Do I tell her?

[03cg73]

i have a slight situation with a friend of mine and the name she has chosen for her little girl

my friend is French, living in London where this child will grow up. She’s 39 and this is a very much longer for baby

shes been saying since the start that she wanted a Latin name. Her partner is Spanish and they thought the Latin influence would connect them. All lovely. Very excited for them. Until this afternoon when she sent me a picture of a baby blanket she’s had personalised to reveal the name to me and the name they have chosen is Saline.

I’ve checked and it genuinely is a Latin girls name. I asked the pronunciation thinking it could be said like Celine or something. But no. Pronunciation is Saline. Like the wound wash

normally I’d just keep my mouth shut but years ago a friend of SIL (again, English was not this persons first language) named her baby Chanel, thought it looked better spelled with 2 N’s and ended up naming her poor kid Channel. No one said anything, and when it came out months later she was annoyed that no native English speakers had pointed this out at the time and has since removed the extra N

so do I tell my friend she is naming her daughter after a surgical wash? Or keep my mouth shut and hope the the kid doesn’t grow up getting the piss ripped out of her? friend absolutely loves the name and has been gushing about how perfect it is 😬

Yep, I have always said say-leen so it makes complete sense if I have picked it up from American hospital dramas 😅

And same - I read it as sah-LEEN.

You've got to tell her.

@Politicians247UnderwearExtinguishingService , my name was never on the pencil cases and souvenirs. I didn't care.
A friend with a common name used to get ones but with the slightly more popular spelling.

Yes, it's only fair. No need to say it in a 'how stupid, what were you thinking?' way but just neutrally.

"We're calling her Saline."
"Ah, as in the salty solution used in medication and to clean contact lenses?"

"We're calling him Adolf."
"Ah, as in the former evil Nazi leader of Germany who was responsible for millions of innocent deaths?"

Thinking about it, I had a similar-ish situation with a South African friend, who was considering a name for her DD which was - about 25 years ago - very closely associated with a comedy character on a TV show. If I remember correctly, I said something along the lines of “it’s a lovely name - but just so you’re aware, some British people might think of this character”. And I googled it for her. She was (I’m pretty sure!) grateful for the heads up (as the “Channel” lady would have been, by the sound of it) and her DD is now called something else. I think I’d take the “just so you’re aware in a British context…..” approach here.

I think you have to tell her or her child will be teased forever. Of course she might still decide to go with the name but I think if she does they'll change the pronunciation of it pretty quickly.
Just mention it, your friend might not have even thought of that.

I'm not English, but thanks for making assumptions. And don't tell me what I think or believe about other nations, you're totally wrong.

Tbf kids have a much wider variety of names now than they did when I was at school, so on reflection I don't think they'll think anything of it. There was a child called Pirate in my child's class. The adults were mildly surprised, the children were not. They really don't care when they're very young. Secondary school age... more likely, but at that point kids will use anything to get at others if they're the bullying type.

Many years ago my French au pair confided in me that if she had a daughter in the future she’d name her Fanny. Well that was awkward conversation. Anyway roll on 20+ years and her daughter is named Sophie. Phew.

But she's French? Shouldn't it be a case of her choice if she wants to give the child a French name?

Saline just means salty, or solution of salt in water. It's being used in product names - to represent a water solution of salt.
Is it really that bad?

Sure, mention it once - but don't gossip about it with friends. And don't expect your friend to be surprised by the meaning or even change the name.

Yes tell her x

There's also a Scottish village called Saline pronounced Sah-Lin so that's what I think of when I see it.

There’s no way a Spanish guy would pronounce it like that.
in Spain it’s sah-lee-neh

I think you need to tell her English people would struggle with it and put the error on them rather than her choice of name.

No need for the angst. Just say ‘it’s lovely given the heritage of the name. Most people in UK will be familiar with that pronunciation and spelling as a surgical wash for wounds. Just mentioning it in case you weren’t aware’ Then she’s informed and it’s up to her.

I'm firmly in the camp of mind your own business. Honestly the balls on some people.

Just because a name isn't English or a non English speaker gives their child a legitimate name in their culture that sounds 'funny' or 'silly' or 'like a word in your country' to you means absolutely nothing and is actually pretty racist to even think like that.

If I had had a penny for every person who thought to give their completely unwanted opinion on my non English name Id honestly be rich. Its luckily got better over time, the 90s where insanely racist, the 00s where a mix and by the 10s political correctness was taking off. Now I just get annoyingly interrogated as to why that name, wheres that from, where you from, where your parents from. I am English and an English speaker and my name sounds like a random word when said out loud (which people love to point out as if we are idiots that don't know, of course we know) and I frankly don't give a fuck of their opinions. No one is asking what you feel about their name so just shut up.

Saline isn't a bad word, it basically means 'salt water' and in most accents it sounds exactly like Celine/Selene sounds.

You want to talk about 'silly' theres a literal tonne of Amelia's running around right now and its straight up the medical term for a disability and means 'born without limbs'. It's completely OK though isn't it because thats popular and heavily used in England even though its an actual birth defect. It's obviously only ever a problem that needs 'correcting' if its seen as a 'foreign' name though.

Yes absolutely tell her that this is an English word that means salty water and has medical connotations to native English speakers.

Yes definitely tell her

@housethatbuiltme , Saline isn't a girl's name in the cultures involved, so your reply isn't relevant.

I would, Celine is lovely though, very chic! Definitely not Saline.

I once heard of a Chanade (combo of Chanelle and Lemonade) instead od Sinead.

This has sent me into orbit !!! Baby chlamydia 😭😂😂😂😂😂

...like Marge (and Homer, obviously).

Saline also means SALTY in French. :-) Tell her this!

Was it Trigger? Or maybe Triggetta as a feminine version?!

But she lives in the UK and that's where her DD will grow up. You don't move to a different country and then live there in a vacuum.

Would you think it wise if an Indian family who had moved to the UK and become long-term established here called their DS Dikshit - which is a not-uncommon Indian name?

If you lived in France, would you call your DS Peter, which means 'to fart' in French?

If you lived in Italy, would you call your DD Nicola or Andrea, and leave everybody puzzling over why she has (to them) a boy's name?

Same! my mind doesn't go to salty solution so it sounds fine as a name to me.

I probably wouldn't mention it - I'd think they are probably aware - most folk would at least do a quick search on a baby name.