Xavier

[Perpetualmisery]

What do you think of this?
I've always loved this name and was worried my Moroccan husband wouldn't but luckily zaviyar is also an Arabic name and same meaning apparently so he's fine with it but it's not common either here or Morocco so I'm worried I'll look try hard.
Not sure how I'll spell it yet but baby not due till Jan so have plenty of time.
Do you think it sounds chavvy or pretentious and also any arabic speakers have you heard of zaviyar?

It's fine but bet someone will come along and insist it should be pronounced the spanish way

If your DH is Morrocan I'd go with the Moroccan spelling. I really like it, it's well known enough that I'd not assume Spanish heritage so would always ask which pronounciation they'd prefer.

Really like it.

Definitely at the pretentious end of the spectrum rather than chavy end!
It’s ok, I knew one and he was lovely so it has nice associations for me.

@FayCarew

It's fine but bet someone will come along and insist it should be pronounced the spanish way

What's the Spanish pronunciation?

I like it pronounced as zaviyar. I've seen it pronounced with a hard X (ex-aviyar) which I don't like.

Good to know the opinions, thank you.
I do personally love it but want a name that my son will be comfortable with as I have a really weird name that i hated growing up.

I'm wondering if it's also seen as pretentious as an Arabic name as I've been told now that it's Amir khan's sons name (the British boxer).

Khav-ee-err

The Moroccan spelling is modern. No v in Arabic

@FayCarew is khav-ee-err how an Arabic speaker would say it?

I know a French woman whose son is called Xavier - pronounced Zaviay.

I don't think it's pretentious at all. We know 4 - 2 pronounced Zavv - ee - ay and 2 pronounced Zay - vee - er. All are mid teens.

Xavier would be pronounced Zay veer uh in English speaking countries. French and Basque would be different locally.
Pronouncing the X like an X box is all sorts of wrong.

I really love it.

I would definitely pronounce it zayviar.
I dont mind either way of spelling it, still undecided on that.
Would people assume we have French or Spanish ancestry? Or link to a specific religion?
I dont mind as we are a mix of races and religions in my family but just wondering

@Perpetualmisery, there isn't a direct transliteration. You'd need to use a
modern letter to get a v sound. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%DA%A4

It's probably a transliteration of the french Xavier (Zavy-ay or Xavy-ey) and is tricky because they don't have X, V or an ay sound. Zafyiar or Zaviyar is the nearest you'd get.

There are nicer moroccan names

I'd think of Xavier as a Catholic name but that is probably me showing my age

I wanted DS to be called Xavier (pronounced zav-ier) but in the end we didn’t as we thought British people would pronounce it X-hayvier

I like it. There are a few around, all different pronunciations!

@FayCarew thank you
Could you recommend any not too common morrocan names if you don't mind?
The only ones my dh has mentioned are very common amongst family and friends and I'd like something a tad different

I know one pronounced EX ay vier which always makes me cringe, but zay vee er is nice

One of my favourite names, I love it.

Not really. The moroccan names I'm familiar with are the names of adults, so might be dated. The names of their children tend to be ones that work in English like Izak, Adam, Ilias, Idriss etc

If your baby is half-British and the surname is moroccan, I'd go for an english name that works in both languages. Moroccans usually speak French so Xavier would work but would be difficult to write in arabic

Ilias is one I've not heard before, it's lovely.

I hadn't thought of anyone pronouncing it ex-havier so I would probably go with the Z spelling but looks like I'll need to do more research into the Arabic side of it.

Dh doesn't speak French as he was born and raised here in England. His parents are Moroccan born but again don't speak French.
None of them insist on an Arabic name but I'd like my ds to have something that would work in both languages and cultures

Lots of names would work. Names with a J won't - they would write it Dj,