Eva - Please help!

[Elsaandanna2]

We come from Greece, DD3 is due in a couple of months and we love love love the name Eva.

However, Eva in Greece is Eh-Va , not Ee-Va.

I am just wondering that if we go for Eva and we will correct people and explain that Eh-Va is the Greek pronounciation, would that be too challenging?

Will the poor kid have to correct everyone in her life?

I don’t know if the “Ee-Va” pronounciation is just a British thing and in all other countries in the Globe is Eh-Va, like in Greece? Can please people with non-British origins advise?

(We were also considering Ava as this will sound like Eh-Va in the Uk but Ava in Greece is Ah-Va… and all grandparents etc. in Greece will call her Ah-Va!)

She will have to correct people all the time. People reading out her name will never think it's not pronounced the English way.

I'd chose another name if it will bother you.

Eva /Eve names are and have been for many years incredibly common in England. If that bothers you I would choose something else. Personally sick of these names every other teen girl is an Eve variant or an Isobel variant.

Eva is such a popular name at the moment in the UK that people won’t check pronunciation and will assume it’s Ee-va. I personally would go for Ava if you want that pronunciation if you’re planning on living in the UK. It’s probably easier to correct your family than to correct everyone else you meet?

Constantly correcting people would be a pain. It's always ee va here

you don't have to correct everyone - there's no need to correct every random person - but that means letting some people call her EE-va. And you have to decide how much correcting you'll do.

or you could call her EE-va in English and EH - va in Greek

Eva and Ava are soooo common that yes it will get pronounced Ee-va and Aa-va. Not Ah-va.

There are so many Eva’s and Evelyn’s and Evies and Avas.

If you want that pronounciation, wouldn't it be easier to explain once or twice to her grandparents that the spelling is different as she is living in the UK and that even though its spelt Ava it is pronounced Eva. Rather than if she is growing up in the UK and has to explain to every person that she meets for her whole life that its Eva pronounced Eh-va.

Eva and Ava are both lovely, for her ease it might be better to spell it the way it is prononced in the contry she will live in.

I wouldn’t do it. I have an Eva (ee-va), she has travelled all over the globe and nobody has ever mispronounced it. Your DD will spend her life correcting people on the different Greek pronunciation

I agree with this option too

Will be correcting people for everrr. I'd avoid it if that would bug you.

My daughter’s best friend is Eva pronounced eh-va. Parents are Spanish or French I think. Everyone (teachers, other kids, parents etc) calls her using the correct pronunciation. Yes she will have to correct people the first time she meets them probably but it’s not exactly hard once you’ve been told.

yeah, but they probably didn't see the spelling.

I agree that it would be easier to tell your relatives that it's Ava pronounced Eh-va than to tell everyone else that it's Eva pronounced Ava. But, if the cultural heritage is important to you then I'd go with Eva. People she meets more than once will learn and Eva said Eh-va isn't totally unfamiliar here because of Eva Peron.

They did? Hotels, tours, taxis, restaurants etc booked under her name whilst interrailing Europe & Asia

Ava isn't Eh-va, @Elsaandanna2 . It's Ey-va.
I'd stick to Eva and say it's the Greek pronunciation.

It’s such a popular name she’ll get the UK pronunciation, so I think you either make peace with that or find something else.

Most people in the Uk would pronounce Eva Peron Ee-vuh

Well, if she called and said EE-va, they probably get the gist. Plus, people in Asia are more likely informed about English pronunciation (esp. India), but I would say most Europeans would say Eh-va. Not to someone who is British, tho, especially if said person is already called and spelled their name, in advance.

My dd goes to school with a Eva pronounced how you want and it's never been an issue. Told once and it's fine. It is a catholic school with loads of Polish children though so Eva's are often pronounced Ever here.

It wouldn't be that difficult, she'd have to correct people once but they'd get the hang of it quickly.
I used to know a David pronounced Dah-vid instead of Day-vid (German), everyone got used to it after learning the correct pronunciation.

People will get used to that pronunciation quickly enough. The Welsh variant of Eva (Efa) is pronounced similarly to Eh -va and English speakers seem fine with it after being told once. I’m sure it’ll be the same for your DD.

Ava is just as commonly pronounced as Ay- va , so I personally wouldn’t use that.

I would not if the pronunciation really bothers you. It is an extremely common name in the UK currently and the default pronunciation is Ee-va and that is what people will initially call her. Your DD will spend her life correcting this.

I second this. Our DD is Eva and it’s never been mispronounced regardless of where in the world we have been.
Gorgeous name though.

Choose a different name which doesn’t have these issues.