Maheen or Mehreen?

[Babynamespring]

Last one!! Sorry I know I’ve posted two threads already, I took all the advice given in the past comments on board, you were all so helpful! and now I’m considering these names, hoping that there won’t be any weird associations to these ones, let me know if they sound like anything odd. Also, which one sounds the nicest to you? Thanks!

Maheen: moon-like (radiant/ beautiful like the moon)
Mehreen: affectionate/ loving or bright like the sun. Mehr has two meanings, love & Sun

Both fantastic names. In my wider family they are sisters! Personally I prefer Mehreen f9r the meaning.

I love the name Mehreen

I love Mehreen, so beautiful.

I love Mehreen

I prefer Maheen. I prefer the oomph that the H gives it when you say it aloud.

Mehreen is nice too but might sound like marine? Not a particularly problematic word though.

Thank you! So glad that the feedback is a lot more positive this time :)
Does Mehreen look/ sound too similar to Maureen (people might get confused if it does).

Ha! Yes, I bet some people will mistake it for Maureen. Baby Maureen

Another reason to go for Maheen.

I think both may get mistaken for Maureen by some people! Personally I like Mehreen better

I prefer Mehreen. I don't think it would get mixed up with Maureen at all.

I think Mehreen might get heard as Maureen over the phone by some people - she'd probably have to spell it out every so often - but people learn new names all the time. And plenty of Lauras get Lauren, or Alecs, Alex.

Both are lovely, but I think Maheen

I like them both. I do agree that Mehreen will often get misheard as Maureen though (assuming my imagine pronunciation is right!)

How is Mehreen pronounced? Is it with the 'h' sounded? This is how I have heard it pronounced before (only know of one Mehreen though) so might lead to pronunciation issues.

I really like Maheen.

They are both lovely and I prefer Mehreen BUT you have the same problem that the h will be dropped by English speakers.

The “h” is pronounced in both, but in this case I don’t think if the h is accidentally dropped that the names will sound too bad compared to my previous options like Mahnoor (= manure when you don’t say the h).

When I say Mehreen in a non Urdu/ English accent, it sounds better than Maheen I think..
Maheen = Maa-een
Mehreen = Me-reen
But the h is easier to pronounce in Maheen for non Urdu speakers I think?

With Maheen I'd say ma-HEEN, but with Mehreen I think I'd just assume it was a silent H, mer-een.

@MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake Thanks for mentioning this, I think this will be the case with most people, Maheen is easier to pronounce, will sounds much closer to the Urdu pronunciation then Mehreen.. if the decision is based on ease of pronunciation, then Maheen wins I think!

I love both, really hard to decide!

*will sound

I prefer Maheen. I think Mehreen might be confused with Maureen or Marine. If Mehr is a shortening, I would pronounce that like like Mare. I don’t think of any other words with Maheen though

English speakers will be able to pronounce the h in Maheen because there is a vowel on either side, so they will pronounce her name correctly and easily.

It is an h followed by a consonant, as in Mehreen, that doesn't exist in the English language so people will really struggle to pronounce it (the h would be silent in English). "Meh" would be pronounced like the exclamation "meh", used to show disinterest in something or that something is a bit rubbish.

Even if they know the h should be pronounced, that sound doesn't exist in English so people actually don't have the intuitive "physical knowledge" (IYSWIM) of how to produce that h sound, where to position the tongue etc. The h sounds in English are produced with a different tongue position/mouth shape I'm sure someone will be along with the correct technical term. Her friends will learn in time but most people won't pronounce the h so it will sound like Me-reen.

Mehreen is lovely.

@Babynamespring

When I say Mehreen in a non Urdu/ English accent, it sounds better than Maheen I think.. Maheen = Maa-een Mehreen = Me-reen But the h is easier to pronounce in Maheen for non Urdu speakers I think?

English-speakers will pronounce it as Maa-heen, rather than Maa-een.

@Babynamespring

When I say Mehreen in a non Urdu/ English accent, it sounds better than Maheen I think.. Maheen = Maa-een Mehreen = Me-reen But the h is easier to pronounce in Maheen for non Urdu speakers I think?

As a life long English speaker, I would go for Ma-heen (short "a" like apple) and May-Reen. Although I'm not sure why I'd go for an "ay" sound ther 🤔

I would go for Maheen, as easier for English speakers to pronounce, and I think Mehreen will be regularly mispronounced. Maheen is really lovely.