English speaking advice on polish name

[szscesliwedni]

As a polish speaker I’m struggling to see what would be best to do with the name I like.

I would like to name unborn DC Łukasz Nikita.

In Poland Łukasz is pronounced like woo-kash (not perfect but the best i can mange)

The letter Ł (lowercase ł) doesn’t exist in English and I’m thinking this could cause some difficulties? Łukasz would more then likely end up being written as Lukasz by most people (and machines which don’t accept polish letters). So would be pronounced Loo-kash or Luke-ash. I have a feeling this might cause unborn DC a nightmare with name spelling questions for their whole life as they will be English, not polish, and will grow up in the UK with the likelihood of about 10, (probably less, as I have no intention of ever living there), visits to Poland in the first 18 years.

Would you go with
A. Lukasz (pronounced Loo-kash/Luke-ash)
B. Wukasz (which would be more like the polish pronunciation but the Ł changed to W)
C. Or stick with the Ł for Łukasz (pronounced Woo-kash)

@ChateauMargaux

I m Irish and many Irish people of my parents generation had English first names on their birth certificates but had were called by the Irish version. I have an Irish name that has an alternative pronounciation in English and it drives me nuts when people pronounce it the English way.

I live don’t live in the UK any more and am surrounded by lots of nationalities with many different forms of many names... friends often accept the anglicized version of their name and use a combination of names fro their children.

It’s the same in Scotland. Someone who is known as Iain may have John on his birth certificate.

All the Polish people I know who live in the Uk use both their Polish first name and an Anglicised version. They are resigned to the fact that English speakers often find Polish very hard and their name will rarely be pronounced correctly.

So Jakub / Jacob , Łukasz / Lucas and Antoni / Anthony .

Otherwise you could choose a name that’s identical spelling in both languages, like Adam, Gabriel, Daniel.

Or at least something that will be pronounced correctly, like Marek , Eryk, Oskar, Aleksander or Aleks ( sorry if I’ve got any of these wrong ).

Miłosz has the same issue with “ł”.

@DrinkFeckArseGirls

Miłosz has the same issue with “ł”.

Exactly.

It doesn't make any sense to use a non-English letter in a name registered in the UK, for a child who will grow up in the UK. This is obvious to anyone whose mother tongue is written in a non-English alphabet. You have no choice but to compromise.

I used to work with a lovely Polish chap called Lukasz who just told colleagues it was pronounced Woo kash - no problem. He didn’t live in the U.K. as a child though so not sure of any problems at school

Has nobody suggested Bałonsz?

No, debwong because it’s not a Polish name. Was that supposed to be a joke?

@debwong

Has nobody suggested Bałonsz?

Well it tickled me.

My child (6) has a Turkish name, which we pronounce correctly and school pronounce their own way.

We have corrected them numerous times but their way has stuck, so all staff, pupils, and their family members, think his name is one thing, and to us another. DS likes both versions in their contexts.

@DrinkFeckArseGirls

No, debwong because it’s not a Polish name. Was that supposed to be a joke?

Yes, an old one

@ChateauMargaux I have an Irish name that has an alternative pronounciation in English and it drives me nuts when people pronounce it the English way.

I have a Welsh name that has no english pronunciation. It is always mangled and I cringe each time. I like the name but it gets misspelt or assumed to be something different. In day-to-day life I have a different name (a bit like Łukasz at home, Luke at work)

Unless you have gone through it, you won't know what it is like.
I really don't like hearing my name said incorrectly.

I don't think you can teach everyone to say a name. A friend's surname is Sawicka and she tries to get people to say Savitzka but they still say Sa-wicka or ignore the difference between her and her DH's surnames and call her Mrs Sa-wicky

I thought Bałonsz was amusing as well.

I think using a letter that most people won't have a clue how to use is going to cause problems (I cut and paste to write Bałonsz). Just simple things like phoning a company to chase an order are going to be a ball ache.

"Can I take your name, sir?"

"Yes it's Łukasz Nowak."

"Nowak - N for November, O for Oscar, W for Whisky, A for Alpha and K for Kilo."

"And your first name?"

"Ł"

"???"

As for pronunciation, I think there is a lot of drama around foreign names (and Irish and Welsh names). Lots of us have common English names that are pronounced differently in different parts of the UK and just accept that, if we go somewhere where our name is pronounced differently, it is just how it is.

All the Polish people I know who live in the Uk use both their Polish first name and an Anglicised version. They are resigned to the fact that English speakers often find Polish very hard and their name will rarely be pronounced correctly

There’s another reason other than the ignorance of English speakers - and that is racism. Polish names are no more difficult to learn (once you’ve been told how to say it) than any other language.

I remember the days back in the 60s when many Poles felt they had to change their names. Because they were getting so much racist abuse and didn’t want their children born here to suffer the same. And given that their names were often the only connection they had with the country of their birth, this was especially hard for them.

Not sure how far back you went, debwong. Never heard of it and doesn’t come up on Polish version of Google.

Including a letter in the name that doesn’t exist here would cause problems but other than that I would spell it and pronounce it exactly as you would like.

Yes people will mispronounce it and he will have to correct them but if they know him they will get it right and once corrected other people should also make every effort to pronounce it properly. To do otherwise would be incredibly rude.

Just because you live here doesn’t mean you have to call your child a British name - call him what you want!

I have a French surname that no one can pronounce first of all - yes we have to spell it all the time and yes it’s irritating at times but should we change it to make it easier for the general public? No! My maiden name is very simple but people get that wrong all the time too!

@DrinkFeckArseGirls

Not sure how far back you went, debwong. Never heard of it and doesn’t come up on Polish version of Google.

It’s a MN joke. Nothing to do with Poland, even if it does look like it might

I have a French surname that no one can pronounce first of all - yes we have to spell it all the time and yes it’s irritating at times but should we change it to make it easier for the general public? No! My maiden name is very simple but people get that wrong all the time too!

We sometimes used to use my mums Scottish, three letter maiden name, because it was easier than spelling out our long surname. And half the time folk would say “how do you spell that?”!!

@User12398712, dialectic/accent variations is completely different to racism.

There are historical reasons why some of us find the variations of names from other languages and cultures offensive. It's not 'drama'

@debwong, it's Bałonczsz actually

Go with the first spelling, accepting people will say it Lucas.

Or, use it as a middle name, and use something more English language friendly as a first name.

@APerfectSky

What about a compromise Iike Lukas or Lucas?

Failing that, I'd probably go with Lukasz and accept that people will pronounce like Lucas.

It will pronounced Lucas here 100%. I would personally choose this or your dc will forever be correcting his name

I love Łucasz and your pronunciation, which I would make a huge effort to learn and get right. It was no bother to spell, I just wrote it by holding down the L on my keyboard. In London we’re used to names from different cultures, but not sure about outside London.

If you did use the special character L, is that even be available to be on his birth certificate, drivers licence etc in the UK? If his official documents aren't even spelt correctly, I'd look at a regular L or another name.

My 1st name is 4 letters, and an English word, but I ALWAYS have to spell it out and drove me nuts as a child!

[quote KirstenBlest]@debwong, it's Bałonczsz actually[/quote]
Thanks very much, I'll update my MN in-jokes database

[quote KirstenBlest]@User12398712, dialectic/accent variations is completely different to racism.

There are historical reasons why some of us find the variations of names from other languages and cultures offensive. It's not 'drama'[/quote]
Different languages (and regional dialects) have different sounds. They are very difficult to pick up if you don't learn them as a child. It isn't racist not to be able to make particular sounds or for them to come out in a particular way.

If a Polish person says an English name with a Polish accent, personally I wouldn't say they were being racist, I would accept that they have a Polish accent.

I'm sorry OP, but the proper pronunciation will be lost. I'd expect he'd be called Lucas by everyone. I've worked with many Poles and been shocked people completely ignore the pronunciation. I worked with a Maciek for years and his look of relief when I said his name correctly! Everyone else genuinely thought he was called 'Magic', and wrote it like that...

The l with stroke is going to cause a problem with keyboards

Now that virtually everything is typed is he going to be forever flipping between English and Polish keyboards when he’s typing his name? That could be a real pain.