all Scandinavian languages but Danish is probably hardest to get round.
I have a Scandinavian name and I can probably count on one hand how many times an English person has got it right even after being told lots of times. Even my English grandmother could never pronounce it, bless her. I’ve grown to accept it.
I think May would be a nice nickname for your dd.

Er du Dansk?
I know a Lotte who has a similar struggle with English-speakers pronouncing her name with the "t" sound instead of the softer "d" sound.
Mette is such a pretty name! And it's so short already that I can't think of a useful nickname.
It's not what you're asking for, but instead of nicknaming her I'd help her learn to laugh off the mispronunciation from strangers while reminding closer friends/family/school of how to pronounce it correctly.

@AnnaMagnani
"I am guessing OP is Danish - this is what you get when your written language bears no resemblance to the spoken language"

But the written language does resemble the spoken language in Danish

@fuzzymoomin If you use your imagination and squint a bit Oh and miss out all the consonants

Does she have a middle name? If so, you could do as a pp suggested and call her MJ, MC or whatever.

To be honest, around here, it'd probably be shortened to Meds anyway.

OP It is a pretty name. I think one of the closest English-language words might be in the London place-name, Maida Vale. It's not the same, of course, but it has the 'd' sound in the middle and an 'ah' rather than 'uh' (schwa) at the end.
I wonder whether saying - 'Mette - as in "Maida Vale" ' might help give people the correct idea?

@AnnaMagnani 😂🤣

How old your daughter? If she is old enough to object to people mispronoucing her name then she can pick her own NN. As PPs have said classmates will learn how to pronounce it but adults may struggle. I'm never very sure if it's better to not even try (so in this case say Meh-teh) or to try but mangle it (Meh-deh in a British accent).

Maidie like the girl in the Abbey Girls. It is short for Maidlin there bit works with Mette too.

I would keep her actual name but If she really wants a nickname then I like Em or Emmy

Perhaps you could ask your daughter what she would like to be called as a nn seeing as she really doesn't like Metty/Metta and Meddy didn't work out. Does she want a nickname?

Yes where in Scandinavia? I've lived in both Sweden and Denmark and the pronunciations are different.

The fact is if you are saying that your child has an impossible to pronounce name by anyone but native speakers and you live somewhere other than your native country, then you have to accept the variety of pronunciations or get something else, which luckily for all concerned you want to do. If your DD has strong opinions let her pick a native (to adopted country) nickname which she likes and can be pronounced by the people of your adopted country.

When we lived in a non English speaking country one dc's name could be pronounced more or less, the other was called the local equivalent name.

It means Pearl, which is pretty, could that be a nn?

@PurbeckStone

Missing the point somewhat, but just listened to different people pronuncing Mette on Forvo and noticed that the Danish pronunciation (soft d sound) seems to differ from the Norwegian (hard tt sound) one? Mette immediately makes me think of Mette-Marit of Norway and I'd only ever heard her name pronounced with a hard double t. Could be one reason why people keep getting it wrong?

I'm so glad to see this as I have a Norwegian friend named Mette, and I was beginning to think I've been pronouncing her name wrong my whole life 🤣 she definitely introduces herself as Mette with a hard t sound, so either that's correct in Norwegian or she's just simplified it for us English 🤣

As for OP's issue, that is a tough one. I say keep correcting people, but I agree that a nickname with a D sound to use as well might help people get their heads round it!

Probably, Metty/Meti sounds good, but the original name is the best. You liked it that’s why you gave this name. I personally don’t like nicknames or short versions. My name is difficult to pronounce to foreigners, but I love it and I am happy to correct people when I need to. And it’s quite often.
My daughter can have some short versions of her name, but I want her to be called in full name as it’s the name I gave her. So in Nursery etc I always ask to make sure they call her full name and not short versions.
Mette might be difficult to pronounce, I agree, but that’s the beauty of that real Scandinavian name.

@SlidDownTheElephantsTrunk

It's her name and other people will have to get used to it. Don't use a forced nickname.

I've just found out someone I've know are 'Mary' for 20 years has a completely different name and used an 'English' name to help others with the pronounceation. Her name is so beautiful!

If it's Lakshmi then I used to know her.

OP

Mette is a lovely name, you don't need to change it, she might end up with two pronunciations, one with family and another with school friends but is that a bad thing?

I was a supply teacher, there are children from all backgrounds / languages in schools. I used to appologise before I took the register because in some schools half the register is names I didn't know how to pronounce.

Then there are the multitude of accents, there is a town in Yorkshire called Bradford, but all the locals pronounce it Bratford or Bra'fod.

If you do go down the nn route what about Mez?

Meg

I love Merry and May as suggestions

I used to work with a Mette, and no one struggled with her name. She was gorgeous and cool and everyone loved her, which might have helped. I don't think she needs a nickname, but you might need to move to a more sophisticated town