If no one can pronounce your name, you’re not going to be happy with it … No one likes having to correct everybody, constantly, on how to greet them
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__siru__@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks agoJust my personal opinion, but your name should be something you feel happy with and should not depend on whether it will be easily pronouncable by others. Different names will be vastly more easy/more difficult to pronounce in different places if the child ever moves to a foreign country, so this is kind of unpredictable to begin with.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
blarghly@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Right, but outside some edge cases, what is going to make you happy about a name is (1) not having to correct everyone about pronunciation/spelling constantly (2) not constantly being confused with someone else. Sure, if you are Indian and move to Argentina, you’ll run into the first problem anyway - but at least it won’t be a constant problem in your childhood.
But it you are naming a person, the name should be common enough that everyone knows how to say it and spell it (in the top 200 or so baby names), but not so common that they will be confused with their peers (not the top 10).
Bgugi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s true, but children are like little predators waiting for anything to make your life miserable. The first time a teacher stumbles on your name, that’s your entire identity for YEARS. How happy are you going to be with your name after that?
MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Just my opinion, but your name is exclusively a label for other people to call you. If you don’t like it, you can literally ask to be called anything else, but how other people will be able to pronounce it or not should be at least some small percentage of the thought process. Especially considering that children can’t pick their own names when they’re born
__siru__@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
That actually seems very sensible. I was thinking about it from the standpoint of me and my own name, and not like OP needs for a child. For a child a standard name might be a better option so that it does not incure bullying etc. and the child can always choose to change their name, based on their own preferences, when they are older.
MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
I mean, that’s just how I see it. Not disparaging anybody for their name or child’s name. Like, my parents named me Michael, and I happen to like it. But if I didn’t I would change it in a heartbeat (officially or not, it doesn’t really matter to me).