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!

So many beautiful Greek names I think this one is a bit too out there I'm afraid. Reminds me of anenome as in the sea creatures.
I love Xanthea / Xanthe for a girl most people can work out how to pronounce them.

@Simianwalk , some people will make an effort, and some might not, but some people will struggle with fairly simple names.

If the name has sounds that you don't get in their language, they will struggle.
If the pronunciation and/or spelling isn't intuitive, some people will get it wrong.

I live in an urban area where there are all sorts of different nationalities and hear names being mangled a lot. I know an Eleni and she gets Elleny, Elainey and Elenny, and yet some will persevere with their own way of saying it. I know a Khalid and he gets all sorts of thins like Kalid Halid and Haleed.

Sorry, but you are asking her to be made fun of in school.
Strange name and pronunciation.

Please do her a favor and pick something nicer, she will have to live with your choice for the rest of her life :)

We have a Phoebe- she loves the Greek origin of her name

Athena, Hero, Eirene - pronounced the Greek way, Artemis, Ismene or Atalanta.

I was at school with a very English Oenone for a while and have never met anyone else with this name since. It is a beautiful, unusual name.

What about Persephone?

Iris, Penelope, Chloe, Phoebe, Anastasia, Thea, Calliope, Nektaria?

It sounds lovely but people would never know how to spell / pronounce
I like Antigoni

Thank you! I love it, but from this thread I can see that I’m definitely in the minority!

Like the suggestions of Antogoni/e, Chloe and Phoebe too. Persephone is lovely but not sure I like any of the potential shortenings. I think Eirene and Eleni are both lovely and appear simple - but could also be butchered in the UK. I wondered whether, with something more obviously unfamiliar, people might be inclined to ask and learn how to say it rather than presuming that they know?! But I’m probably being optimistic!

I know an Oenone and I struggle to pronounce it every time 🤦‍♀️
I also know an Elektra which is a beautiful name.

@LiveatCityHall , Elektra had connotations, and I'd think of a fridge freezer.

Sorry but you would be setting your child up for a lifetime of spelling and pronouncing their name for people. It's a no from me

Minerva

I thought it said 'anemone'

I like Oenone, BUT, I feel to strongly pronounce it OH-neh-o-neh. It took me a second to notice the difference
My second take would be EHN-no-neh
I like E-noh-nee idea, but it's not intuitive.

I've just noticed this again in my threads list and misread the last part of the word adding a "c" before the last N. Please for the love of God do not name a child this name. Would take kids at school long to find an awful nickname.

Maybe you should consider a visit to Specsavers and teaching your children not to bully?

Because it’s always someone else’s children who are apparently ready to leap on the most innocuous name.

@WomanBitingATowel

I'm blind as a bat, I do have very poor vision.

And of course I am teaching my son not to bully, what a ridiculous remark. He has never once heard me mock anyone, and i am trying to instill from a young age about how we are all different etc. But you only have to skim the newspaper headlines to see how horrible people are. Me personally I wouldn't want to set any child up to be a target and giving them a stupid name is setting them up to be a target. It's not nice but it's true.

I’ve just booked an eye test myself, so I hear you, but I really don’t think Oenone is a ‘stupid name’, and I don’t think that ‘be as beige as possible or prepare to be mocked mercilessly for a lifetime’ is a particularly healthy motto by which to live.

DS’s class alone has way more out there names, and while they’re an ordinary enough bunch of kids, I’ve never come across any indication that unusual or non-phonetic names have formed part of bullying or teasing.

@Guacandcheese , IME they will either say 'Mrs Blest' (or Mr Blest, and Mrs even if you are under 16), or they will make an attempt at saying it. The attempt is pre-empted by a pause, then by 'Owen-own Blest' or 'Oy-nown Blest' or 'Onion Blest' or something.
Basically they will try to make it into something they recognise, adding letters and sounds if necessary, like Oh-noncy or something.

In the UK this is a weird name. This is the beginning of a lifetime of mispronounced name/ the class laughing when their name is read out wrongly by a new teacher/teaching assistant/substitute. Letters wrongly addressed and important documents wrongly spelled; Certificates messed up, hotel/plane bookings messed up, even when not your fault. Jobsworths saying that the letter of employment name/exam entry name does not match the birth certificate. And. And.

The first time you meet new people, your child will have the anxiety 'How will the Name Reveal go ? Will they say it wrong? Will they call me Onion? Will they laugh? Will I get the wtf look?'

When they start doing French/German someone will definitely flip through the dictionary, and for the next 6 years her nickname will be Wank. Or they don't learn French/German at school, but someone who is French/German speaking at home has an older idiot sibling who makes the connection, and the nickname Wank finds its way to her that way. She is Wank until she goes to uni. Unfortunately, someone from the old town is also there, so the name follows her.

Just don't.

@WomanBitingATowel , it might not be at school, but bullying can happen in the workplace.
If someone is a bully, and they find that you react if they get your name wrong, they'll persist in doing it.

@WomanBitingATowel

Yes, out there names are very common nowadays and one would hope schools are a lot more hot on bullying. Personally I know many Meadows, Oceans and a Tiger and of course all kinds of "alternative" spelling. I just wouldn't want to be saddled with a name that could be misread as something so bad so easily. But then people could think my name is silly or stupid- who knows. I do see your points anyway.

@WomanBitingATowel , it depends on the name.
It's not names like Oenone or Eurydice necessarily.

Say my real name was Ceri,
If I started a thread on here, maybe half would say it as Kerry.
IRL, I'd probably get called Serry or Cherry a lot, with a few saying Cherie or Surrey.

Names with multiple vowels will get misspelt. Callipoe instead of Calliope etc.