Ski Devil

I've been wondering recently what would be some nice Spanish names to call our children when they are born (not even pregnant yet....just planning ahead!!). My OH is Spanish and I am English.

I have to say I find most Spanish names a bit ugly....especially some of the more religious ones.....Dolores, Angustias, Concepción, Inmaculada. On top of that I have to think of some names that would work in English too. What do I mean by that? Well, the English grandmother would never be able to cope with difficult pronunciations like....Juan, Jorje, José, Javier, Alejandra.

I also don't like names that are too common. Shout "Maria" in a public place and half the room will turn to look at you!

So what Spanish names do you like that would be easy to pronounce in English too?

My feeble atempts so far are coming up with Matias for a boy (but I'm not crazy about it) and absolutely nothing for a girl!

scampicat

I like most Spanish names, especially the women's.

Some English friends have a baby girl called Isabel. Works in both languages.

Nice name too!

fionamw

Girl: Emiliani, Natalia
Boy: Francisco, Manolo

crispy

Came across this name on Tuesday in my bank, the young lady that helped me was called "Ainhoa" pronounced as "Inoa - I no a" I think it looks good as well as sounding great. If you google there are plenty two links below to start you off.

http://www.babynames.org.uk/spanish-boy-baby-names.htm



http://www.babynology.com/spanish_babynames.html

Also like Alba which can be used for a girl or a boy.

Ski Devil

Isabel is nice, but my friend has just called her baby girl Isabel so that kind of rules it out as a possibility.

Emilia/Emiliana - some possibilities there. I like these and they aren't too common either.

Natalia is also a nice name.....can't stop thinking of the pop singer though.

Franciso and Manolo I don't like though. Francisco/Paco is too common and Manolo/Manuel....I just can't get Fawlty Towers out of my head!

Hillybilly

Boy: Gabriel, Rafael, Tobias
Girl: Laura, Olivia, Vanesa

jjh

My Spanish neighbours are called Angela (the mother) and Jessica (the daughter) using the Spanish pronunciation of the g in Angela and the j in Jessica. Marilou is one of the sisters. On the other side the lady is called Anna.

Antonio is a lovely name for a boy as is Roberto

Lorna at Vicenza

Not in Spain, in Italy but had the same thoughts about my kids - wanted something that worked both ways and was easy to pronounce in both languages.

Ended up with Chloe and Alex.
I knew Chloe was fairly popular in the UK but for some reason that Greek name never got to Italy and Chloe loves not being a typical Maria, Sara, Martina etc.

Fortaleza

Tradition says that if it's a boy, he is normally named after his father. Girls usually after the mother but often with a touch of the father (probably not the best expression!!!) - ie María José

Some names that work well in English (not entirely sure why this is a factor, but anyway) Benjamin, Daniel, Jonathan, David, Iván, Nicolás, Tomás, Victor for guys, Ana, Lucia, Carmen, Cristina, Carolina, Alicia, Daniela, Erica, Nicola, Ruth, Tamara, Victoria, Carla, Claudia, Rita, Raquel, Sara



As for Alba being used as a boys name, I've never encountered a boy with that name because everyone I know considers Alba to be a girls name. I suspect that Crispy may have heard an Alberto referred to in the shortened version of Alber, which sounds similar to Alba

kaff99

I like Mateo / Matteo for a boy, Marisa and Maia / Maya for a girl.

Fortaleza

You should be careful with names like Marilu or Marisa or Marisol as these are not the correct names, and would likely be corrected by the matron when registering the name.

Marilu is Maria Lucia or Maria Luisa

Marisa is (I think) Maria Luisa

Marisol is Maria de Sol

As a general rule of thumb names beginning Mari-are usually a compound name of Maria plus other name.

Also you may find that your friends that you know as Lucia, or Elena, or Sara are probably Maria Lucia, Maria Elena and Maria Sara!!!!!!!!

The same for men - Fernando, or Manuel or Francisco are probably José Fernando, or José Manuel or José Francisco.

So basically if you call your child either María or José you'll fit in just fine!!!!

marisol

Marisol comes from Maria de la Soledad (like loneliness in English) as Fortaleza have said (maria and ....). I dont like this name although its mine, not Soledad (that by the way, i like it above all its meaning) but marisol. A lot of "chiringuitos" (refreshment stalls) and hairdresser's are named "marisol", but it was the way my family started calling me
You also have to think that the name is followed by the second name, for instance "Esther" and second name "Colero", or "Lesbia" and second name "Navarro" and so on
I like the names from the pais vasco and i like, also, Africa and Valle for girls
marisol

livit

You could try lookin closer into Spain and use names from the many regions.

You could try say the Basque one for a girl thats Zurine, which can be shortened to Zuri and pronounced the same as Tom Cruises daughter Suri, the Z being S sounding.In Basque it means White, but better than using the Spanish name Blanca.

Or for a boy Inaki.

Catalan names are also very unusual but pretty.

marisol

Inaki is Iñaki, isnt it? you mustnt have "ñ" in your keyboard
I also like the names you have said. I had never heared this name "Zurine" and its beautiful.

crispy

Forty I have to admit I have only heard Alba being used for a girl but in the first link I gave in my post it gives Alba under boys names., so if people were looking at the web site for help they would be very much mistaken if what you say is correct.

To be honest any name in any country can be used for either a boy or a girl just depends on the parents take of it really.