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Forum -> Pregnancy & Childbirth -> Baby Names
"ch" names in English
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etky




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 05 2017, 9:52 pm
I went with Hanna for my oldest DD.
My youngest however is Rachel.
The notion that non-Hebrew speakers would address them by standard English pronunciations of their names didn't bother me.
In any case since we live in Israel it wasn't such a crucial decision.
I just wanted to avoid "tshana" (as in Chana Masala Confused ) if I could.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 05 2017, 11:43 pm
tichellady wrote:
many of the Korean nurses I know have English names for work, not because their names are " unacceptable" but because they don't want to deal with constant confusion from patients, their families and the doctors about how to pronounce their names.


I'm working online with a Chinese company, and my sales rep is named Willow Zhong.

So far so good, right? Then someone else emailed me from the company, and I told them that I was working with Willow.

They said "Oh good. HE'S our manager." Apparently, Willow is a masculine name in China, or maybe they didn't know if it was a gendered name or not. I'm like "OK dude, whatever you say. Give my regards to Mr. Susan and Mr. Lucy while you're at it." LOL

Also, "Candy Dong" seems to be popular name for Chinese sales reps. I don't think they know that's a stripper name. Wink
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jun 06 2017, 3:07 am
acemom wrote:
If Olivier, Beyoncé, Jacques, José, Margeaux etc. etc. can become acceptable, how about Chaim, Simcha, Yitzchok, Ruchel, Chana and Yochanan?


Ouch. You put Beyoncé with classic names like Olivier, Jacques, José? MargAUX is an alternative spellling from Margot, inspired by a wine - and more out there. These names did not become acceptable. They are acceptable. You're just too American to know.

It is not a disservice to give a foreign name.

Yes, people in HK often given an English name. So did the previous generations but now people give what they want. As long as the name isn't made up or doesn't mean something awful in English, go for it.
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amother
Babyblue


 

Post Tue, Jun 06 2017, 3:15 am
My name is Rochel and as a kid I was very shy and self conscious and it was painful for me to have to constantly correct people. I remember friends laughing when strangers/new non jewish teachers or whoever would call me 'Rockel' and I really didn't find it all that funny, but embarrassing.
as I grew up I couldn't care less what people call me. I sometimes introduce myself as Rochelle or Rachel.
I am all for putting unusual Hebrew names on the birth certificate ... but so far I have never used a 'ch' name legally.
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cm




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jun 06 2017, 6:12 am
Ruchel wrote:
Ouch. You put Beyoncé with classic names like Olivier, Jacques, José? MargAUX is an alternative spellling from Margot, inspired by a wine - and more out there. These names did not become acceptable. They are acceptable. You're just too American to know.


Rolling Eyes

The OP specifically asked for responses from the US or other English-speaking countries.

In the US, there was a strong trend toward assimilation and using only American-sounding Anglicized names on birth certificates throughout the mid 20th century. Various ethnic groups have since pushed back against this expectation, including Jews, to one degree or another, and in different ways. It can be hard to predict what the experience will be like for a person with a legal name that is unusual to the mainstream American eye, and parents worry about making this decision. That's what this is about.

Personally, I would not group all English-speaking countries together. Naming conventions vary tremendously from one culture to another, even within the same language.
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cozyblanket




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jun 06 2017, 6:26 am
dancingqueen wrote:
My honest opinion is that it's a disservice to your kid to give them a "ch" name as their legal name, in America at least.


Anglesizing Channah to Hanna is one thing. But those are the easy names. What about the ones that anglesizing doesn't make it common? Like Nechama. Writing Nehama won't make it any more familiar to any customer service rep.

I like my kids to be proud of their names the way they are. We just accept is as a fact of life that we have to spell it out for new people (as in on the phone). Just like we have to do for our last name. No one would suggest we change that!

And when they grow up and have coworkers: After a few days, they will get it - mostly- and it will become normal. I have plenty of coworkers and students names that are new to me for a bit and then I just get used to them!! I doubt they ever thought to have a more common legal name.

OP, there are lots of opinions. Do what feels best to you, either way.
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acemom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jun 06 2017, 7:38 am
Ruchel wrote:
Ouch. You put Beyoncé with classic names like Olivier, Jacques, José? MargAUX is an alternative spellling from Margot, inspired by a wine - and more out there. These names did not become acceptable. They are acceptable. You're just too American to know.



I'm sorry. I didn't intend to offend anyone with a those names. I just wanted to point out that those were names that are trickier to pronounce or are more complicated to spell than how they sound.
(I had more examples typed up but my whole post got deleted by mistake before submitting.)
BTW, the second and third one are of French origin, even if they have become more common. I'm American, so they still sound foreign to me.

People used to choose Anglo sounding names or names similar to common ones used in their country of residence. Nowadays we have all these ethnic sounding names in every country almost, so why should we feel inclined to "secularize" our names just because?

If you feel you have valid reasons go ahead.... I was just adding my two cents.
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dancingqueen




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jun 06 2017, 7:44 am
Note: I didn't say you shouldn't give your kids a Hebrew name, go for it. But "ch" is a sound that most native English speakers cannot say so your kid is going to spend a lifetime correcting people who cannot pronounce their name through no fault of their own.
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shanie5




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 08 2017, 7:02 pm
I have 3 children with ch in their legal names. But the name non-jews always had the hardest time with was not one of those. Try Yirmiyahu. It doesn't take a ch name to make it tough on people. But they learn, or we give them their nicknames to use.
My kids are all proud of their names!
AS for me, I am Shanie. And very often its pronounced (and spelled too) as Shawnee. So what?
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