Is ‘Neev’ a nice name for a baby boy

[sonta8]

Hi,

We are expecting a baby boy soon and I have been researching names. We are from India and we want to name the baby something that is derived from one of the Indian languages. And at the same time easy to pronounce for people in UK.

I love the name ‘Neev’. It’s a boys name in our culture and means foundation. But on research found that it sounds similar to the Irish girl’s name Niamh. So two questions:

1. What do you think of the name? You think it’s easy to pronounce?
2. Will he get bullied for a name that’s also an Irish girls name? I want to believe kids have moved forward from bullying people on gender identify and attributes in this world where people can be gender fluid. But just want to be sure that I am not creating a problem for him in school etc.

I did think of Niamh first, but I am Irish. I think it is lovely and paired with an Indian surname, I don't think people are going to think you can't spell Niamh!

[ UH - J ih n - K y ah ] 😅

classic mumsnetter tripping over herself to be the first person to ridicule the OP.

I think it’s nice OP and unlikely to be mispronounced. But you will get ignorant people (case in point above) who sneer at it,

The thing about names is you can really get used to someone’s name very quickly no matter how odd or unusual. At my kids old school they’d get a lot of foreign students who would choose their own ‘anglicised’ name and some of them were very unusual, but you soon got used to hearing them.

I only know of one person called "Neev" and it's the guy from the tv show catfish 😄 I think his is spelled "Nev" though. I think it's quite nice

Agree with this. It would be very sad in a country that is supposed to pride itself on multiculturalism if all the beautiful and hard to pronounce names from different cultures were stamped out because of people wanting their kids to fit in (completely understandable though!).

She said it’s a name from their culture. So she hasn’t made it up.

I like it. I's very easy to spell and pronounce too - which always make's a child's life easier.
I do suspect some people will think it's a misspelling of Niamh and think it's a girl's name. Where I live, Niamh is a very popular name.
I'd not let that put you off though.

I think that is a nice name and not hard to pronounce.

Certain types of people used to moan about Niamh, Maeve, Siobhan thirty years ago.

I like it! But aren't most Indian names spelt in English phonetically anyway? So they should be easily pronounced.

As someone with kids in a London school, you can call them pretty much anything you like and they won't get bullied for their name! My Indian friend named her son Rohan, if you want some other options.

I love it, it’s easy to pronounce, beautiful meaning behind it and the man who presented Catfish had the same name so I do think people know it as a unisex name.

I’m not sure we are even pronouncing Niamh correctly anyway, so I wouldn’t worry about that. Apparently it’s pronounced Nee-uv, which would mean we’re all saying it wrong 😂

The bullying thing - I’d imagine Star, Cookie and Rainbow Dash would be the targets for bullies tbf. I think a boy called Neev would be okay.

I know a fair few girls who are called Neeve. Spelled like that too, which is a bugbear of mine (if you're going to use a Gaelic name then at least spell it the proper way, Shanade, I am looking at you), so I can imagine people seeing it written down may think it's a girl at first, which could cause some problems on application forms?

You'd be amazed at what kids get called nowadays OP and no one bats an eyelid, I don't think he'll be bullied. Neev is lovely, I'd not make assumptions on gender if he had an indian last name (would probably assume girl otherwise, but so what? There are male Kims and Hilary's, people quikcly get used to it!).

Go for it!

(P.S. UNLESS you live in ireland, that might give me pause for thought)

I think the only thing inappropriate here is what you just said. The op clearly says the Neev is an Indian boys name and they are originally from India. For what it’s worth OP I think the meaning of this name is lovely and if it reflects your culture than absolutely it’s a lovely name.

Wow - rude!

The meaning of Neev is : Basic, Foundation, Groundwork, elementary, basis, rudimentary.
Gender Boy
Origin Indian
Religion Hindu

I love it, go for it :) I thought of Nev from catfish rather than an Irish girls name

I have a friend whose son has that name. They're Indian. I love the name. Never occurred to me that it is like Niamh in Irish. It's always suited him.

You will be surprised. People still can’t pronounce my name. My husband has given up on asking people to pronounce his name and has started shortening it 😅

It makes me sad that you want to choose a name that is easiest for others to pronounce rather than one you’d love. Can’t quite articulate why, perhaps the realisation that not many take the time to learn how to pronounce another’s name when it’s such an important part of your identity

That’s good to know!

I know it as a Jewish man's name. Very nice

I like it on Catfish Nev and I think Neev with an Indian surname will show it’s cultural and not a mistake for Niamh.

I don’t think Niamh is common enough that it feels like a girls name either - it’s not like calling him Jane! And a lot of names are unisex and things like “Girl Charlie” and “Boy Charlie” come up a lot in classes with no issues.

I don't think anyone should ever shy away from giving a child a name that reflects their cultural heritage - you just might have to accept that on hearing 'Neev' people in the UK will initially assume the individual's female, probably for Neev's whole life as it's unlikely to overtake Niamh in popularity.

But most people quickly get their heads around unusual names.

My first thought on seeing the thread title was the girls name Niamh, but if you’ve got a very Indian surname then I’d think people would quickly guess that you’ve used an Indian boys name rather than a version of an Irish girls one.

And people do get used to names quickly as a general rule.