Oenone

[Guacandcheese]

Please help!

Half Greek baby due in 8 weeks. Boys name is sorted, nowhere near close to a decision for a girl. What do you think about Oenone (pronounced EE-no-nee or eh-NO-nee)? We love it but obviously can foresee issues with spelling and pronunciation in the UK…

Please share your thoughts and any alternative ideas. Ideally would like a Greek name rather than a completely anglicised version, but ideally workable in the UK as well.

Thanks!

Adding an L at the front..
Leonie?

Oh that really improves it! Leonie is lovely

That’s a stretch, to put it mildly.

I like Oenone, OP. Admittedly the only reason I know how to pronounce it is it’s the middle name of a significant Irish writer, Edith Somerville, who was born in Corfu.

Hermione

@WomanBitingATowel what's a stretch? I mean it's fine if she never goes to France or Germany obviously.

Well, because (1) it’s not the ‘ordinary’ modern term for masturbation in either French or German, anymore than you’d be likely to post on Mn that you walked in on your boyfriend engaging in a spot of onanism in the shower (2) it’s pronounced and spelled completely differently to either French ‘onanisme’ or German ‘Onanie’. Unless you’re the type who says ‘Orla? Don’t use! Sounds like ‘oral’!’

@SemperIdem , the Oe is the same as in Phoebe, -the one is like in Hermione, Antigone etc

What about Ariadne?

I had a patient called Oenone. Be warned, I was the only person in the clinic who pronounced it correctly.

Nobody is going to have a clue how to pronounce it. But its pretty dire anyway.

I was at college with an Oenone, back in the day. (Very English surname though, so I suspect Classical Education rather than Greek parentage.)

I love these threads. Usually it's an Irish name that I haven't come across, and I read the title over and over again, trying to work out how I'd attempt said name, before clicking the thread to discover how it should be pronounced.

Onion. That, to the unsuspecting eye, is pronounced incredibly close to Onion.

Please don't call your child this.

Anyone with a classical education is going to be able to say it. And plenty of others

You are going to be explaining that one a lot..

Ione
Athena
Penelope
Ismene
Circe
Hebe
Artemis

I love Antigone, which I think has a similar fe?

How is it anything like onion? That’s like saying, ‘Don’t call them Timothy, it’s way too close to toilet!’ Anyone who knows of Classical Greek names can pronounce it easily and anyone who doesn’t can be told and remember how to say it.

Oenone and Onion are similar
Timothy and Toilet aren't

Not everyone is familiar with Classical Greek names, and would possibly read 'oe' as oi ant the 'none' as non. Look up Pheobe on darkgreener.

and not ant

Fair enough. I personally just can’t see the onion bit, it’s only got two of the same letter in the word and I’d think less people would mispronounce as ‘oi’ or onion than something along the lines of ‘Oh-ee-known’. (Much as Hermione is mispronounced hermy-own.) I still like the name. I think any unusual name will have to be explained, so it’s less about that happening really.

@MagpieSong :
O-Ni-ON-
OeN-ONe

Bear in mind that some strugglewith unfamiliar words and names.

Xanthe, I know two Xanthes, both pronounce it Zan thee with an unvoiced th.

Exactly.

I read it as Ow-en-yone.

What kind of nonsense is "those familiar with classic Greek will know how to pronounce it?"

Most people, won't.

"pronounced EE-no-nee or eh-NO-nee"
How do you pronounce it? Because those are two quite different pronunciations.

I do think it would be mispronounced a lot. However, that might be worth it, if it's a culturally meaningful name for yourself or your partner. Society is a lot more multicultural nowadays and lots of your child's peers will have non-English names.

Evadne comes to mind as a similar name. I've also encountered a Greek woman named Koralia which is nice, pronounced with the stress on the third syllable. But I know very little about Greek names and have no idea about what's popular or current in Greece.

She’ll have a lifetime of ‘Oenone’s on one’ every time she loses her temper.

She really won't. That doesn't even slightly work as a pun out loud.