What do you think when you hear these baby names?

[Ohcordelia]

Sami

Rayan

Aydin

Nura

Kamila

Aayah

Amila

Deen

do any of them jump out to you as ick, chavvy or younique?

yes they are all Muslims names. I’m Muslim. They are names on my baby name list, we want Muslim names that have nice meanings but aren’t too too common in our community and not too alienating for life in the Uk. The spellings are the closest transliteration to the Arabic

I work in a big, multicultural City.

Sami, Rayan, Aydin, Aayah, and Amila, I am familiar with

I've come across some Kameela's but not a Kamila that I remember

I don't remember coming across Nura, or Deen

I don't know if that reflects how popular they are ?

I’d forgotten about that but it’s in a book isn’t it? Secret garden? I can’t remember how it’s pronounced there, I think it’s I-yah (so different) but the Arabic meaning is so lovely, I think it’s my fave but these little things put you off don’t they.

Looks like you're trying too hard with alternative spellings .

On all of the names?

so I can see that with Aydin, kamila, deen but what’s aayah and alternative of?

I don't like Deen.
I think all of the others work and people will quickly learn how to pronounce them so spell in the correct way without too much mind to English pronunciation. We have an Irish surname which is mangled regularly, but the kids quickly learn that when they hear certain versions it is them and not some other kid with the same forename and a similar surname!

Sami and rayan are my fav names there. Also like kamila too

I like Aya more than Aayah personally.

Sami I think sounds a little too like a nickname for Sam
rayan not keen but I’m old and makes me think of rayon
Deen to much like a misspelling of dean
like all the rest, nice combination of heritage and what would work in uk. Would probably go with ayah or aya for spelling but I like both this and Nura the best

Kamila is beautiful 😍

Sami - really nice. Not chavvy.

Rayan - i like it

Aydin - ok

Nura - beautiful

Kamila - I like it, reminds me of Kamila Khan in Ms Marvel. Does sound like Camilla a bit though, which is a bit royal family. Still, I think you'd avoid that with the spelling.

Aayah - no. A bit bland, sorry.

Amila - prefer Kamila.

Deen - no. It's not the double 'e'. It's that Dean is a very dated name in the UK. No one's calling baby boys Dean, just would sound odd on a little one.

Doesn’t “aya” mean something like grandmother or nanny in Urdu?

As a group / collective it reads as Muslim names

Deen and Sami on their own could be considered poorly spelled versions of Dean and Sammy

Rayan is 100% my fave

I’m not Pakistani but to the best of my knowledge the word of grandmother is naani/ dhadi (maternal/ paternal) I think it might be the Hindi word for nanny.

but as I’m not Pakistani / Indian that doesn’t bother me as it’s the Arabic meaning I’m going for

Deen’s gone. I don’t really like the ee spelling plus I see the points on being dated, and as much as I liked supernatural, it’s off the list

I’m not a fan of a double vowel I don’t think. So replacing aayah with Ayah/ Aya

i quite like Sara too but feel it’s a bit bland

Sami - beautiful name. He could choose to be Sam or Sami later. Isn't it also the name for indigenous people in Norway?

Rayan - Reminds me of Ryan. Not sure if it's pronounced that way? If the boy was white I would think it was a kreative spelling for Ryan. But if the boy was actually Muslim I don't think I would think that

Aydin - I wouldn't know if the first syllable was meant to rhyme with Sky or Say

Nura - Gorgeous name, instantly clear how to pronounce it!

Kamila - Great as long as you don't mind it being pronounced with the second syllable rhyming with hill rather than meal. I think she'd get both ways her whole life long. Beautiful name though

Aayah - Even as Aya, I'd not know how to pronounce it. I'd guess the first syllable rhymes with 'sky' but maybe it rhymes with 'say'

Amila - Same syllable comment as Kamila

Deen - I agree with others. Probs one to avoid. Although similarly to Rayan, if the kid himself is Muslim and not white I wouldn't assume kreative spelling

Sorry but this is a bit weird - why do these beautiful Arabic names need to have an acceptable counterpart western name? Rayan is beautiful on its own and doesn’t need to justify its existence by apologising and saying, it’s okay, I sound a bit like Raymond. OP, I love Ayah and Nura is gorgeous - I have a Noor and she is a ray of light like hee name. Ultimately though choose whatever you like and has meaning. People will get used it

My other kids are white appearing/ white passing (so it’s a fair assumption any other children would be too) they do have a distinctly ‘not white’ surname. So if you saw them, you’d think they were white. So how would you think of them there?

aydin - pretty much like aiden
rayan- not like Ryan, it’s like ray-an
Aya is like eye-a

^^ and also would you be saying nura like Nora? Rather than noora?

I really like Sami, Rayan, Nura and Amila.
I would say Nura as Nur-ra with a U like in fur, rather than Nora unless I was told otherwise.

I would pronounce Nura like Noo Ra

Sami and Amila are my favourites. Rayan and Kamila are also lovely. I like the spelling Aya best and I would pronounce Nura as Noor-ah. Not keen on Aydin as it reads like a yoonique spelling. Deen seems very dated in the UK, might work better in the US.

I like Aydin but that's mainly because I have a fantastic Aidan of my own!

I like them all actually. I'm familiar with them . I work with a Sami, in his case it's an abbreviation of Bassam. The only thing I'd say is that "Sami" is a fairly common abbreviation of the English girl's name Samantha.

I think it has a nice meaning too, strong powerful and able!

side note with your Aidan, do you see many other Aidan/ Aidens etc around? I’ve never encountered one but perhaps I live a sheltered life

I like Aya/Aayah, Kamila, Sami and Rayan (I know a female Rayan). I’m not keen on Deen at all.