Ok so here’s the dilemma!
Name we love most: Gentian - connected to my DHs heritage, pronounced with a hard ‘g’: Ghen-tee-an. I’ve posted about this before…problem is that I don’t think it will ever be pronounced that way in the UK and the most common pronounciation here ‘Jen-shun’ sounds like an entirely different name.
Is there any way around this by changing the spelling to Ghentian or Gantian? We’re both not native English speakers, would these two spellings achieve a Ghen-tee-an pronunciation? (Or would it be really silly to change the spelling? We’d strongly prefer going with the original spelling Gentian obviously, but just can’t see how this would work in an English speaking country).
Two other names we both like a lot:
Fabian (but can’t use because it’s my sisters DH name)
Julian - actually we both really like it and it’s a serious alternative to Gentian.
Names I like but not first choice/some issues:
Florentin, Valentin, Valerian - maybe too out there
Laurence - but really don’t like Larry NN.
Lionel - DH vetoed
(At a push) Finn - DH likes it, I think it’s ok but a bit too many Finns around.
Opinions on these options please, and alternative suggestions that I may like, now that you know my taste, are also welcomed 😊