What cool international names do you like?

[american_mama]

I have really been enjoying the name threads lately and I was thinking of names today while bored and nursing DD. What names have you heard that come from other countries, are uncommon in the US, and that you really like? Some of these are names of people I've met, others I've just heard of.

For me, I like:

GIRLS
Amandine (French)
Hilken (Danish)
Annika (Swedish)
Amelie (Swedish or French)
Silke (German)
Hannalore (Belgian)
Devika (Indian?)
Shalini (Sri Lankan)

BOYS
Karsten (German)
Stefan (German)
Koki (Japanese)
Avi (Israeli?)

[n2ou]

lol.

I named my daughter Annika.

My aunt's name is Hannelore. One of my best friends from highschool is named Silke and my neighbors son growing up is named Stefan.

FYI, I grew up in Germany!

I love Amelie, very popluar in Germany right now.

[terrapin_mon]

Just wanted to add that Anika is also an Indian name (name of a goddess) and so are Shalini (means domesticated) and Devika (again means goddess) :)


Ritu

[mamalou]

I guess this is really in response to a bunch of different posts. Whenever AF is late, the first thing I think is Holy Crap!! *immediately* followed by.... well what are some good names? Recently I have toyed with, hmmm, I can't even remember. Every time AF returns, the slate is wiped clean again :) Or maybe it was the Annabelle post that took over my thinking. I would never name my kids their names again. But they are fine. You said something really sweet about my kiddos names once and it made my day.

Lou (formerly doubleL)

[deborah_r]

I kind of wanted to use the name Stellan, but DH won't let me because he knows I am crazy about Stellan Skarsgard, the Swedish actor. I don't know if it's a common name in Sweden, but I thought I read somewhere that it wasn't. I never saw it in any baby books. Jennifer Connelly named her 2nd son Stellan (1st son Kai, which is another reason I know all this!) but she got the name by knowing Stellan Skargard.

Also, friends of ours have a son named Livio, and I think that is such a cool name!

[heatherlynn]

I love Annika! It's at the top of our list. When I saw the title of your post, I wondered if Annika would be listed, so I said to myself that if it was, then that would be the name we'd go with (sort of a game I was playing with myself).

I also like Silke and Hannalore, but since we're both Swedish, we've been thinking of going with a Swedish name. Also, how do you pronounce "Amelie?" Is it like Emily?

H-
Heather
dd 3/98
ds 8/04
and #3 edd 11/05 (it's a girl!)

[jbowman]

I love the Italian names:

Ilaria
Lucia

I also love how Laura is pronounced in Italian :).

I love "Estrella" (Star) in Spanish.
I've always loved Madchen (girl in German, umlaut over the "a").

[tarahsolazy]

Girls:

Freja or Freya (Norweigan, I think)
Berit (Norweigan, DH's grandma's name)


Boys:

Dobry (Polish)

[slknight]

I met a woman the other day whose name is Neia. It's Greek and pronounced like Mia with an "N." I thought it was really beautiful.

[cchavez]

Is it the same as the Spanish pronunciation? We like the name Laura (in Spanish) but most people wouldn't pronounce the correct way. It was be plain ole Laura......

[phirey]

I used to know a woman named Wiebke (German, pronounced VEEP-ka).

My HS boyfriend was born in Germany. His name, Alexander, is rather normal but his sister Sabine (sa-BEAN-uh) was cool.

Keep this name thing going, guys. We just cannot settle on one and my new theory is it's because we haven't heard it yet!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

Not sure if cool, and origin varies, but some names I like are:

Girls:

Katja (if we ever adopt a girl and decide to change her name this will be it)
Zara
Tess

Boys:

Lucca
Oskar
Adrian

DH vetoed the first two, the last was already used my a very good friend whose son was born before mine. (edited to clarify this)

There's a few more...

[g-mama]

I like the name Adrian for a boy and we considered it for ds #2's name. I guess I got too concerned it would seem a girly name, especially since I have a good friend named Adrienne. But I really do like it.


Kristen
Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
and a third one coming in december '05!

[jd11365]

When I was little, there was an Italian family who lived downstairs from my dad. Their daughter's name was Graciella. It's not what I would name my own child, but I've always liked that name.

[jbowman]

Christine,

The first syllable of the name, "Lau," is pronounced like the second syllable of "allow," if that makes sense and is drawn out a little. The second syllable, "ra" is pronounced more like "rah," as in "rah rah!" Hope that's not too confusing!

[HIU8]

These are the names that I have always loved:

Girl:
Kira
Aviva
Naomi
Shira
Talia
Alynn
Taryn
Ariella


Boy:
Avi
Eli
Kobi
Ilan
Nathaniel
Jayden
Dovi
Eitan
Ari
Ariel

Heather