Xanthe or Imogen

[Sunstarsrainbows]

Hello, I was hoping to get people's opinions on these two names. DH and I have struggled to agree on names and these are the only two contenders. I realise they're very different and that makes it difficult to choose.

Imogen is way more popular and Xanthe is a little more edgy and out there choice.

Which do you prefer?

Imogen or she'll spend her life telling people how to spell and/or pronounce the other one

Xanthe.

I do like Imogen but prefer Xanthe. I wouldn’t expect it to be mispronounced that much, I thought it was well known.

Love them both, fantastic taste. You can’t go wrong. I did slightly know a Xanthe when I was little though, and I always thought it was a really lovely name, so that might have the edge for me. Love a name with an X in it.

Xanthe does remind of Xanny a little bit which might be an association your child won't be keen on (hopefully)

DSis has a Xanthe. We call her Zan or Miss X. I love it. DB has an Imogen. She's an Imo. I love that too

xanthe is the nicer name but will constantly be misspelled / pronounced and she will spend her life spelling it out for people

I love Xanthe, but it suggests a blonde baby (it means golden) so if you really liked it I’d be inclined to wait and see how she looks when she emerges!

Definitely Xanthe. If people don’t know how to pronounce it they can learn.

I like Imogen, but I was put off because I don’t like the potential shortenings.

I think we might have similar tastes, so in case it’s helpful others on my list were:

Miriam

Zinnia
Beatrix
Merryn
Saffron
Tabitha
Saskia
Marian
Zadie
Dinah
Vita

Imogen isn't a nice name in my opinion

Xanthe 100%

Xanthe is a Greek word meaning blonde but in Greek, it's pronounced with a "ks" not a "z" - sound.

Xanthe is one of my favourite names and was on my shortlist if I'd had a girl. So while I do like Imogen, I would definitely choose Xanthe.

At the time people did tell me they found it tricky to pronounce, particularly people whose first language isn't English.

I wasn't keen on how people often sound it with a Z instead of an X so was considering spelling it Ksanthe. Probably fortunately for my child however he turned out to be a boy!

Thanks for clarifying. To me it sounds a lot like the diet 'exante' so I'm sticking with Imogen.

@LauderSyme is it not supposed to be pronounced Zan then?

I would absolutely love clarity because I currently avoid saying my friends daughters name for fear of getting it wrong!

I assumed it was Zan-thay, not Zan-thee. As someone else is saying it is Ks, not Z, it seems a difficult one to get right. I love Imogen as a name though

I really love Xanthe!

I like Xanthe, I know one, she also goes by Xan for short.

I did meet another one that pronounced it Zanth-uh which I didn't like so much.

Well I’m biased because I have a Xanthe! But we absolutely love the name, it’s so beautiful and unusual. Once we found out we were having a girl and my husband suggested the name, there were no other contenders! Whereas my boys’ names took ages to choose.
Yes, it’s sometimes mispronounced on first try, but not very often. We’ve just taught her to say, “that’s not how you say my name, it’s xan-thee”. It’s not a big problem at all.

Like Imogen

Xanthe is a cool name!
(It might make some people think of the liqueur that tastes like pears, Xanté.)

I have a Xanthe. Being Brits we pronounce it as Zanth-ee. She has had a whole host of odd pronounciations over the years which is strange as its 2 syllables - the 'X' really throws people. One of the mispronouciations is now her nickname at home.

My name is Xanthe. I've only ever met another one quite recently who was 4 which was strange (I'm mid thirties).

I do get a lot of mispronunciation but it's not really a problem. It's not difficult to pronounce and 99% of people get it once you correct them. I get a lot of comments about how lovely a name it is!

This is always raised as a problem. I always have to spell out my first and or surname or people ask how to pronounce it. It really isn’t a hard ship and never bothers me. Not an issue.

Oh and OP I prefer Xanthe!

Out of those two, definitely Imogen. Xanthe sounds like a cheap holiday resort.