Tell me your thoughts on Leda?

[RubiMama]

Pronounced Lea-'the' as opposed to leader!
It is DH's ONLY suggestion apart from Eva which I also like but I'm trying to get him to see it's getting too popular. Also umming over Nina and Rosa. All chosen becasue they can be easily pronounced by Greeks and English, DD wll be half Greek. Any thoughts?

I love Leda, but the way it's pronounced in Greek, not English. I'm pregant now, still don't know the sex, and we're having the same difficulties as you namewise, as DC will be half-Greek too.

Maya is lovely, but that will forever be associated in Greek with Maya the Bee (apparently a very popular cartoon).

Having said that, there are loads of Greek girl's names that are lovely:

Melissa
Athena
Thea
Cleo
Thalia
Helena
Amalia
Eleonora

Now, boy's names are a whole different story...

What about:

Stella
Carla
Serena

Nina ans Rosa both gorgeous, also like Thea but definitely not Leda (swans)

if you want something unusual and greek what about lalage pronounced la-la-gi. m,y greek is a bit rusty but think it is laughing but usually used for running water - babbling brook equiv.

Cara
Sara
But i don't think these are Greek

I like Nina and Rosa BTW. Agree with scottishmummy. Call her Leah instead (that's nice)

ok will probably get criticised, but howabout my mn name? She was Roman, not Greek, but a brave heroine all the same. I think it is a fab name with brilliantly positive female associations

christiana is nice

Love Leda, it's gorgeous.

The "raped by a swan" thing wouldn't put me off at all.

I even like it pronounced Lee-da (to my non-English eyes, there is no way that it should be pronounced with an R at the end).

Beautiful.

No way, how about my MN name??

Thanks for the feedback!
I love Stella, but DH says in Greek it reminds him of a nosy middle aged woman with who wears loads of make up, and having lived over here, I see his point. I'll never win him over on that one. I also really like Carla but DH reckons it's a mouthful for him to say because he has to roll the r, although I think it sounds lovely with his accent.
I like Cleo too, but can't get over the car image. Athena, is a no go, I don't want to be reminded forever of the years I've had to live in Athens!

Ooh it's exciting you're in same boat sayanything, totally agree about the boy's names. DS doesn't have a Greek name and all the Greeks have got used to it. The only one I liked was Marco which is way too similar to our surname, and DH's fav was Alki which I also loved but imagine living with that in England! So I'm intrigued, what's on you list?

PMSL @ a child in England called Alki

I always associate Maya with Maya the Bee too and I'm not Greek.

Alki wouldnt work well in scotland either.much derision about that

Thanks Skidoodle! I do think it sounds lovely but this thread has made me realise the spelling is the issue. I don't want her to go through life explaining to people how to pronounce her name.
Talking of which, Cloelia, how do you pronounce it?

Our plight is complicated further by the fact that we live in Belgium, RubiMama, so we also need something vaguely pronounceable in French.

For a boy, the only names we can agree on are Nicholas and Alexander, but just about everyone we know in the same position has an Alexander. DH's brother is called Marcos, so that's out too.

For a girl, my current favourite is Emilia Clementine (pronounced Klee-men-TEE-nee in Greek), but the ones I mentioned above are also on our list.

Oh well, still have a way to go before we decide. Although in Belgium you have to register a child's name within 3 days of his/her birth, otherwise they register him/her with the most popular name for the year in your district!

Really? That's hilarious!I know lots of little Alex's and Alexandra's here too. DH also liked Nikolas even though it's his brother's and my dads name. I love your girl choice. What about Emilio for a boy? Technically the Greeks do have it but it's rare: our grocer here is called Aimilio, it was my one concession to greek boy names if DC2 was gonna be a DS.
Then of course, there are my other favourites, Panos, Spyros, Stelios and I know an Englishman married to a greek who called his son Praxitelis after his FIL!

I'll vote for Una again, RubiMama .

I love the Czech name Lida (pr LEE-da) -- name comes from Lydia.

I love Lydia - can't believe I forgot to mention . it

you asked how to pronounce it, clo-ee-lee-a.

Thanks people. I think Leda is resolutely struck off. Rosa, Nina, or Una it is. Cloelia, really nice and unusual but too pretty pretty for me.

Rosa and Nina are nice. Una is ok but I prefer the Irish version Oona, or Oonagh (nickname Oonie), think the 'Oo' sound sounds nicer than 'You'.

If Cloelia is too 'pretty-pretty', what about Clea (I'd pronounce it as Clay-ah, rather than Clee-ah; iyswim)?

Also like Rosa and Nina (though Nina is normally an abbreviation isn't it? At least, it is in Italian: Giovanna > Giovannina > Nina).

Not so keen on Una (think PerUna?).

Other ideas...
Alethea? (My HV was called this!)
Sophia?
Cassandra?
Phoebe?
Cressida? (One of my favourite names)
Rhea?
Nerissa?
Xanthe?

That's interesting about Maya (both the Bee and the midwife ). Seems to mean lots of different things, including 'illusion' - and she's definitely not that!

Good luck with the new dd, RubiMama - and a very useful thread in case we have another dd, as I like lots of these names.

Ooh I like Phoebe - actually most of TotallyUnheardOf's suggestions are really good.

Naida is nice - it means water nymph.

I was going to suggest Xanthe too

How about Leta? Rhymes with Rita

makes me think of Melanie and Uncle Disgusting in Magic Toyshop 'gilded beak sinking into soft neck' and all that, ugh

but is actually a lovely name isn't it?

I think the swan association would put me off. Have you ever read Leds and the Swan (WB Yeats).