English name for Bruchy

dancingqueen

Mon, Aug 06 2018, 9:58 pm

zaq wrote:

Mazal tov!
The”correct” spelling would be Brachah though most people spell it Bracha. “Bruchie” is a nickname. End it with a Y or IE, makes no difference. But be aware that it’s a nickname.

There is no English equivalent unless you want to call her Benedicta, Benedetta, Bendiga, Benecia or Beata, which are not English. There is no legal requirement for a secular name if you live in the US, and ethnic names are much more accepted now than half a century ago. If you are chassidish or yeshivish and intend to live forever in an insular community, there is zero reason to give your dd a name she will never use.

If you are more modern and worry about your dd going out in the world with a name the world can’t pronounce, the usual solution is to use either a name that sounds similar or starts with the same letter, e.g. Barbara, or someone else’s name that is the same in Hebrew and English but had nothing to do with the Hebrew name. Many people do this if they want to name after more than one person, each of whom has a double name, e.g. Hebrew name in Bracha Zilpah and English name is Hannah Rachel.

You can not give an English name, but most Americans cannot pronounce a “chaf” and will pronounce her name Bratcha, and she’ll have to correct them...

I’ve seen ppl put Braha as the legal name this way ppl won’t mispronounce the name as Bratcha.

amother

Mistyrose

Mon, Aug 06 2018, 10:04 pm

amother wrote:

It’s funny. I have an unpronounceable name as well, and I feel that I am just as entitled as anyone else to be called by my ethnic name. Why do Indians and Africans and Middle Eastern people not change their names to sound more American? Because they’re proud of who they are and what their name represents, and so am I.

You are entitled as anyone else to be called by whatever name you like. I personally don't like attention drawn to me so it was embarrassing for me. I don't like people looking at me. I prefer situations that don't draw attention to myself.

I also have plenty of friends from foreign countries who changed their name when they became a US citizen. All of my foreign friends named their own American kids pronouncable names. Also there are plenty of Jewish names that are easily pronounceable by the average US person. Miriam, Esther, Naomi, Sarah, Aliza, Devorah, the list goes on and on.

Chet is not in the Western English vocabulary. No one is going to properly pronounce that name or bring any glory to it. They will mangle it. If you are happy to constantly correct people when they say your name, good on you. I would never impose that on anyone else, much less my own child. I'm trying to offer this perspective to the OP to save the kid from my experience, that's all.

salt

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 1:11 am

Iymnok wrote:

DD's name is spelled Brocha. It’s a non-English name, so you could spell it however you want. We used the O to pronounce the komatz under the reish. An A gives it a patach sound.

Just wondering why you don't pronounce the kamatz that is under the chaf as O as well?
ie. should be Brocho.

Iymnok

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 2:01 am

salt wrote:

Just wondering why you don't pronounce the kamatz that is under the chaf as O as well?
ie. should be Brocho.

The final H is naturally pronounced right, with an O it would be pronounced as "oh". With the first an O, both vowels are pronounced as "uh". With two A's, it an "ah" then an "uh".

amother

Denim

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 2:12 am

amother wrote:

Chet is not in the Western English vocabulary. No one is going to properly pronounce that name or bring any glory to it. They will mangle it. If you are happy to constantly correct people when they say your name, good on you. I would never impose that on anyone else, much less my own child. I'm trying to offer this perspective to the OP to save the kid from my experience, that's all.

The only people who qualify as the "no one" who can pronounce my name properly are strangers. So who cares if they can pronounce it or not? Anyone who cares about me, Jewish or not, has figured out how to passably pronounce my name, even if they can't quite do the Ches. I think it's odd to name your child based on how easy it is for strangers to say.

amother

Blonde

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 5:14 am

If Americans can pronounce Bach and loch they can pronounce Bracha. And if people in America can name their kids Diksha and Poonam and Taslima and Samayita, then we can name our kids Bracha and Chaya and Malka and Nechama.

But if you really want an English name, I think Brooke makes the most sense. Don't use Brenda or Barbara, they're old-fashioned.

Woman of Valor

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 6:18 am

There is no such thing as an English spelling, because Bruchy is a Hebrew word, so you spell it as you choose. However, you'll want to keep in mind that the most common spelling is typically the one to go for, because children who have uncommon spelling may:

1) have more difficulty acquiring literacy skills
2) have self-esteem issues even if subtle (constantly seeing their name spelled wrong, feeling different)
3) constantly have to correct people which is awkward and annoying

so, your question should really be which spelling is most common.

Ruchel

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 6:24 am

WindowMagic wrote:

ROFL on 1 and 2. Come see my kids. 3, ok. But again, some prefer this to a civil name, while others don't.

Woman of Valor

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 6:30 am

Ruchel wrote:

ROFL on 1 and 2. Come see my kids. 3, ok. But again, some prefer this to a civil name, while others don't.

You just gave yourself away Ruchel - now we know you aren't a teacher and are closer to knowing your true identity Wink

I am just teasing Smile

Either way this is based on research that I read a while ago, not just me making stuff up. But every parent has a right to make these choices. They should just realize that choices have consequences.

amother

Mistyrose

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 8:35 am

amother wrote:

And I think that if a parent cares about their child, they SHOULD consider how weird the name is in their community. The birth certificate name is the legal name, not the halachic real name. Their daughter's real name will be Bracha anyway. The birth certificate (legal) name is not going to be used or read by the people who can already say Bracha. It will be used for legal and professional transactions. They can name their kid whatever they want but they should be aware that they are creating repercussions for their daughter. She may not enjoy having to correct people whenever conducting business transactions. She may not appreciate being called Bratch-ee. I also don't understand why a parent prefer that their kid be called "Bratch-ee" than "Brooke", but I'm not here to judge. As I keep saying, just sharing my experience. And studies have also shown that resume with more common names are more likely to get call-backs than resumes with very different names. These are all things to be aware of.

amother

Wine

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 8:52 am

amother wrote:

All of us come into contact with strangers at one time or another. Parents who give their kids hard-to-pronounce names are guaranteeing their children difficult interactions in the future.

I'm all in favor of proudly using Jewish names. Ideally, Jews should live in Israel, where Hebrew names are not problematic. If you choose to live among nonjews, I think it's only fair to give names that children can use in broader society.

amother

Slategray

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 9:09 am

amother wrote:

As someone who struggled for most of my life with an unpronounceable name: if you're raising your kid in an English speaking country, please give her a name that people can pronounce.

People who know your daughter will call her Brachie. People who don't and aren't Jewish, are not going to call her Brachie, no matter how you spell it on the birth certificate. They're going to pause before reading her name, get confused, call her Bratch-ee and Bratch-eye, Break-ee, Break-eye, etc. If she goes to college, this is going to cause embarrassment and unsolicited attention every time a professor does roll call.

I have friends and siblings who ended up changing their name to avoid embarrassment, which was a huge inconvenience.

Please save your daughter from what I had to go through. I'm not an attention seeker and I always hated all the attention I got every time someone tried to say my legal name.

I'm middle aged with an unpronounceable legal name. When I asked my American born parents, who did have legal names, why they didn't give us legal names, they said that it wasn't necessary to "pass" anymore. And once we had a President Barack Obama, that cleared up any vestiges of unease I might still have had. Yeah, he doesn't have the guttural sound but still.

zaq

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 9:44 am

I second the “nix-nicknames-on-birth-certificates” vote. Especially nicknames ending in a long E sound, which can sound childish. You may call you dc Brochie or Bruchie or Sneezy or Sleepy or Dopey, but when she’s twenty something and job hunting, or forty something and running for office, and trying to be taken seriously, she may not appreciate being stuck with a legal name that sounds like a six-year-old.

Lizzie4

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 11:08 am

zaq wrote:

Lol, its so funny you say that. I think so too but I think it depends on community norms.

For example, if I meet someone and ask what their baby's name is I would expect them to answer "Her name is Rivka Yenta", but we call her "Rivky" instead of just saying "Rivky". No, Rivky is not her name! It's just her nickname.

Or married woman who still refer to themselves as "Devora'la", "Chana'la"

Imo, it's weird, but I could see how it's normal for certain communities

amother

Red

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 1:37 pm

amother wrote:

You can do whatever you want.

I do know that by time we got to college, In Yong became Jennifer, and Liora became Lori. So people do often prefer American names.

PinkFridge

Tue, Aug 07 2018, 1:58 pm

amother wrote:

You can do whatever you want.

I do know that by time we got to college, In Yong became Jennifer, and Liora became Lori. So people do often prefer American names.

Maybe, but if you go to a school from k-12 where there are other Ruchis, Brachies, Chayas, etc., its not necessarily so.