Ok, so I need some advice. I know that it's still a long ways away before we pick up our little princess, and she probably isn't even born yet, but I am struggling with her name! Even before we decided to adopt, I fell in love with the name Amelie. I got the name from the french movie of the same name. If you haven't seen it, find a rainy weekend, snuggle up on the couch and watch this beautifully wonderful flick.
The problem is I am getting about one out of every four people hating the name because they can't pronounce it. I usually have to pronounce it a few times before the person I am talking to gets it right. The conversation usually goes something like this:
Them: So, did you decide on any names yet?
Me: Well, um, sort of. We are leaning towards one. The middle name will be Josphine after Dave's mom, but we like Amelie as a first name.
Them: Oh, Emily is pretty
Me: Well, close, it's pronounced ah-mah-Lee(think french here, the last syllable is stressed)
Them: Oh AHH-me-lee
Me: Close, just a little more stress on the end.
Them: oh ok, well, do you think people will call her Emily
Me: Not if I can correct them.
Now, I really do adore the name, and maybe if we moved to Paris(hey, not a bad idea), the name pronounciation would be easy. But, as much as I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the name, as it is unique, not in the top 20 but still normal , do I want to go through this all the time? Plus, I have to be honest with myself...what will happen when she has to pronounce her name in pre-school? Ask any 2 or 3 year old their name and you can barely understand them. Everyone will assume she is trying to say Emily and has a speech impairment.
So, here are my two alternatives.
1. Gianna (Gigi for short)
2. Gabriella(Gabbi, Brie, or Ella for short)
If we use either one of these, when we go get her Mei Mei(little sister) from China we can use the other name. Oh, sorry David honey, you didn't get the memo?
I can't think of any knicknames for Amelie. Then again, since my whole family called me at all times Princess K(youngest child of 6-only girl), the princess status and name will no doubt be passed on to her-Princess A perhaps(nah, don't like it, surely she'll be teased by school kids). I am looking forward to being promoted to Queen though. Ha, ha!
On a funny note, my mom and her husband called me after a few bottles of wine a few months ago and they were discussing names. They decided on Omorosa Ella. Put that with our last name and say it three times fast (which I won't do here to protect our privacy a bit). Charming, isn't it?
1 comment:
David & Kristin,
When I was pregnant with my daughter Jennifer, I said that I was going to name her Chelsea. I said that from day one. Then my mother in law at the time said,"You can't name her that, she will get teased all the time with a goofy name like that."(I got the name from "On Golden Pond") So I started thinking about it and the day she was born I named her Jennifer. Now that she is 23 years old she is a "Jennifer". However, I always wondered if she would have been different personality-wise if I had stuck to my guns and named her Chelsea. Now, having said all that, when I named her Jennifer, I was determined that no one call her anything but Jen or Jennifer. I highly disliked the name Jenny. In her first grade class there were 7 Jennifers. I made it very clear to the teacher that "My Jennifer" was not to be called Jenny. So to this day my daughter is not, nor ever has been called Jenny. I guess what I am trying to say is this, Amelie is a beautiful name, (and I loved the movie)and if you say it like it is spelled then you will pronounce it correctly. Not that I am naming your sweet little girl, but if it were me(and I know it's not)I would name her Amelie Josephine.........
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