I recently listed some of the most localized, unfamiliar names that make top-50 lists in other countries. Few of them are likely to capture the hearts of English-speaking parents. Some are unpronounceable, others simply unfashionable -- too many consonants, or unfortunate connotations (Dorka, Nimrod, Snorri, Odd). Still others are just local versions of familiar favorites, like the Hungarian Dzsenifer. But could some of them make the cross-cultural leap?
In response to the previous post, reader jayel40 wrote...
“What do you think the odds are of people adopting names from other countries and cultures? People love unusual names, but they seem to love unusual AMERICAN names. Take the name Zoran for example. It starts with a Z (very hip and cool), it's two syllables, and it ends with an N. It's also easy to pronounce and very distinctive. But is it too ethnic to join the wave of baby boy names in the US?”
I've gone back to the global rankings and unearthed half a dozen names for boys and girls that have never made the U.S. top 1000, but might have what it takes. See what you think:
GIRLS
Dagny (#66 in Iceland) An unmistakable Nordic classic, but with a sound like a trendy Irish surname.
Elodie (#22 in Quebec) A creative alternative for the Age of Emily, with the bona fides of an old Saint’s name.
Milena (#1 in Armenia) Milena is the feminine counterpart to Milan. It sounds familiar and natural, doesn’t it? But have you ever actually met a Milena? Hmmm.
Mirren (#126 in Scotland) This local form of Marian is a fast riser in Scotland. Some will hear it as an English surname thanks to actress Helen Mirren, but her family created the surname usage by anglicizing their Russian name. Dame Helen was born Ilyena Mironov.
Nika (#4 in Slovenia) Like its brother Niko, Nika is cute but strong. It stands fine on its own, but can also be short for Nikola or Veronika.
Orla (#53 in Ireland) The one cheat on the list, Orla did make the U.S. charts back in the 19th Century. That makes it both an antique and an undiscovered Celtic name. If you’re daring, spell it Orlaith or Orlagh.
BOYS
Armen (#10 in Armenia) Traditional and accessible, with clear Armenian heritage. Also consider Arman (#5 in Armenia) and Armin (#82 in Hungary), which have separate derivations.
Birk (#100 in Norway) A character name from Astrid Lindgren’s beloved adventure Ronia the Robber’s Daughter. Simple and masculine.
Callum (#7 in Scotland) Callum’s already a standard in England and Australia as well as Scotland, what’s holding Americans back?
Emerick (#136 in Quebec) The Breton-styled “-ick” sound is hot in Quebec: Cedric/Cedrick, Loic/Loick, Ludovic and Mederick also make the top 200.
Lander (#52 in Belgium) This one’ almost too easy. Landon meets Xander, right? It would fit in seamlessly. (OK, it’s also a form of Leandro.) Runner Up: Sander, which is hot in Estonia and Norway as well as Belgium.
Tian (#38 in Slovenia) Honestly, I don’t know a lot about this name. But in this land of Ian, Kian, Talan and Teagan, the sound alone should be enough.
Comments
Suddenly I feel foreign being a Canadian, especially since in my area (NCR) the name Elodie is EVERYWHERE. Every person I'm around who is pregnant, has been pregnant or is someday hoping to be pregnant has considered this name. This is including my SO who has a small fetish for French names and actually LIKES Elodie, instead of responding with a shrug or relative indifference. I admittedly don't know any little Elodies yet however given a few years I imagine that I'll know several.
Back closer to topic I have to say that I really like the name Orla but I'm not sure I would actually use it.
Stylistically I'd say name favourite names come from everywhere and a good portion are not used frequently in the US or in Canada:
Mattea - Italian var.
Esme - French
Anja - Russian var.
Freya - Scandinavian
Helena - Greek
Noam - Hebrew
Emmett - English
Colm - Irish
August - English
Great post!
Very timely for me as I met a little Milena (3) this week. I believe her parents are Spanish-speaking.
I knew an Armin (not sure of spelling) in college. I liked the name, and as it's similar to Eamonn is pronuncation I could see it gaining ground here.
I've picked Callum as a riser for a while now. I think once American parents tire of the -n ending, but not the overall sound, they'll turn to the near-miss 'm' ending. Liam is already fairly popular, at least in my area.
It's sort of hard for me to separate my attraction to the name Elodie from the fact that the only Elodie I've ever heard of is the gorgeous French actress Elodie Bouchez.
My dad is from France, so his whole side of the family is filled with lovely French names. Two of my cousins are Elodie and Malvina, both of which I've always found to be so beautiful!
I have a son named Lachlan - a name which isn't particularly common here in its native Scotland but is very very popular in Australia, where its frequently in the top 5, and fairly popular in New Zealand.
My friends in NYC just named their new daughter Orla!
I know an Elodie (3) a Dagny (30) a Callum (9) and a Milena (33)
Do you pronounce Elodie rhyming with Melody? or with a stress on the second syllable? El-O-die? I can't shake the feeling it should be El-o-die, even though I bet it's more like Melody.
Either way, it just seems a bit unfinished to me.
I LOVE Elodie and I think Emerick is not bad. And I DO know a Milena - she moved here from Poland a few years back. I always loved her name. She pronounces it Mil-AY-na.
love this post! from the girls' list, i think i like "nika" best. in my view, when going "exotic," i prefer to go cute. some of the others feel a little too sophisticated or pretentious for me. there's something about foreignness + sophistication that feels risky to me i think. i suppose elodie and orla are on the cute side too though.
from the boy's list, tian looks chinese to me, which i bet would be a turn off for some. i like emerick, but it sort of feels like it's missing something (like the "L" in limerick). love Lander and Sander.
I love, love, LOVE Elodie. the older I get, the more I love it. Tian is super cool. Looks like it could be a short form for any name than ends in -tian (Sabastian, Christian). I love Birk too. Never heard of Tian or Birk before, but I'd put both on my short list if I was having more kids. Mirren has a nice sound, but reminds me of the rice wine (Mirin). Probably would work better for those who don't know about that ingredient. ;)
if you wish to be really abstract with órla, you could use the really old spelling:
órfhlaith
Friends of mine just had a little girl and named her Miren! The dad is Basque and the mom is Jewish, and I guess the name "Miren" is both of those. I absolutely adore it!
The only Elodie I know of is also Elodie Bouchez!
I went to school with a Malayna, which I would imagine is a rough approximation pronunciation-wise to Milena, but otherwise I've never met anyone with any of these names.
I bet Orla gets a boost among a certain set because of the hip designer Orla Kiely. I think I like it, or rather, I do like it, but I'm not 100% sure I could use it.
Milena is ok for me, but it reminds me of one of my other name crushes, Mariska. There are few reasons I probably wouldn't actually use it, but oh I do love it. I think it's somehow adorable and sharp/smart at the same time, love the eastern European feel, and I find it so fun to say.
Mirren is a neat one--definitely feels more modern than Marian, and sounds familiar to me because of the Maren/Marins I've known.
Callum--I'm a big fan, but as I mentioned before, when I raised this one with DH, he said it "smells like soap." LOL. So there you have it, *that's* what's holding it back here.
Birk is also cool. Could make a good brother to the increasing numbers of Astrids and Annikas out there. I assume most Americans would pronounce it like "Burke", which makes it familiar and also (kinda) fit in with the surname trend.
Lander--not a big fan (although I like Landon), but I DO like Leander enough to use, I *think* (the meaning is good, but the Greek myth is bleak, if romantic). Since this is related to Leandro, I guess it's also related to Leander?
Reposting from last thread: On Noel--my dh's name is Noel, and gets called the wrong name ALL the time, something to think about when choosing a fairly unusual name like Noel.
Most often he gets called No-elle, but he also gets called Noah a lot, and sometimes Joel. In fact there are several people at our church that always call him Noah, even though he distinctly says NOELLLLL, they just don't get it.
He doesn't quite pronounce it No-uhl though, but it's not quite "Nole" either, somewhere in the middle...with 1 1/2 syllables! Kinda like how I pronounce Graham, not quite one, but not quite two either.
You lost me at Birk.
If Dirk were even worse...
anne with an e,
that story about your dad is hilarious! (though i'm sure it is quite frustrating in reality) i knew it wasn't a common name, but i guess i thought it was familiar enough that people wouldn't have trouble with it. how strange that they can't get it right even after being told several times. it's like joel except with an n! not so hard!
however, i suppose this is something to consider (though i am not having children anytime soon)
With the way the US government is changing right now, I wouldn't be surprised to see more Dagny's as an ode to Ayn Rand's character Dagny Taggart from Atlas Shrugged for daughters of politically conservative parents.
I was on baby center, looking at their online population name popularity for 2009 as a procrastination tactic: A total of 13785 girl names, only 10707 boys!! A difference of 3078 names!! Shows how versatile we (society) are in girls names (more spellings, crossover names, noun names) vs. boy names??
I LOVE Elodie. I know a Calum (yes, 1 l, he's half Irish, half Italian, and I always assumed it was an Irish name, it's sort of a combination of the Irish Colm and Scottish Callum) who's my age and a Sander a year older. I also like Nika, pronounced NEE-kuh I assume, like Nico/Niko. I also like Milena.
To Moonie: I know someone my age who's mn is August and an August a year younger than me. I also know an Emmett who's my age although I think he spells it Emett, I'm not sure about that one.
Two girl's names I love that are both Hebrew and (I think) common in Israel now: Yael and Noa. A French name I love is Theo (the 'e' has an acute accent (/) over it and is pronounced TAY-oh). I also like the Italian names Francesca, Rosalia, Luca, Lucia, Mariella, Riccardo (although I like the Spanish with 1 c better), Stefania (I like this more than Stephanie, and Stefanya looks nice too, has a sort of Russian flavor), Violetta, and Zita (which is my grandmother's name, not my Italian grandmother, my Eastern European Jewish one)
Now I'm rambling, sorry.
New baby alert:
Adam, brother to (are you ready for this?) Andi3 (g), S@mmy (g), Lu1u, Wi11, D@isy, R0bert and C0co!
Jake stole my thunder. I foresee the same thing happening, and in fact, have a friend whose almost four-year-old daughter, born two days after my own, is named Dagny. Her older sister is Annika.
I LOVE Callum. But like a PP my Dh HATES it. A lot. I love Lander too... but Leander is more my taste.. trying to sway DH there. I do love foreign names.. Can't wait to hear more. :D
Both Callum and Orlaith are already on our list: Victory!!!
I really like Milena and Callum. And I want to read the rest of everyone's comments but I'm at work. I promise to catch up soon.
But I came because I wanted to tell you of the (17ish year old) girl I just met named Kashia (pr: ka-SHY-uh). She's a client here and I sat here puzzling over her paperwork wonder how to say it for awhile (KASH-ee-uh? KASH-ya?) before flat out asking. Now if I can just remember not to butcher it when she comes back tomorrow!
The French would pronounce Elodie like Melody, more or less (more like eh-low-dee), but sharing emphasis between all the syllables (something that makes French so very French). I like it, it flows nicely.
Milena reminds me of Einstein's first wife, Mileva. Very pretty -- and a lovely and brilliant (if somewhat sad) woman.
Armen makes me want to say "hammer". I suppose a popular kid could turn that to his advantage though.
Callum makes me want to say "gollum", although I recognize it as a worthy Scottish name. I don't think I could use it.
Elodie I've heard somewhere, and it sounds very charming and airy to me, like it a whole lot.
I grew up in an area with a lot of kids whose families were Persian, Pakistani, and Arab -- lots of Arman, Jad, Reza, Omar, Tarak, Iman, Leila (and less common ones like Neusha, Sana, and Kayvon). I always loved names like that, they always sounded so exotic, even though most of my friends who had them were like "oh, whatever."
Ok - I cheated and read comments real quick anyway (I'm addicted).
I wanted to comment on Birk really quick. It reminds me of the Shopoholic books in which she considered the name Birken (like the bag) for a boy. I remember reading it at the time thinking, "If it weren't a thousand dollar bag, that would be a cool name."
Also - Jake & Dogwood may be right about the increase in Dagny for conservative families. I also think Ayn itself will be on the rise - in fact I know a family with a little girl due in October who's middle name will be Ayn for those exact political reasons.
"Berk" is a common British slang word. It's from rhyming slang, Berkeley Hunt. I'll let you work out what it means. So for that reason, Birk won't fly with me despite several people in the comments liking it.
I have been in love with Elodie for awhile, seems a few others are too!
Callum is very passe here in Australia, it is just another Liam and Lachlan these days. It is still a very nice name though.
I really don't think Dagny will get much use in Australia as 'dag' has 2 well known meanings - the first is to be very uncool 'or a bit of a dag /daggy'. The second is the clumps of dung stuck to the leg wool of sheep. It is a shame as I think it is a quirky name, but I think it would result in a lot of teasing potential.
I too love Orlaith and Callum.
I know of a little Mirren in the Seattle area who was, in fact, named for Helen. I think it definitely has take-off potential, although I'd feel awfully sorry for her parents, who did such a great job coming up with a creative name.
I love Elodie too. And Milena. And Orly, but not particularly Orla. And though I don't like the name Nicole, Nika could be a very cute nickname for it. The boys' names leave me cold, for whatever reason (OK, I only like about 3 boys' names and they are boring as all get out).
How do you pronounce Dagny? I'd hesitate to use it because it would so often get mispronounced DAGny, like DOG-knee. I know it's not that, but I don't know how to say it. And I have to say that clumps of dung hanging off a sheep's leg made me laugh hysterically.
Name alert: I was recently at a children's fair here in San Francisco, and there were two girls, each from a different family, named -- get ready -- Kenz@luna and M0ntesla. Both Caucasian kids of mildly yuppie-hippie parents as per the neighborhood. I had to put the characters in because clearly these are Googlable names, obviously. But, um, what the hey? Any insights?
Imagine my surprise when I turn on Google Reader and see my name (sort of) front and center! Woo hoo! Thanks for the shout-out, Laura!
i assumed dagny was pronounced dag-nee, dag using a short a (as in cat, flag, dad, etc). but i've never heard it spoken out loud, so i can't be sure.
There was a Nika in my school as a kid, and I know a Callum (mid twenties). I am a huge Ayn Rand fan, but for that very reason could never use Dagny. For me it would sort of pander to the misconception that her fans take her stories and characters literally with no question.
Some thoughts from the last thread as well I think (It went too fast, I couldn't comment!)
I think Noah will end up date-stamped. Not in the sense of history, but then who's sticking around that long? Enoch is a cool bible name. Sounds a bit harsh at first, but I like it. I also like Adlai.
I prefer Graham to Graeme. In fact, I actively dislike Graeme as it feel weaker and I then perceive the gray-em pronunciation as emphasized and required.
What about Claire Mairead? I forget who was wanting to use Claire, but I think you mentioned being somewhat Scottish, so it's a name with the French 2nd syllable style.
kath - Do you know where the name Kayvon is from? I heard it once but just assumed it was made up!
On the matter of nms/don't like/etc. I would say that if the reader can tell how you really feel then there's no use pretending to be diplomatic. That being said, I do love that this is not a trash-talky blog. It's great to have each post be interesting and relevant. I think there's less need for self-censoring though when everyone's so able to play nice.
There was a Scandinavian soccer player named Dagny, and I believe the announcers always said dag-nee. Not that announcers always get it right, but I think they usually make an effort.
Nika could be short for Annika as well. I also like the rhyming Russian nickname Vika, for Victoria. Although people would probably say vick-a instead of veek-a, which I like much less.
To whoever met the Kashia - I used to know a Kasia, pron. Kasha. It was short for Katarzyna (sp?). It sounds like Kashia may be an entirely different name though, since she said it so differently.
I'm not sure that I would worry that much about Noah being dated. I know several adults with the name, and while it may be extra popular right now, it's such a classic biblical name it's never going to disappear altogether.
Bianca- I know a Kayvon! His mom is Scandinavian (Swedish, I think) and his dad is Iranian. I assumed it was from the mom's side.
The Milena I know is six. Her father is half Ecuadorian (though the last name is Slavic). Her mother's family is Irish. I always liked how the name seemed to fit with all those heritages. She has a first cousin named Neva (8), which I think would be a great sibling match.
P.S. One of the words in my captcha is "19th-century." Apparently even the spam filter is picking up on what's hot in names!
Agree with #30 -- Birk is a terrible, terrible name if you kid is ever to interact with British people.
I agree that Birk is probably not the best name. Birch is nicer, and pretty similar. I also know an Armen who is half Armenian (though his siblings are Andrew, Karen and Sarah) and in Britain Callum and Connor were everywhere a couple of years ago. I am very surprised it is not around in America. I do like Emerick.
Anyway for anyone who was interested in the names for the Baby of the Year Competition in my local paper here are the repeats for the 13-24 months category.
Boys
Brandon 2
Harry 2
Jack 2
Jake 2
Jayden/Jayden-Paul 3
Joseff/Joseph 2
Keiron/Keiran 2
Liam 2
Morgan 2
Rhys 3
Ryan 2
Girls
Ellie/Ellie-Louise 3
Holly 2
Jessica 3
Lacey/Laceymay 2
Lilly/Lily/Lilly-Violet 3
Macey/Macy 2
Olivia 3
There are alot less children in this category (110 instead of 254) than the first category.
Birk makes me think of a Dirk (known a few of these) only with sandals worn with socks.
Dagny has a cute sound and I feel like it was discussed in 2005-6 when I first started reading this blog? Or was that Dagmar? Anybody else remember? Dag is not a positive word in the US either...I remember using it in the 90's for a messy person. I think we got it from Sassy Magazine.
Sooo, thanks for the comments about Noah, especially to the person married to one! I definitely would use Noah over "Noel". We like established biblical names, and as far as I can tell Noel is French and means Born on Christmas. That's what it makes me think of. Plus it doesn't work in German. We need a truly male name that is pronounced the same in German and English. It's really not easy...even names like Paul are pronounced pretty differently.
And if Noah is time-stamped it will be more like "Mark" (sounds to me like a biblical 70's or 80's name) and less like "Braedon" (Just made up). Right??!
And here are the names for the 25-36 months. I will put all the names cos there are alot less babies and so only 2 repeats.
Boys
Alex
Alfie
Callum
Elliott
Ethan
Ewan
Harley
Harvey
Hayson
Levi
Lik Hong
Owen
Girls
Alisha
Charley
Chloe/Chloe-May 3
Cara
Georgia
Grace 2
Jazmin
Katie
Kiki
Leah
Megan
Molly-Lou
Olivia
Rebecca
Savannah
Sophie
Tayha
Dagny is pronounced Daw-nee - daw rhymes with how, both daw and nee are short syllables. Sometimes there's a bit more 'g' in the daw-syllable, in a rolling sort-of way, but it's hard to describe exactly. The sound of the a-vowel also varies a bit within Scandinavia.
Birk is pronounced like beer with a -k at the end. Birk and Björk both mean birch (tree). Birk is up-and-coming, and Ronja (pronounced Run-yah, roll the 'r' if you will) has been a relatively popular name for girls.
I actually think this is pretty remarkable - Astrid Lindgren invented the name Ronja herself, and it is quite unlike any other Scandinavian girls' name, yet it has made it to #60 (approcimately, average) on the charts. This didn't happen to Pippi (Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump (Longstocking)), strangely enough. And most of the other Lindgren-names were "real names" (Annika, Tommy, Emil, Ida etc.).
lalem - Kayvon is Iranian, not Swedish.
Guest #41 - are you saying British people are completely incapable of abstracting a foreign name from the connotation of a similarly-looking English word?
I think they just mean that to British people the word Birk means someone who is a bit stupid. Its not a commonly used word, but I think people would think it was an odd name. Like calling your child Dunce. If a word already has an unpleasant connotation then it is unlikely to make a good name.
Anna, thanks so much for explaining how to pronounce Dagny. I really thought it was DAA-(g)ny or DAG-ny. I didn't get the appeal. As Daw-nee I still don't, I'm afraid.
Of the contenders mentiond, I think Mirren and Callum are my favorites. They'd be a nice sib set, actually.
On a couple of slight tangents...
My husband just told me of a guy he went to school with named:
Dag Luth3r G00ch.
Dag G00ch. Can you believe it? Ah, the South. He was adamant that I share that name with my fellow NE's.
We've been watching Battlestar Gallactica, the series lately, and I've been fascinated by a name in the credits:
Tahmoh Penikett. I guess he's an actor on the show. I just looked him up, and apparently his mother is from the White River First Nation in Canada, so maybe that's where Tahmoh came from. I just can't help saying that name over and over.
Someone earlier mentioned the Jewish name Yael, and that made me think of a woman I went to school with named Lael. I think Lael is really beautiful. It could be a pretty, unusual monosyllabic middle name, too. Behind the Name says it's a masculine name, though.
On the subject of Japanese girl names, I also went to school with a girl named Rei, who told me that her name meant "the sound of a bell". I always thought that meaning was beautiful and unique.
I have the same negative connotations with the name / word Birk - even if it is supposed to be pronounced more like Beer-k. It wouldn't work in the UK at all.
Tian sounds like a girl's name to me. Maybe because I once met a lady named Teann.
Orla is cute, but I also really like Orlo (after spotting the name in a local obituary) and so if Orla got popular that would somewhat 'ruin' Orlo for me! :P I much prefer Orlo (along the lines of Oscar, Oliver, Otto) for a boy, over Orla for a girl. Olive or Opal would be more my style of an O girl's name.
babycomingsoon,
i feel as you do: if noah is time-stamped, it will be much more like mark than like braedon, etc. i'm not sure i even really feel it will be time-stamped. it's a classic biblical name and i feel like it will always be around--always rising and falling, yes, but still always be there. it isn't like braedon which popped out of nowhere and may disappear again. however, if it is time-stamped, it agree that it will be different than giving your child a name like braedon.
(also, i think the woman you referred to in your last post was married to a man named noel, not noah. unless i'm misunderstanding you (or her (or both!))).
Mirnada - there's also Dagmar (Daw-mar, mar rhymes with car) which seems to be making a comeback in continental Scandinavia. Both Dagny and Dagmar were popular 100 years ago. Apparently the Icelanders prefer the -ny form while the continentals prefer -mar. There was a queen, Drottning Dagmar (Drottning=queen) somewhere in history and names from Nordic history are "cool" these days.
I also have an unexplainable soft spot for Japanese names. The young (degraded?) princess Aiko has an adorable name; soft, simple and yet strong. A Japanese coworker's wife is Himiko (Hee-mee-ko, short syllables), which I also like. And speaking of names which I like for their meaning - Ivalo (Ee-vah-loo) is Greenlandic and means "little wave".
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