Foreign Name Pronounciation Issues

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-10-2004
Foreign Name Pronounciation Issues
2
Wed, 11-10-2004 - 5:46pm
Does anyone out there have a foreign name and use the foreign pronounciation? Is your name always misspelled and mispronounced?

One of the names I am considering is Liliana (lili ahnah). I foresee tons of mispellings and mispronounciations - frequently correcting people and spelling for people. I really do not like the pronounciation of (Lili Annuh) IMO LOL - it's not correct and that really bothers me. I also don't want her to call herself Lily because of the constant mispronounciations and misspellings or others to automatically call her Lily because it's easier for them to say (which I know people do). By the way, we do not live in a multi-cultural area.

Am I wrong in feeling this way?

Also, any ideas on foreign flare names (easily pronounced and spelled). I have

Isabella (5), Jason (3 1/2), Harrison (2) and Baby #4 -girl. We do not use nicknames and do not encourage the kids to also.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-10-2004
Fri, 11-19-2004 - 10:05pm
Opinions, responses would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-15-2004
Sat, 11-20-2004 - 12:33am

I don't think it's wrong to want people to pronounce you child's name correctly. But if you're worried people will constantly pronounce it the wrong way and it's very important to you that they do, maybe it isn't the right name to choose.

DH and I didn't want our children to have to constantly correct the pronunciation of their name, so we chose a simple name that isn't likely to be pronounced wrong - Anna. Although, since I'm of German decent I have cousins with a daughter name Anna (Ah-na) and that side of my family had to make sure whether or not we were using the German or American pronunciation. So, I guess it was a pain at first. Otherwise, I don't think she'll have to correct too many people while she grows up.

I do understand you wanting your daughter to be called by her given name. DH liked the name Elizabeth, but I knew everyone would shorten it to Liz, and for that reason I opposed that name. So, if you feel strongly about the name being pronounced correctly and not shortened, maybe look for other names. But if you LOVE "Liliana" then use it and deal with the mistakes of others.

Megan