Anouk or Anais?

[whichaname]

Can’t decide which of these we prefer for a French/English baby girl! (Pronounced ah-nook and ah-nah-ees.)

And would you use the accent on Anaïs or leave it as Anais? We will be based in the UK for the foreseeable future.

I really like Anouk.

I wouldn’t have known how to pronounce Anais without your pronunciation guide. Others may be more educated on it than me but I imagine she’ll get “an-ace” a lot.

I prefer Anais but many pronounce it Anay, which would bother me. Particularly because of the baby brand Aiden & Anais, it seems to have popularised the incorrect pronunciation.

The thing with the dieresis is that it should point out the correct pronunciation, but I can't help but think it might be an extra pain to have to live with, on top of a name half of people can't say!

Anouk. Annick is pretty too.

Anaïs looks nice but is a bit of a mouthful and it needs the diaeresis.
Alt+0239 on a keyboard

Anouk is LOVELY.

People mangle the pronunciation of Anais, plus she'll get called Anus by the odd dimwit.

Another vote for Anouk. If you go for Anaïs I would use that spelling

I love Anaïs but I think you'll get A-nay. I'm not really keen on Anouk, I think it sounds quite harsh.

Thank you for the thoughts so far. Both seem quite difficult to pronounce for some English speakers but not impossible I hope? I hadn’t thought of ah-nay for Anais! Would adding the accent help or is it not widely known enough what it does? We were considering without because my husband has an accent in his name and it’s forever being written wrong or missed off.

Anaïs is a lovely name, I've know two. But they have two issues:

Although it's easy to pronounce, some people can't seem to do it and say Aniss'. Never heard of them being called Anay though.

Secondly, when filling in forms online, the diaeresis can be a pain.

Both beautiful.

As PP say, Anouk has the added bonus of saving her a lot of hassle through her lifetime.

It’s like palais or fromage frais - a-nay. You might also get a-nays. It’s like any name though , people will get it after a couple of attempts - it’s the many interactions with strangers where she’ll be required to spell the name that can be a pita (speaking from experience). I’m not sure if the diaeresis is well enough known.

I don’t think the accent will help if you don’t already know how to pronounce it - and will be an issue on forms etc.

I’m afraid I don’t like Anouk. I do like Anais but I can’t remember how to add the accent when using a keyboard. If I was going to be typing it regularly I’d look it up but many won’t bother. I know how to pronounce it as one of my favourite perfumes is Anais Anais. I do think she’ll spend a lot of time correcting people.

I'd go for Anouk. I prefer Anaïs as a name, but in the UK I think it would be mispronounced constantly. A lot of people just can't say ah-nah-ees because vowels aren't separated that way in English, if that makes sense. If I lived in Europe, I would use it in a heartbeat.

I much prefer Anaïs.

It's easy to pronounce - Ah na ees.

I can't imagine that people would struggle with that.

I love Anouk

I have a friend called Anais and her name gets pronounced 100 different ways. I really wouldn't do it.

I'd also go for Anais. It's softer. But French don't pronounce 's' at the end of words so, like PPs have said, it will be 'Ah-nay'. Like the perfume!

@FibbyJiggins , do people say it as Anna Rees?

Anouk is much nicer imo.

She gets annay (a lot), annis (a lot), annay-iss, annay-ess, annus, anass, anna, and many other weird and wonderful things!

You’re overestimating the general public if you think most of them will have seen the name before and know how to pronounce it.

But that’s not how OP says it’s pronounced…

@JemimaTiggywinkle , people will try to pronounce it and probably get it wrong, and little Anaïs will be correcting a lot of people in her lifetime.
Add to it that most people won't see the diaeresis, it isn't obvious how to say it.

I work in a large secondary school where we have a few girls called Anais. They all seem to pronounce it Ah-ness.

There was a girl at my school called Anaïs. She got nicknamed "Anus."

I remember my mother having anais anais as a perfume back in the day. Confusion about pronunciation was rife. She said anay anay, others said an-eye-ees an-eye-ees. I'm not sure if anyone worked out how it actually should be pronounced!