are "foreign" names ok in the UK playground?

[svalbardy]

I'm having a girl, I like Solveig as a name, but I am wondering if it's wise, after a lifetime of schoolyard torture over having a french name in Australia (and my sister and her daughter are currently dealing with the total mangling of Genéviève by idiot posh mothers who "know it's pronounced Jenvevv, I assume you didn't learn french at school").
Do kids with foreign names get utterly ponced on by know-it-all stupid mothers, and utterly dumped on by kids who tease them about their name, in this country? Ideally one would ignore silly people, but 32 years of dealing with stupid comments about my name is enough to feel like calling my daughter whatever the latest fashion is, so she blends in with all the other Zoës or Rachels or Skyes or whoever.

[mumof2andabit]

I dont have an opinion I'm afriad but I think Solveig is a lovely name. It was my norweigan great grandmothers name and she was very beautiful

[bythepowerofgreyskull]

in DS1's class we have 1 Japanese name, 3 Indian names, 1 italian name, 1 Chinese name.. no issues so far at all...
I think Solveig looks pretty .. how is is pronounced?

[galwaygirl]

I love the name Solveig (when pronounced correctly) and it's one of my top girl's names DH isn't quite so keen as he thinks it's very old fashioned.
I think unusual names are fine in the UK, there are so many people of different nationalities living here that there will be kids with all sorts of names!

[galwaygirl]

bythepowerofgreyskull - best explanation of pronunciation I can come up with is Sool-vague if that makes any sense?

[MmeTussaudsChmberOfChocHobnobs]

I like the name Solveig, it is very pretty.

Thing is with unusual names, you could give your child a ordinary name like Connor then move to a French speaking country where is pretty near a swear word and some idiots people snigger at it.

I don't think that it is so difficult to pronounce.

[Liffey]

I quite like it, but tbh, I think the fashion is to want to stand out, but in a classy way. Foreign standing out is acceptable....

[Liffey]

ps, I wouldn't be entirely sure how to pronounce Genevieve, but i'm not a know-it-all or an ignoramus! I speak English, Spanish, gaelic, and have a smattering of French. I think you're being a little harsh on people.

[galwaygirl]

OMG didn't realise Connor was a swear word in France! Love that name Not sure if you can pick any name that doesn't have negative meaning in some language.
I love the girl's name Clodagh but in DH's language it means itchy (or so he says ) - mine means wide

[Liffey]

Galway girl, I love Clodagh too, but I was told it was slang for toilet in 'churman'. LIke loo is to toilet.

What does Conor mean in French then??

[beansontoast]

my son has a foreign name..but then so do alot of his class.

[Liffey]

There is a Lithuanian girl in my dc's class called Rugile.

Unfathomably, that is pronounced LOO-Gray-Lya. Everybody copes!

[nickytwoooohtimes]

Lovely names there.
I must admit that it drives me insane when names are pronounced incorrectly. Happens a lot round here with some of the gaelic names.

[chandellina]

connard = "asshole"

[Liffey]

Wow. Now I know why somebody wanted to spell it with a K!!

[Tiramissu]

Svalbardy,
i was thinking the same yesterday when reading another thread. I didn't know that Sophia is 'poncey' name. My daughter is Sophia. But DH is Greek Cypriot and this is his mother's name so we had to call her Sophia. And my other dd has a name from Greek mythology. Both names are very common in Cyprus and Greece and far from poncey.
But i was thinking omg if we go back to UK they will call us poncey???
But i guess this only applies if the family is British? Surely people understand that we have to choose names that have a connection with family or homeland?
But still i would think that if you choose a foreign name try to make it easy one. The name you suggest is nice but will it be easy for other children to call it?

[galwaygirl]

Liffey - can't believe such a lovely name has such awful meanings. I has thought it would be a nice Irish one you could use and people could pronounce fairly easily not like some of my other faves which include Béibhinn and Caoimhe

Tiramissu - your daughters will be fine, Sophia is a beautiful name

[thirtysomething]

You do have to be careful - quite liked Peter when ds was born - we were in a French-speaking country where it means (with accents added in ) to trump so no go there!

I love Pierre and Solenne and Camille but wasn't brave enough to give those names to my kids in case British brains couldn't cope, though realise now should have gone for them!

[MmeTussaudsChmberOfChocHobnobs]

We did think about calling DS by his second name, but he is just a little Connor. He would not suit his second name, it is not him. There are a lot of expats in this are so they are used to unusual names.

One of DD's teachers is called Genéviève and I always stumble over her name, DD can pronounce it perfectly after only 2 weeks of school.

[Liffey]

Galway girl, I thought of Clodagh in 2002 when I was pregnant and living in the UK. But people said to me "oh like Claddagh rings?" which put me off!!

[superfrenchie1]

Some lovely names and I do like Solveig a LOT, but confess that I deliberately gave my dcs names that would be quite easy to spell and pronounce and understand and remember - nothing to do with whether names are English or not - but please consider whether you are condemning your dc to a lifetime of spelling out their first name. maybe this is fine - after all lots of us always have to do it and we are alright! Personally... if you're planning on living in the UK... I think Solveig is on the right side of the line but Genéviève is a bit much. There are plenty of simple foreign names, like Jana, Heli, Ara, Kasia, Mie, Lina, Astrid, Birgit, etc etc, that kind of thing, which tick my box

A Scandinavian woman is starting at my work and an email went round today from her line manager saying "XX is starting with us on Monday, no idea how to pronounce her name and haven't even started on the surname" !?

[moonincancer]

solveig sounds like an ikea lamp to me. what a pleb. my husband is foreign. would love to call our son Vadym or Vlad but want to blend in...Jake anyone? out of interest, solveig sounding like a lamp name to me, what does vadym sound like to others? bleach maybe

[loobylu3]

I don't think that having an unusual foreign name is a reason for teasing at school (provided that you have a good reason for using it- ie Scandanavian connections). Infact, if you are from another country but living in the UK, it is lovely to give your child a name which reflects their heritage. However, if there is a choice of names, it is worth choosing the one that is easier to pronounce as it must be very frustrated being called the wrong thing all your life!

[nooOOOoonki]

My real name is 'foreign' and I was never teased for it (I have only met 2 people with my name in rl).

I liked having a different name, kids can be very accepting.

[pofaced]

We gave eldest a "foreign" name (as we were technically "foreign" too) and it was hard for her to learn how to write her name -it didn't look like it sounded in English; her teachers couldn't pronounce it and nor could anyone official eg doctors etc.

Choose whatever name you like but bear the above in mind!

[MmeTussaudsChmberOfChocHobnobs]

We had a friend called Vladimir, from Poland. He got called Vladi. It is not so unusual in Germany where we were living, I always liked it.

Btw, DD has an (for German/Swiss) unusual name and she told me recently that she is glad that she has an unusual name as she would not like to be another Sophie or Anna like all the other DCs.