I would continue using the pronunciation you prefer, but don't correct people unless they get the stress wrong or otherwise totally mangle it. The difference between 'ah' and 'ae' is really not that big a deal, after all.

In a few years when she's old enough to have a preference, you can ask her which one she wants you to use. (She may not care.)

I have a very similar situation with my daughter's name -- same two vowel sounds, in fact: Julianna can be pronounced as Julie-Anna (ash sound for the first 'a', like in 'cat') or as Julie-Ana (first 'a' like the o in 'on'). In English, I prefer the -anna pronunciation, but I generally say her name in Hungarian (roughly You-lee-on-nah), and people who hear that often assume that the English version should be -ana. I generally don't bother to correct them. Heck, I don't even correct my mother's neighbors who for some reason think her name is Julia (like my mother and myself). I just continue to use her name the way I prefer, until she's old enough to express her own preference. (She's only two, and ignores all versions of her name equally.)

I definitely have no problem with changing the pronunciation. Just as someone might adopt different nicknames at different times, a change in pronunciation is no problem, either.

Incidentally, my initial expectation would be to say Ann-ik-ah, rhyming with Attica. If you get lip from others, you could just tell them it's the Danish pronunciation, not the Swedish.

I have a friend who changed the pronunciation of her 2-year-old daughter's name successfully. Her name is Marisa and they changed the pronunciation from Marissa to Mareesa. So I don't think it's too late at all.

That being said, I like Annika (your pronunciation) and think you can just respond to people, "We prefer the Danish pronunciation as my husband is Danish." End of story.

I think you could change it if you wanted, but it doesn't really sound like Ahn-ik-ah is what you want.  I agree that a simple correction with the explanation "my husband is Danish, so we prefer that version of the name" should work on most people.

Thank you so much for all of your help. I really try to name my children with great care and it helps to have the opinions of others who do too.

I like the idea of letting her choose how to pronounce her name, I agree that pronounciation is a fluid thing. My husband is named Paul and it is pronounced differently all over too.

My daughter Madeleine gets called Made-line all the time, and for some reason it doesn't bother me. So far she STRONGLY prefers Madeleine to Maddie which really surprises and delights me.

I guess it's a good thing we have a super common last name :)

Like others said, use the pronunciation you prefer and explain that it is the Danish version.

I would say though if people still use a different pronunciation after being corrected, I wouldn't worry about it much. I've had people call me by name using whichever pronunciation they are used to (Spanish speakers use the Spanish version, French speakers use the French, etc). It never bothers me as to me it is still my name, just in a different accent. But when I introduce myself I use the American pronunciation.

Are you in Ballard?

Perhaps you need to move away from all the Norwegians and find where the Danes are. :)

I kid, of course.

I'm not surprised you're hearing the Ahn version.

The other you mentioned would never have come to mind for me.

I've know a few Annikas over the years, and they've been about even between your daugher's style and the Ahn version.

I'd simply stick with the one you chose with such care, and correct folks who miss it. You only have to do it once! If you're really worried about what they're thinking, I like the pp's suggestion of explaining you use the Danish version.

I'm a bit late the the game, but I just want to throw in that I *would* say ANN-i-ka, and that I think that a very brief "it's Danish" would be explanation enough if someone questiond the pronunciation or gave you a funny look. If you call her ANNika at home and she gets called AHNika out in the world, then either she's going to have a fluid view of her name or she'll correct people. No need for you to change!

By the way, I think that it's a really beautiful name!

Annika is such a great name. I also prefer the ANN-i-ka pronunciation, especially for the two-N spelling. I don't think you need to change the pronunciation.  Once you're up and running in any community of kids/parents, more and more people will get it right and your pronunciation will become the "right" one to them!  (I grew up with an Ann-i-ka and got corrected as an adult when I met an Ahn-i-ka!)

I can't add to the useful comments that have aleady been made, but I'm another person who'd instinctively say ANN-ika unless I was corrected.  With a non-rhotic accent, AHN-ika sounds the same as the plant Arnica.  Though thinking about it, that could also be a pretty name :)