Help us find a name for a daughter - Polish name that works in the UK

[RosieAnnie]

We don't know what we're having yet as we want it to be a surprise. My husband is Polish and we would love a name that works here as well as in Poland and Germany, where my relatives are from.

This is our list:

Aniela (sounds like ahn-yell-a)
Malina (mah-lee-na)
Liliana
Lilia
Kalina (kah-lee-na)
Pola
Andżelika (we would be willing to spell this Angelica as it would be easier)
Jásmina (we might change this to Yasmina)
Apolonia
Kaja (we might spell this Kaya, pr. kah-ya)
Oliwia (only like the Polish/German pronunciation so might take this off the list)

Comments appreciated!

Love Liliana, so nice & Lily will work well with both cultures? Favourite name is Sofia which might also work?

Aniela would be my choice, it's gorgeous. I've come across a few over the years and no one ever seems to struggle saying it although sometimes they struggle with the spelling but I wouldn't let that put you off.

I really like Kalina and Apolonia

Ooh Apolonia and Aniela are more unusual/not like well-used English names (eg Lily has been very popular for a number of years).

I also like Agata

And Pola

Thank you, it's one of my favourites. I was just worried that people would think of "yell" or "yeller", but hopefully I'm just being overly worried.

I love the name Malina

I know an Aniela spelt Aniella which I think helps with the pronunciation.

Angelica, Yasmina, Malina, Kalina, Lilia and Liliana also work. Malina and Kalina might have some mispronunciation but should be easy enough to manage.

Apolonia also works but feels quite out there.

What about Viola? One of my friends is called this (Wioletta). I like Apolonia best out of all your names.

It hasn't been an issue with any of the ones I've encountered. I had a sneaky suspicion it might be one of your favorites as you listed it first. 😅 It really is a lovely name though so don't be put off with the yell part. It also shortens quite sweetly to Annie or Anne.

Anna/Anya? Not sure if it's common in Poland but I always find it quite international and works in many cultures.

Martha/Marta?

There’s lots of names like Daniella, Mariella which have the yeller sound so don’t worry.

I think that all of your choices work well and sound feminine but for a UK audience, it’s easiest to avoid accents above letters etc

Anya
Martina
Julia
zofia
Karolina

all names I’ve heard recently.

My personal favourites from your list are-
Malina
Lilia
Kaya
All beautiful names that work really well in the UK.

I also like -
Aniela
Liliana
Jasmina
Kalina

I don’t think the others work quite so well in the UK, in my opinion.

Avoid Malina as every doctor or person with medical training will think of melena (bloody poo!).

How about Polina?
I like Lilia, Liliana, Kaja and Angelica

Sylwia/Sylvia.
Bashia/Barbara
Marta/Martha.

I was going to say the same thing!

Pola is beautiful.

I also love Minka.

I think they would all work well in the uk apart from Oliwia and Pola as they would likely get mispronounced.

Lovely list and I would struggle to choose a favourite so maybe wait till she's here and see what she suits best!

Andżelika and Jásmina - have characters not in the English alphabet and that may cause problems
I's say Angelika as Ang-EL-ee-ka, not Anj-EL-ee-ka.
I'd think Yasmina was from an arab country.

Kaja (we might spell this Kaya, pr. kah-ya) - Kaja will get Kadge-a, Kaya will get Kay-a. Kaia might be easier.

Oliwia - will get said as Olivia. Prefer Wiola

Not keen on:
Aniela - Daniela with no D. Will get said as Annie Ella
Malina - Mal means bad. Too close to Marina
Liliana - too long
Lilia - so many Lily, Lila, Layla, Lola type names

Not sure:
Kalina - looks like a heakth food brand name
Pola - too much like Paula
Apolonia - too long

Aleksandra/Ola
Ewa/Eva
Hanna

I have a colleague called Marek which I think is nice for a man, also Antoni is nice

Vote for Kaja/Kaya, as Kayah was one of my favourite singers many years ago.

Go for a name like Sophie or Victoria that has an equivalent in many languages even if not pronounced the same.