Hi Duana! A friend knows I'm struggling with girl names and referred me to your name page so wanted to run my situation past you. I'm Persian and my husband is Bosnian (like, his parents don't speak any English!). We have an almost 3 yr old son named Roman because we loved it, and it was a name that both sets of grandparents could pronounce correctly, haha! So now we are on the hunt for a baby girl name. Looking for something like Roman...familiar but not common, pronounced correctly by both cultures. I like 2 syllable names because our last name is 1 syllable. The two names that we are currently connecting with are Zara and Mila. Would love more suggestions from you - so ready to know what we are going to call this little bugaboo.
Thanks!!
H
___
Hi H, Hi unnamed baby girl! Hi Roman, whose name sets the standard for his sister’s!
I hear you on all the pronunciation issues, I really do. But part of your problem in particular is that Roman is stylish and unusual so I would love to do the same for your daughter. I thought first about Anna, but while it’s pretty, it’s kind of ground zero for “works in a lot of cultures”. So what about Asa? Two syllables, but still short, and a nice pair with her brother. Roman and Asa. Asa and Roman. Too short? Too austere? How about Linnea? Linnea and Roman? I have to go back to short to suggest Eva. I hate myself for it, because there are so many Evelyns and Avas right now, but come on, Eeeeva is beautiful with Roman.
But enough. Maybe you don’t want something that could possibly be conceived of as popular. Well then let’s get you ahead of the curve – Freya? How about Elke? I heard through the grapevine that Petra did not pass muster, but that was a few months ago. Are you interested in trying again?
The fact that your name is H got me thinking about H baby names. There aren’t a lot, and Hannah is of course another “crosses all cultures” name – obviously, since it’s basically Anna with some decoration. But – what about Hera? No, I’m not joking. It kind of goes with Roman in a bigger, more in-joke way, without being silly. No?
Lila. Enid? Clara? Iris. Nina? And to round things out, because I love it and I think it will work, and because we get a fair number of letter writers who think we are the same person, how about Sasha? Seriously, Sasha and Roman. Wouldn’t that be lovely and probably easy for everyone to say?
Oh – and there’s not a thing wrong with either Zara or Mila, though I know a couple of Milas who are between 3 and 6 right now. But let’s be honest, if you thought either of them was perfect, you wouldn’t have written the letter. Am I right?
Let me know!
