Fenna or Minna?

[lululu99]

What are your thoughts on these 2 names for a girl please? Any other similar ideas? I like that they are short and simple, but not too common and feel like they would work for all ages.

A lot of these comments (and I would say this for names I really don't like, as well as ones I do, like these ones) reveal two things:

1. A lack of global perspective/cosmopolitanism/education, which reflects badly on the poster. Fenna, for example, is a Dutch name, not at all unusual in other places.
2. Lack of awareness about how diverse today's classrooms are. When I went to school in the 1980s and 90s, and definitely before that, bullying was rife - and for anything - but now that is really being tapped out. There are children with all sorts of names, from all sorts of backgrounds, getting on just fine across the country. No one blinks an eye about these unusual names.

My child has a short, easily pronounced, but foreign name (from the country his Dad was born in). No one (except my mum) has ever said a negative thing about it. My brother is expecting a child. It is my 70 year old mum who can think of a possible bullying phrase for every single vaguely uncommon name my brother and his wife suggest. But life, thankfully, just isn't like this anymore.

One more thing. My husband, obviously, has a foreign name. It is short, pronounced as it is written, and not difficult at all. He regards his name as an excellent idiot filter. The very very rare person who says "What?" or doesn't try to even say it, whose distain instantly shows, well, you instantly know that they aren't a good person and can filter them out. Quite handy really.

how diverse today's classrooms are. - not all classrooms are diverse. The school I went to is probably more diverse than it was when I was there, but it's in a region where the population is not diverse.

That’ll be cos it’s Scottish 🤣🤣

Sort of, it's from Ìle.

ETA pointless and annoying emojis 😆😆😆

I like both names, shortened they will be min and fen so depends which one of these you prefer ? I call my daughters names so much they are always shortened 👍

Fenna

@NamingNoNames, I didn't just mean ethnic diversity, I also meant diversity in names. Most classes would have children with a range of names that my mum would consider "unusual" and all the children are there, not giving it a second thought.

OK. Thanks. I'm in an urban area but the names aren't particularly diverse in that there seem to be trends so there are lots of samey names. I don't think the names OP was asking about fit the current trends here but they're not weird or anything.

Baby name explorer shows that Fenna and Minna are pretty unusual.

If you can read the word 'island' you can read the name Isla.

I don't understand how the people who can't or won't follow the rules of basic English are the OP's problem. Why should she attempt to anticipate or navigate around other people's stupidity or ignorance?

What, in your opinion, are 'English names'?
A huge number of names familiar to English people come from Greek, Hebrew. Italian, French, Spanish, Scottish, Scandinavian, German, or Irish cultures.
Chloe
Phoebe
Penelope
Margot
...just a few examples of well known and popular girls' names off the top of my head.

Minna is super popular with my chinese colleagues (as their “western” name).

Anyone whose first language is English and who learned to read in English in a British school, but doesn't know how to apply phonics rules to the names Minna and Fenna is thick and/ or less literate than they need to be to function.

A YouTuber called his DD Senna, but after the racing driver.

Despite doling out literally hundreds of senna tablets to my DM, I'd never linked the two. 😆

Dawn or Gwen uncommon, nope, not if you went to my school in the early 80s...

Perplexed people would struggle to pronounce Minna.The double “n” is a giveaway!

I don’t think out there at all @lululu99 - know a few. I think it’s a great name.

I don’t like Greta though. Very hard sounding (not a strong name, just unpleasant)

That would only matter if the OP lived in Spain.

There are many beautiful names out there. These are not two of them…

I quite like Fenna but love a PP’s suggestion of Jenna - such a pretty but simple name and I haven’t come across a Jenna in years!