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[kubiq.livejournal.com]

Any opinions on the name Yan ( pronounced YAHN)? Spelling suggestions? Still looking for the Russian name that will sound good in English...

Comments

[confusedanswers.livejournal.com]

Is Yan Russian? I've never heard it...

There are loads of good Russian names that sound good in English...

Aleksei
Anastacia
Ivan
Alekzander
Ekaterina
Anya
...

The list goes on and on (as I could for hours)...

What type of name are you looking for?

[kubiq.livejournal.com]

I know Russian names- I am from Russia :-) My technique is to choose a Russian name that I like and test in on native English speakers- to make sure it sounds OK. Most likely my son will be growing up in the US and i don't want to give him a totally weird or hard to pronounce name.

PS By the way, the names you listed are usually completely mispronounced in the US, and i would not want that for my child.

[confusedanswers.livejournal.com]

That's cool you are Russian... I'm... a Russia fanatic and know as much as I can and hope to live there a couple years just to complete the whole thing.

I understand about that... There aren't going to be many you can find... American's butcher everything.

Aye, I know about the mispronounciation of the names. I love to laugh at my mum with her accent trying to speak them.. it's cute.

[skinnyfatgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh neat! I'm also from Russian -- Moscow! Yan is very pretty but I also didn't realize it was Russian in origin! I thought it was common in the Baltic states (and Bulgaria?) -- I guess it's the same as John? I remember going to school with a girl whose name was Yana, and that Yana was a pain for church records since she couldn't be baptized under the name because it wasn't a name of an Eastern Orthodox saint at the time.

Anyway, I really like Yan .smile. I also like Alexander -- if we have a boy, we will name him Alexander in honor of my dad. Xander for short .smile. I also really like Sergei (great grandfather) but my husband (who is Norwegian) does not .sigh.

[kubiq.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, it is not originally Russian ( but there are only a few real Russian names anyway). All Yans I knew in Russia were Jewish. My guess it was a take on Yankel. having a "Russian" Jewish name works perfectly for me.Alexander ( Sasha for short) is my other choice at this point, since no one here can pronounce my #1 Veniamin :-) We named our first son Anton.

[skinnyfatgirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing the story of Yan -- it's so cool that you've been able to find a name that you not only like the sound of but also the history!

I love Anton too! Beautiful -- I'm putting it on my list! Do you have any ideas for Russian girl names? I'd love to hear them! .smile.

[kubiq.livejournal.com]

Well, I like several girl's names that would work here in the US ( I don't know about Norway)

Alexandra ( or maybe simply Sasha)
Darya ( again, I would most likely just use Dasha)
Sonya
Nina
Milah

I actually like my name for a girl- Genya :-)

[skinnyfatgirl.livejournal.com]

Genya was what my Mom wanted to name me!!! Unfortunately, my dad wanted to name me in honor of his mom who passed away and I ended up with a strange one -- Zoya .grin.

[glassteapot.livejournal.com]

I knew a boy called Jaan, pronounced "Yahn". I really like it as a name.

[kubiq.livejournal.com]

I am also considering Alexander, but in Russia it is the most common name. Beautiful, but too common for my taste

[alexandria-skye.livejournal.com]

i don't know if i would use it, but it's pretty cool. as for russian names, my uncle and his wife adopted a son from russia almost two years ago named nikita. i like it, and though he has chosen not to use a nickname (blah! pun!), it could be americanized into nick.

[minga13.livejournal.com]

in my Polish background, Jan is pronounced YAHN.

[eleanorgrace.livejournal.com]

Also in German. I kind of like it "Jan" better than "Yan," though given the American female name Jan(et), I can see why the second spelling might be preferred.

[neverstarsburn.livejournal.com]

it reminds me of a russian version of Sean, which is my brothers name, so i like it.

[bobinwales.livejournal.com]

I like Yan, and I love Anton.

[kubiq.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[stardottedeyes.livejournal.com]

I have a co-worker named Ian (pronounced YAHN)... not sure of the origin though. And here in the US I am sure it gets mispronouced all the time, so I wouldn't suggest that spelling.

Yan doesn't seem like it could be mispronounced too badly... only thing I can think of is that some might assume it rhymes with "fan".

[kubiq.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's what I thought...

[tia-karen.livejournal.com]

people are going to call him Yawn more than you think.

[kubiq.livejournal.com]

Good point! :-) I was told everyone will tease my son Anton by calling him Ant, and the only person who does it is me!