Mina or Hera?

[BiscuitLover3679]

And what's your (honest) first thought when you hear these names? Tia

I love Mina. I’ve never heard Hera so I don’t have any preconceptions

Mina

I've only heard of Hero before. Which is a tall order. And not a nice sound.

I love Hera and I don’t like Mina.

Was Hera a bit of an unpleasant character in Greek mythology? Jealous etc? Wouldn’t bother me personally but something to think about maybe.

"My name is Mina", a book by David Almond. A lovely kind careers advisor.

"Hera" is slightly confusing when managing a class of children who might think it sounds like an instruction to come here.

First thought? Dracula, Goddess. I like Mina as a name but I don’t like that it sounds like meaner. I like Hera but some people might pronounce it Her - a until they’re corrected. Those things aren’t a major issue and they wouldn’t stop me from using the names.

I also think Goddess and Dracula.

Mina is quite nice, but I've never liked Hera... reading stories about the gods when I was a child makes me think *angry, frumpy middle-aged woman when I heard Hera, so I don't think of it as being nice for a little girl.

*no offence intended: I am an angry frumpy middle-aged woman myself now!

It depends a lot on whether you want your child's name to be misprounced... or not. Mina is one of those names you just know how to say, but Hera? Not so much. The "correct" way ("Hair-uh") is very gutteral, in my opinion; harsh and unforgiving. The "wrong" way ("Here-ah") is softer... but the looks you get from people who know their Greek mythology (wife of Zeus, chief goddess, despised Herakles/Hercules and tried to kill him several times) when you're "misprouncing" the name!

My dog is called Hera. Prounced the "wrong" way, because my daughter - whose dog she originally was - didn't know it was wrong. Yes; she named her after the Greek mythological character (we had a cats called Hermes and Hercules at the time, and now she has one called Morpheus). No; she isn't evil/jealous/possessive (all traits associated with the goddess).

If it were me? I'd go for Mina.

First thoughts upon hearing the name.

Mina - youtuber who make commentary videos about the world of fashion and costuming in films/TV

Hera - Greek Goddess

I prefer Mina, but I don't tend to like girls names starting with a 'H', they just sound harsh to me.

Ahem. I can spell "pronounced"...

I like Mina. My first thought was the heroine in 'Dracula', but she was a strong 'good' character, I think it's fine. Nina is even nicer though.

Hera, I would think of the (Greek?) goddess. It's OK but there are obviously pronunciation issues, and it's unfamiliar to people, could be confused with 'her' or 'here' as pps have said.

I don't like either.

Mina - pretty name, would probably assume Arab/Muslim
Hera - Greek goddess

Love Hera after the goddess.

I thought Mina would be pronounced to rhyme with dinner, I used to know a girl called Mina but spelt Minna and pronunced to rhyme with dinner. I agree with pp that if it's pronunced the other way it sounds like you're saying 'meaner'

Hera is wonderful. It would make me curious to find out more about the parents. I’m not keen on the sound of Mina, it sounds a bit whiny to me, somehow. I’d assume parents were Stoker fans, which would be a positive.

@Cotswoldmama Minna is a different name I think. I have met people with both names, the Minna I met was Finnish and the Minas have been from Arab and Indian backgrounds.

I love Hera.

I like Hera

Mina is drippy, blurs with the equally drippy Nina and the overused Mia Maia etc

Thank you!

Went to school with a Hera. She was Indian, it's a popular Hindu name.

Hera is much nicer, it's strong, feisty and well, goddessy!

Mina is, in contrast, whiny and weak. Drippy as a pp said.

@EurghCobwebs

Went to school with a Hera. She was Indian, it's a popular Hindu name.

Was it spelt Hirra?

I like Hera but worry about the pronunciation (I prefer Heer-ah as opposed to Hair-uh) and the fact she is a controversial character. I'm worried Mina isn't nice enough.

I prefer Hera to Mina. In my non rhotic accent Mina sounds the same as meaner, which is cliff putting. I also think it sounds a little incomplete. I wouldn’t worry too much about the pronunciation, it’s easy to correct. Many popular name have pronunciation ambiguities (Mia, Maya, Sara).

The controversial character thing is a non issue to me. It’s not a name like Adolf, or even Myra where the connotations of the names are notable. Greek names are very popular at the moment, and few are totally free of negative connotations. Also, there’s a mini trend for reclaiming girls names with negative associations. Both Delilah and Lilith are quickly rising in popularity at the moment.

@BiscuitLover3679 it was spelt Hira I think and pronounced "heer-ra".

Are they pronounced differently?