Scheherazade

[Allthatglittersisntart]

This is one of the only names I can agree on with my DP,(both Persian and an example of strong heroine who is a powerful storyteller) however I think it is only suitable as a middle name.
I have tried to explain to my DP that it is hard to pronounce and that it would become ‘Shahza’ however he doesn't understand what is wrong with that and I struggle to explain.

Sorry, but it makes me think of a cross between a Pokémon and an energy drink.

I’d also share the same concerns about spelling frustration and mispronunciation.

But it really is up to you. If you both love it and keep going back to it, go for it.

It's not so much the actual stories that worries me, more the fact that she is telling the stories to avoid being the next in a long list of murdered virgin brides after the Sultan caught his first wife cheating on him:
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/scheherazade-the-story-of-a-storyteller
And she is so good at storytelling that in the end the Sultan falls in love with her and repents his ways, and that's somehow OK....

My sister is called this and we call her ZaZa. I love it.

It is a beautiful name.

I wonder if it will be problematic for those who don't know how to pronounce it or spell it and need to have that frequently explained.

I know someone with this name. She is known as Shez.

It’s a beautiful name and it’s not hard to pronounce, it’s more the spelling but it’s not so unusual that you can’t look it up.

I have an unusual name and honestly it’s not been much of a problem. I chose a nickname I love but it has never really bothered me when people ask how to pronounce it. I’ve always also found that once they ask, people do make the effort to pronounce it properly. It’s was quite nice not having to share my name.

It's only 1 letter longer than Christopher.

I love it. it's fabulous. I wouldn't have a problem with the spelling or the pronunciation but maybe that's because I grew up reading the stories. But yes, agree on a nickname. If not, I can see it being Sherry, which to me is OK but not fabulous!

I have a Persian first name that everyone struggles with, I'd advise you keep it as a middle name or choose a Persian name that's easier in English/gets shortened to something nicer than Sher/Sheher

@CaribouCarafe , but why should she. It's not particularly tricky.
The names people struggle with aren't obvious unless you know someone with that name.

Some people will struggle with John or Jane.

@DuchessOfSausage just speaking from personal experience, it was incredibly frustrating having to explain my first name repeatedly, having it mispronounced, having it misspelt etc. In the end I just went with my English middle name in England instead of my Persian first name, but it's still a pain when it comes to forms, interviews, proving my identity when I've forgotten which name I previously provided etc.

If you have a 'normal' first name, you wouldn't understand how often it crops up. Scheherazade is a really easy name in Farsi, much easier to spell, everyone knows it, everyone knows how to pronounce it, it sounds beautiful in Farsi, it's not an issue. But in English, it will most definitely be misspelt and mispronounced all the time, and shortened to much uglier diminutives or pronunciations.

With names you need to think about the perspective of the child, not the parents - imagine having to explain your first name and your ethnic origin all the time. It gets tiring. Especially when there's other Persian names that fit in much more easily in English.

I know one, I think it's a great name and not hard to pronounce one you know how it's said.

My friend is generally called Shero.

It's a lovely name pronounced correctly but people will say it and spell it wrongly all her life.

@CaribouCarafe , I'm aware of the pitfalls, especially if you have names with sounds that you don't get in English in them, but that doesn't apply to Scheherezade. One way round it is to use a nickname or an anglicized version.
e.g Jerzy going by Jez or George or similar.

In the workplace, I found people would struggle with fairly easy-seeming names but not with something from another language shortened to something like Katy or Jez.

Something like Nia or Anjali might seem really straightforward but IRL if people aren't all that interested in names they'll try to make it into a name they know, so they'd be saying Nina, Mia, Nita or Angie-Lee/Angela/Angelina or whatever.

I have a surname which could have one of several spellings, and usually spell it out. People still get it wrong or say it strangely.

I have visions of her in a GP waiting room, not realising that "She here zayd" is referring to her 😁

But in any case, if someone is happy saddling their kid with a name that everyone is gonna struggle with initially then crack on. But she will have to get used to almost every customer service agent/recruiter/hiring manager etc pause briefly before working up to her name and still butchering it 90% of the time before being asked "that's such an interesting name, where is it from..." and having to explain for the millionth time.

I just think it works better as a middle name

If you're going with that, you're going too have to stake your claim on your preferred shortened version before she starts school. Because kids are bound to choose the ugliest version and she'll be shezza before you know it. So she needs to start school with the diminutive already in place and known to the teacher.

So can I ask you, how would you render the Farsi Scheherazade in English?

Its a really well known name isnt it?
Or us it one the english say differently to farsi?

If its pronounced the popular way, its a lovely name.

@CaribouCarafe , I know one and I'm not aware that anyone butchers her name but I've not specifically asked her. I knew the name from 1001 Arabian Nights anyway.

A friend with an Arabic name with a non-English sound in her name has said hers does get mangled and that people mistake it for a man's name. They mispronounce or misspell it. She goes by a more monoglot-friendly nickname on a day-to-day basis.

@Mirabai , شهرزاد
sort of Sh-ah-r-z-A-d

See that is an excellent name. Beautiful, two syllables.

Is it Shahrz aad or ahd?

I mean, my name is three letters long and still gets misspelled. Sooo.

Sharzad is nice too.

I used to know one and the long name was always used, she didn’t have a pet name.

@Mirabai ,long ah sound, like in non-rhotic ar

What we think of as vowels (uh, short ah, o, oo, i, I think) are not written but they're there.