Yoana or Yohanna? Registry office tomorrow!

[CandidPlum]

I’ve recently had a baby girl and DH and I have really struggled to come up with a name we both liked and that felt ‘right’ and like her - so much so that we had to postpone our registration appt. Added complication is that the name has to work in both our native languages (English and German).

We now have just 24 hrs until the appt, can’t postpone again, and I’m still dithering between Yohanna and Yoana. I love both and am slightly panicking that I’ll go for the wrong option - lack of sleep probably doesn’t help! DH is happy with both so has left the decision to me.

Does anyone have thoughts on either name please before I drive myself completely up the wall going back and forth between them?

Yohanna

This!

another vote for yohanna

How are you pronouncing them? In my mind it would be:
Yohanna- Yo- Hannah
Yoana- Yo-Anya

Johanna pronounced with a Y?

Yohanna

Yohanna is easier to pronounce, it's obvious from the spelling. With Yoana it could be Yo-na, Yo-anna, or even Yo-arna, like Moana.

Yohanna so could nn hanna

I think Johanna would be pronounced as yohanna in Germany so spelling it that was reduces the ambiguity

I'd go for Yohanna

Yohanna

I'm a registrar and whilst I won't make final decisions for people, I am often asked how I'd pronounce a certain spelling so the couple can minimise the risk of people getting it wrong!
I think Yohanna is obvious but Yoana is open to being said a few ways.

Sorry, I should have said in the OP!

Yohanna: Yo-ar-nna (German pronunciation)
Yoana: Yo-arna (so like Moana with a y)

Yes exactly!

i never knew that’s how Moana wa a pronounced!!
I thought it was no-Anna lol

That is indeed why we went with the y option 😊

Thanks so much everyone, this is really really helpful!

Moana doesn’t have an “r” sound in it?

And if you want an “r” in Yohanna you’ll need to write it Yoharrna.

Yohanna I would pronounce Yo - Hannah. With the 'h' and short 'a' not yoarna

Yoana I'd be unsure how to pronounce and would consider yoarna a possibility

If you don't want the 'h' pronounced then I wouldn't include it in the spelling

Yohanna. When in doubt go for the easier spelling.

I think the spelling with a 'J' looks nicer written down, people will soon pick up that you pronounce it with a 'Y' sound as you're German, and if a few people initially say it with a 'J' sound, does that matter?

Do people actually write it with a 'Y' in Germany? No need to pander to us Brits!

I would say definitely Johanna (or Yohanna) rather than Yoana though, the pronunciation is a bit unclear on that one, so you might get people saying 'Yoh-na' to rhyme with Mona.

Is Yohanna the easiest spelling? OP says it's to be pronounced "Yoarna"

I believe she is choosing between two names, not two spellings of the same name.

I prefer Yoana

Moana doesn’t have an “r” sound in it?

Unless you have a rhotic English accent (e.g. Scottish, Irish, American), 'Moarna' sounds exactly the same as 'Moana' or 'Mo-ah-na'. 'Ar' (and indeed the word 'are') do not have an actual 'r' sound in them in most English accents in England.