Gentian

[coffi123]

I think I can guess your replies for this one but… Gentian for a boy, the ‘G’ is pronounced as in ‘golf’. We like the name because it has significance in our family, it’s a foreign name that origins in the country my partner is from. I think it won’t work in an English speaking country because people don’t know how to pronounce it, and I’m worried that he’s be called/autocorrected ‘genital’.
Am I right? Or any chance this name would work in the UK?

(I swear this is a genuine question. Gentian is being used as a name in other countries. It’s an old Illyrian name).

Have you already posted this? There was a thread on this exact name back in March: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/baby_names/4515514-unusual-name-pronunciation

It's a boy's name pronounced Ghent-ee-ann, and not particularly unusual in countries like Albania
but it's also a blue flower pronounced Jenshun, so he will be assumed to be a girl and have to correct a lot of people on the pronunciation

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentiana

It's quite close in spelling to 'genital'

RAL 5010 is Gentian Blue.

Definitely Gentian Violet. Like all the science lessons. Pronounced Jen-tee-un.

I would assume "gent" as in gentleman then guess "tee uhn"

I had a boyfriend from Albania called Gentian. When we were at school he was nicknamed Genti (with a g like garden rather than the J sound of generation). Never occurred to me or anyone else to associate it with genitals 🤣 Also when he said how to pronounce his name once it was easy to say. I've struggled more with other names that felt more unnatural to pronounce correctly.

Thanks for pointing me to this other thread @ParasiticMicrowasp, I haven’t seen it yet and that wasn’t me posting.
@ everyone thanks for your feedback. Indeed my partner is also Albanian and it’s not uncommon there.
glad to hear that not everyone immediately thinks ‘genital’ when reading the name, that was my biggest fear. But I see that pronunciation is an issue. Maybe using it as a middle name instead isn’t a bad idea

I actually really like it...especially if it reflects your DP's heritage.

Genital was my first thought, so no.