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.

Star is quite common now I doubt that would raise much of an eyebrow nowadays. There’s a fabulous figure skater called Starr Andrews.

I thinknthe issue you will find is that it is commonly known as a girls name here, spelt Niamh. If people see it written they may think you have spelt it wrong or they may expect a girl rather than a boy. For those reasons I probably wouldn't. However, your son will physically show his Indian heritage and so it might all just make more sense. It's obviously up to you but I wpuld be inclined to go for another Indian name that isn't going to cause the difficulties above. I'm sure there are lots of nice ones.

DD had a Neev (Harneev, I think, but always known as Neev) in her primary school class. I never even thought of Niamh, actually, and as far as I know he did not have any name-related problems at school. We are in London, too.

I think kids today are much more used to unusual names than when I was at school many years ago and all Jane, Sharon, Peter, Paul type names. Do they really get bullied for having a different name nowadays?

I used to know a man called Neave, and that's how he spelt it. I think it's nice.

I wouldn’t, as Niamh is popular and seems to be getting more so. Phonetic versions like Neve also crop up.

It’s not so much that he’d be bullied, as he’ll spend a lot of his life meeting people who are expecting to meet a woman. I imagine this will get old fast, and he’ll be ‘mum could you not have thought of something else’ etc.

I think it wouldn’t have been an issue 10 years ago when Niamh wasn’t especially popular.

No. Neeve is a girl.
Call him Neville or Nevan - Nev
Indian ..how about ..
Rishi - it would be a name of the baby's era
Devinder - Dev
Preet
Mahatma - Ghandi

Fgs.

The OP is three short paragraphs. How can you "miss it"?

Neville? Really? No…. Nobody could look at a gorgeous newborn baby boy and say “Dear little baby Neville.” They’re all born 70 years old. Just like Barry.

My friend is from Mumbai, he and his wife named their son Neev and he is gorgeous. It's a lovely name, easy to spell and say. And if you like it, that's all that matters 🖤

He'll be fine.

I thinknjtbwill be very obvious that he isn't a Niamh.

I think it's fine too.
Yes, you will probably get some comments about it sounding like a girl's name, as evidenced by this thread, but particularly with you living in a city where there are bound to be children from a wide range of different cultural backgrounds I wouldn't expect most people to bat an eyelid. If it was a girl's name I think more people would assume it was a misspelling of Niamh but I don't think that will be an issue for a boy, especially as you say he'll have a surname that's obviously of Indian origin. Most people will figure out it's an Indian boy's name fairly quickly!
I wouldn't worry about what other people think too much anyway. There'll always be someone who criticises your choices - too unusual, too common, too modern, too old fashioned, "out there" or boring...you can't please all of the people all of the time so best to just please yourself! B3it for what it's worth, I think it's nice.

Before reading this thread, I assumed from the thread title that Neev was an alternate spelling of the name Niamh.
If I had seen the name written down (even with an Indian surname) I would have assumed it was a girls name.
However, my assumptions would quickly have been corrected upon coming across an Indian boy called Neev and I wouldn’t have questioned it again.
Other than the odd assumption someone might make, I don’t think u have anything to worry about! Kids will meet your child as a boy called Neev, and won’t think anything more of it. It’s a nice name!

It's lovely. Easily pronounced, easy to spell. I'm also recalling back in the early 2000's that there was a man in my office with that name. Not sure if it was spelt the same, but I can remember the name.

I'm a teacher- I wouldn't bat an eyelid especially with it having an Indian surname too, I think its a lovely name. And I agree about it being an easy to pronounce, easy to spell name for an English person- some poor children spend their entire lives correcting people or ending up with a mispronounced name due to cultural differences

Er, I think Star would raise a lot of eyebrows, and is pretty unusual.

I don't think Niamh is ever spelt Neve. And I think people will raise Neev is an Indian name and that will be that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neve_Campbell

Isn't that just a completely different name?

i mentioned it elsewhere I met a boy named Octave last week… fucking Octave!!!!

I used to have a neighbour called Octave. Lovely bloke, he was from the Caribbean islands & I think he’d be in his 70s now.

I really like it. I would worry slightly that he’ll end up at school with a Niamh and other children sniggering about him having a girls name.

I know an Indian girl called Neive. It will just cause confusion. I am British Indian and I would suggest Neevan to avoid confusion.

Love it - it’s a gorgeous name.

It's quite overused as the girls name, so I'd avoid it especially with the different spelling and that it's for a boy. But if you really like it, go for it for the same reasons, different spelling and for a boy. I'd rather have a name that is it's own and not compared to something.

I know lots who spell it Neve