Jana

[Icouldor]

How does everyone feel about the name Jana (jan-uh)? Unsure where and when I first heard it but I’ve been a bit obsessed with it lately. I can’t quite get DH to like it as much as I do. According to him, it sounds like the name of an uptight and serious woman. We already have a Margaret (which I think sounds much more serious).

I'd think of Jana Duggar from an infamous American fundie family and her birthday balloons which read as anal when backwards.

That would put me off but it's probably a niche reaction. I'd your husband needs persuasion it's probably not the right name.

Strong agree. Another example would be someone naming their very English son Jesus and using the hay-soos pronunciation. Although, I wouldn't recommend naming your child Jesus and using the English pronunciation either. 😅 It's a lovely name and pronunciation for a person from a Spanish-speaking country but would be a curious decision if you're not. The same applies to Jana pronounced Yana. With the exception of borrowed words, I can't think of any instance where the letter J is pronounced like a Y in English. If the argument is that the pronunciation of the name needs to be kept as authentic as possible then is OP also expected to put on a foreign accent every time she says her DD's name?

My daughter’s name. We pronounce it yana but my husband is Eastern European so all our children have names from his heritage. We all love it obviously. Names are so personal, go with the one that feels right for you.

Janet must be due a come back, or Jayne is pretty. Either would go better with Margaret, imo.
Jana would spend her life being asked about pronunciation, and would probably shorten it to Jan for an easier life. 🤷‍♀️

Yes this is how I’d pronounce it too, I’m from the North of the UK. I’d never heard it pronounced any other way. Didn’t those Duggars have a Jana?

It does seem an odd choice, as your other dd is Margaret.

I'd have thought either Hannah or Janet would be much more appropriate.

Because it makes you look seriously dim and unworldy to pick a name with a spelling which is not widely used in your country (unlike Jean, Thomas or Catherine for example which are common in the UK but have very different pronunciations internationally) then deliberately pronounce it wrongly. Esecially when there exist local versions (Jane, Janet, Joanna or even Jean). It's basically giving them a yoonique name with all the negative connotations.

I like Jana I've known 1 who said it like you want to say it and a baby called Janna said the same way (though that baby is in her mid 30s now)

Its a pretty name I prefer Jan-uh pronunciation to Ya-nah

Also think its much prettier than Jane or Janet

Jana is already a name that seems to have multiple potential/suspected origin sources (Hebrew, Slavic, Arabic, Persian, Roman mythology), multiple accepted spellings (Jana, Janna, Jannah, etc.), and multiple accepted pronunciations. I wouldn't say that jan-ah is an incorrect pronunciation, especially in the UK. The yah-nah pronunciation would be unconventional in the UK. It's only pronounced like that in Slavic countries because they pronounce the letter j as y in their languages (which isn't the case here). We wouldn't typically pronounce Janet as yah-net, for example. They do. It doesn't make anyone (on either side) dim and unworldly. It's simply a matter of differing countries/languages and preferences.

Gianna is nicer

Agree