Antigone?

[Toastwithtea]

For a half Greek, half English baby girl? Living in the UK, outer London, if relevant!

My daughter has an obscure Greek name (Greek parent) and we mainly call her by her nickname. She's known like that at all clubs and school and the only places we really come across wrong pronunciation is the doctors when her full name is used. One correction and that's all it takes for people to say it right. We also get comments about how beautiful it is when people learn the right pronunciation. It's not that much of a pain in general life.

Pronunciation will be a very common annoyance for them. I wouldn't use it personally.

Theodora?

I think it's beautiful.

My daughter has an unusual nice (I've never met another one where I live) and yes people do ask how to pronounce it. It doesn't bother us or her, and often leads to nice conversations around where the name came from etc.

I'd go for it!

Should say unusual name!

Hmmm. I wouldn't. (I'm too much of a fan of the Phèdre books by Jacqueline Carey and it's really NSFW/school.)

Gonna’ be honest and say I thought it was pronounced ‘anti-gone’

A lot of people will think that

It's not insufferably middle class. In fact in Greece you would be automatically be naming your child after their grandparent!

we mainly call her by her nickname
Why give a longer version?
One correction and that's all it takes for people to say it right.
Usually, but over a lifetime that's a lot of correcting people.

That's how I assumed it was pronounced 😂

We’ve covered grandparents with the older children so Antigone is actually an aunt’s name!

I really love it, OP. And I think especially given you live in London, it’ll be fine. But a word of warning: my DD has a name from literature (not Greek) which I thought was commonly known, but it turns out the British people are really not particularly well-read, and almost no one knows how to pronounce or spell it, or has even heard of it. As this thread shows, you will be constantly having to help people with it. This doesn’t bother me; I actually quite enjoy the variety of pronunciations we get. But you might not like it. Also, it’s quite exciting when you do find someone who is familiar with the name, and it can give you an insight into that person’s education and interests. I’d be thrilled to meet a little Antigone. It’s a beautiful sounding name, and I bloody love Oedipus! Both my DDs are named after characters who met terrible ends, and it really doesn’t matter. Tig and Tiggy are both adorable nicknames too. Go for it!

There will be many hours spent explaining how to spell and pronounce it, and people will still continue to get it wrong. If that's what you want, go for it.

Nope, that obviously isn’t my primary goal! 😂

I had anticipated that some people might mispronounce it but this thread has made me see that actually lots of people are unfamiliar with it, so reconsidering options.

What are your other options OP?

I’m not particularly sure! I was quite set on Antigone!

Off the top of my head, I quite like Penelope, Valentina (but not Val or Tina), Margarita, Eleni and Eirene.

Interesting you like Valentina and Eleni - both my favourites from your new list. Valentina was on my shortlist with the nickname of Leni. Or Valy. I think the Val or Tina concern was what put me off it actually. Maybe if she had a strong nickname used more than her full name from v young (likely with a long name), she'll prob be called it by her peers and friends and family so new ones won't come as a teen for example. I'd imagine she'd introduce herself as it from young, IYSWIM.

Penny is really sweet too for Penelope.

@Toastwithtea

I think other children may make fun of them at school if they are called Margarita due to the pizza connection!

Oh, interesting! I like Leni as a potential pet name for Eleni but hadn’t considered that it could also work for Valentina!

For a non english native speaker this name looks totally bonkers. I didn't know it was a name and I've lived in England for fifteen years. I would think a yeast infection medication or something

Valentina is used in Greece but also many other countries, whilst Eleni is primarily Greek.

Don't know if that may help you decide?

@Leeloo1233 it's not a native English name.

OP if you love it go for it. The majority of the British population have got their heads around the pronunciation of Penelope and Hermione. Two of my DCs have friends called Xanthe which is surely more tricky to read in English and nobody has ever batted an eye.

Children in London schools in particular will be used to having friends with names from a diverse range of cultures.

I love Penelope, Eleni and Eirene - all stunning names.

Valentina risks Val as a nn and I find it a bit “much” as a full name personally. Margarita is a cocktail to me!

Go for Antigone then OP if you love it.

Because that's what you do in Greek culture.

Where do you live? When we had our first DC we were splitting our time between Highgate and Yorkshire. There were a few names which I sort of felt would be fine in Highgate but the poor kid might get a rough time up North! Having said that, lots of people I’ve now met in Yorkshire have some pretty wild names for their kids so perhaps my instinct is misguided.

people will definitely mispronounce it, if that’s an issue, choose something else. If you are ok (and think she will be) with correcting people then go for it. I think it’s a lovely name.