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Original poster

How would you spell this baby girl name in English?

26 replies

ai38 · 01/12/2023 23:56

DH and I come from different countries and none of us are native English speakers. The name we have chosen for our baby girl is common in both of our languages but we are not sure what's the best spelling for this in English so that it's pronounced as close to the original as possible.

What spelling would suggest for a girl's name that is pronounced like "John-ah".

So far we have thought of:

Jana
Jaana
Janna
Jaanaa

Any recommendations? or any of these spellings that we should avoid?

Is there a spelling that suggests the "j" in this name should be pronounced "j" and not "y"?

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TheLastPictureShow · 02/12/2023 00:04

Jona
Jonna
Johna

BoohooWoohoo · 02/12/2023 00:08

Jonah is a well known boys name from the bible. Joe-nah. It’s very close to John-ah which might be annoying for you?

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 02/12/2023 00:09

I have never heard of a a girls name pronounced 'John-na' in English. I would think it was more likely to be pronounced 'Jo-na' or 'Joan-a'
if you specifically want 'John-na' then I think either chose a spelling which is correct in your own language and be prepared to tell and correct people repeatedly about how to pronounce it... or choose 'Johna' or 'Jonna' as suggested above. 'Jona' I still think would be pronounced as 'Joana/Jonah' unless you tell people how you want it to be pronounced.

saraclara · 02/12/2023 00:10

I know a Jonnah (not English) which makes phonic sense here too. But Jonna would also work. And both would definitely start with a J sound, not a y. J names always do in English.

Batinhernightdress · 02/12/2023 00:10

How is it spelt in your native language?

Your suggestions make me say Jan Ah, not John- ah

randomstress · 02/12/2023 00:11

BoohooWoohoo · 02/12/2023 00:08

Jonah is a well known boys name from the bible. Joe-nah. It’s very close to John-ah which might be annoying for you?

This was my first thought as well.
I think it is going to sound like a very old fashioned male biblical name, tale in the UK.

Batinhernightdress · 02/12/2023 00:12

Is it like Joanna/Johanna

CesareBorgia · 02/12/2023 00:14

Might be worth asking MNHQ to move this to the 'baby names' topic, OP.

watcherintherye · 02/12/2023 00:14

I think Joanna/Johanna is the English name with the closest pronunciation to John-ah.

watcherintherye · 02/12/2023 00:15

X post!

OP posts:
Original poster
ai38 · 02/12/2023 00:18

@Batinhernightdress Our languages don't use latin alphabet.

OP posts:
ODFOx · 02/12/2023 00:18

Then spell it Jaana, as that makes perfect sense phonetically.
Beautiful name, by the way. Congratulations!

Headband · 02/12/2023 00:22

Jaana or Jahna

Original poster
ai38 · 02/12/2023 00:26

@BoohooWoohoo & @randomstress Do you think the pronunciation below brings to mind the male name you were referring to?

The name we have in mind has long /a/ sound in both syllables. Sorry if my original post was a bit confusing.

OP posts:
Lucked · 02/12/2023 00:30

Regarding Jaana/Jonah similarities there may be regional dialect differences. I’m Scottish and they aren’t similar when I say them, others from elsewhere might want to weigh in.

SamphireAndSalmon · 02/12/2023 00:31

I'd say the closest girl's name in English is Joanna.

SamphireAndSalmon · 02/12/2023 00:32

You could just use Jaana anyway. It's easy to say.

SamphireAndSalmon · 02/12/2023 00:33

Jonah is a boy's name in English.
Joanie is a cute girl's name.

Goodornot · 02/12/2023 00:34

Just spell it Jaana.

randomstress · 02/12/2023 00:37

I think with a a long A and no H sound it would be fine.
So Jaana and not Jonah.
But I'm just one person and the most important thing is that you like the name you have chosen.

YaraRocks · 02/12/2023 00:40

I have a relative named Jannah (means paradise in Arabic). No one has any issues pronouncing her name though she hates it when people drop the h in spelling or shorten her name to Jan.

fridaynight1 · 02/12/2023 00:46

I would just go with Jaana.

saraclara · 02/12/2023 01:06

No-one is going to pronounce it the way you do, however much they try. It just doesn't fit the sounds that our language makes. But I think the closest you'll get to that will be Jaana.

My FIL was Polish. He came here after the war, married my Yorkshire MIL, and when the babies started arriving, his main priority was to find English names that the Polish family could pronounce. But of course they still said them differently. The stresses were in different places, because that's how the Polish language works. Same as when I visit the Polish relatives. But I like the way they say my name!

Forgottenmypasswordagain · 02/12/2023 02:26

I only ever knew of one, she spelt it Jawna.