Change baby boy name for baby living between the UK and Greece

[Katinwanderland]

Hi all,

my husband and I are Greek with dual citizenship (Greek and British), currently livi ng and working in the UK. Our son is almost 12 months old and was born in Greece. As there is no strict time limit to register a baby’s name in Greece, we only gave him a name when we was 4 months old and we needed to travel back to the UK. We were in a rush and gave him my FIL’s name as is tradition in Greece. The name is Ioannis (Greek equivalent of John, with usual nickname Yannis). I liked the name better than my father’s name (who would be Harry in the UK but there is an unfortunate rhyme with baby’s surname) and thought it was ok. However, upon travelling back to the UK we found that British people really struggle to pronounce Ioannis and don’t really understand the name. My DH really liked Ian as a nickname (which I also like), however we heard it is considered very dated for a baby in the UK and in Greece I think he might either get bullied for it or it would naturally default to Yannis (which is an ok name but we aren’t super keen on it). We have since been debating adding another name (which might become the new first or middle name), which will fare well in both countries. DH initially suggested I add a family name from my side. My grandfather’s (and brother’s) name is Alexander, which I really like and is a name that I think he could use seamlessly in both countries. However, DH wants the baby to be called with some form of Ioannis and we couldn’t combine it with Alexander. He says he wouldn’t like calling him Alexander/Alex. My in-laws would also not take the news well. I have proposed other non-family names (e.g. Lucas, Markus) but he always raises this kind of argument. I moved to the UK as a 22 year old and although I really like my name (it’s the Greek equivalent of Catherine), I’m tired of having it constantly mispronounced/people not knowing how to say it and didn’t want the same for my son. On the other hand, my DH who is usually very laid-back has been uncharacteristically insistent about Ioannis not disappearing from the kid’s daily life and I worry that he will harbour resentment if the other name ends up being the default everyday name. We may also return to Greece in the next couple of years (so his family would argue that the addition of another name is pointless), but this is not 100% certain and I would like my son to have options in the UK too. At the moment we mainly call our son ‘bubba’ etc. but I think he should transition to a real name soon. We are now running out of time as we need to issue his British passport urgently and then travel for summer and I’m really stressed about this issue.. :/ Could you let me know your thoughts? Any words of advice would be appreciated. Also, how do you think the name Yannis would fare in the UK if used as a nickname? Thank you.

I don’t think it’s that difficult to say!
Help people with the pronunciation, they will get it!
I know a yanni which I love.

Don't change it. I have a Greek name that people struggle with and I use a shortened version of it day to day. I was named after my grandmother and I'm proud to carry the name.

I agree - it’s also ( as you clearly know ) disrespectful to your FIL and DH to change the name . Has your son been baptised ?

Our grandson’s ( Greek ) name was a bit of a tongue - twister initially for us and our UK family , but repeat it often enough and it becomes second nature very quickly .
I’m glad DD and her DH chose to follow tradition.
There isn’t a saint with my name , so granddaughter has the nearest equivalent which is a very popular one.
I think your own name sounds much nicer pronounced in the Greek way too.
Were you named after your grandmother ?

Thanks for your response. I was named after my grandmother too. My son hasn’t been baptised yet. If a second name is added, he would be baptised with both names. I see your point. The unfortunate part is that I always got along well with my in-laws until my son was born. We stayed at their house during postpartum and MIL treated me unkindly. I’m wondering whether there is an emotional part to me not being that attached to the name now in addition to the practicality point… :/

@Katinwanderland - aaaah, that must have been very difficult , especially so soon after your son’s birth. Could well be a contributing factor .
Was your FIL kind, though ? - as it seems a shame not to honour him through your little one’s name.
Thankfully, we couldn’t have wished for a better son in law , and his parents and family feel the same about our DD.
It’s give and take, from both sides - honouring traditions, respecting boundaries and learning from each others cultures.

I wouldn't change it. If people struggle with Ioannis they'll struggle with lots of other names.
Isn't it 'Yo-AH-nis'? Like Johannes but in Greek?

How are you in yourself generally?

I worked in a school with children from all over the world, and noone ever had any problems with names from other countries. If you must anglicise it, I see nothing wrong with Ian - it's probably due a comeback!

If you must anglicise it, I see nothing wrong with Ian - it's probably due a comeback! I can't see anything right with it.

Yes, it was very difficult especially as it came as a complete surprise. Even tried to sabotage my breastfeeding.. So when I heard her being triumphant about the name it did irk me. Equally if the name was globally understood and liked (e.g. like Alex), I think I wouldn’t have minded. FIL is nice generally.
That’s great to hear about your son in law and I completely agree-it’s give and take.

Thanks for asking-I’m doing much better now as I struggled with lack of support network and milk supply issues in the early postpartum period.

It is actually pronounced Ee-oh-a-nnes. I think it is a sound English speakers are not accustomed to so I think it’s genuinely very difficult for them to pronounce correctly and worried about the impact it will have on my boy to hear his name constantly mispronounced. On the contrary, I think everyone would recognise and pronounce Alexander/Alex correctly.

Thanks for sharing your view. I like Ian but I think even if it fared in the UK (even though people keep telling me it’s a weird choice for a baby name), in Greece it would automatically default to Yannis.

Op I think you should stick with his actual beautiful name and just teach everyone to use it properly. Yes there will be some miss pronouncing but it is a lovely name and a link to important heritage.

Maybe Alexandros for the next one, @Katinwanderland ?? xx
Hope everything works out for you .

I know a Ioannis and nobody struggles with his name. I think either than or Yannis is completely fine and both are much nicer than Ian.

I think people who saw your child regularly would soon learn to pronounce Ioannis and I can’t see any issue with Yannis at all.

Both are better than Ian.

If you wanted a shorter abbreviated name you could use Yan?

Agree with this.
Dd is a student at a uni with a high number of foreign students from all over the world. Almost all of her friends are not British, nobody seems to have a problem with names, the exception being that the Chinese students tend to have chosen an English name to go by before they start, as the assumption is that their names can be particularly tricky (possibly as tone matters?).

It is actually pronounced Ee-oh-a-nnes. 4 syllables? I'd finf the ee-oh hard unless they run into each other. (like the Yo sound in Yoga or Giorgos)

Ian's not a bad name but it's the name of a man who's at least 50 years old and probably quite a bit older than that.

You could shorten to Ioan (YOH-ann) like Ioan Gruffudd - Wikipedia. The actor is 52 but the name is current.

Yannis is lovely.

Thank you, all the best to you and your family too. :)

Yes, it is 4 syllables (with Ee-oh), not like Yoga/Giorgos, which I think is what makes it tricky to pronounce… so sounding slightly different to Ioan I think…

Ee-oh-AHN-is. It's a bit long. Yannis easier. Alexander is just as long though.

I think Yianis however you Anglicise it is a great name with your heritage. Easy to say.
Easy to abbreviate in the UK. Ian works if he wants later in life (it's the same original root). Respectful to his Greek heritage too.

If it's tradition to give him fils name it would have caused some issues not to use it. Using it for twelve months and then changing it would really feel like a kick in the face to a man you say is generally nice. I really think it's too late to change it.

Yannis is lovely by the way and I can't see an issue with adding Alexander as a middle name. It gives him options when he's older.

Yannis would be fine in the UK.

Ian is very much a middle aged man's name, which doesn't mean you can't use it, but it does very much conjure up the image of a man in his sixties rather than a baby or little boy or teenager.

Alexander is much more international and would work very well in the UK.

Thanks for your message. To clarify, we haven’t been calling him Ioannis/Yannis yet. Indeed it would be strange to change it if we had been calling him that for almost 12 months. When MIL tried to refer to him as Yannis we told her we don’t know what his everyday name will be yet.

Thanks for your message and insight.