Oh no =(

[allyfally]

Hi Berries. Havent been on here in awhile do to work. But now I'm back with an "how awful" moment.

Me and the BF have been talking about names a lot lately. We've decided that if we have a kid, we want its name to start with an A. Reason being, our names are Allison and Alex. His brother and sister are Antoine and Andromeda. My brothers name is Eric, which obviously doesnt start with an A, but it has a similar sound.

So anyways, we start talking A names.... He wants Azai (uh-z-eye) or Azahn for a boy. And Anais (he pronounces it uh-n-eye-us.) I know Anais is a real name, but is that really how its pronounced? I dont like that at all.

Ugh. The only one I can even remotely stand is Azahn, and I'm not all that fussed on it.

I told him I like Annika for a girl and Atticus for a boy, and he had a similar reaction that I had to his. We do both like Anastasia, but we'd be worried about the reaction to it from school kids.

[esther]

Annika and Atticus are cute! I don't really care for Azai or Azahn personally. Also I would pronounce Anais ann-eye-EES.

[allyfally]

I forgot to mention that those are quite tame compared to other names he likes. He likes Japanese culture, and how some downright tradional sounding Japanese names picked out. Like ones that I couldnt even begin to know how to pronounce. Good gosh.

[rachelxoxo]

I would never use Anais.. Looks like "anus" to me and I wouldn't want that poor kid to get made fun of.. Too easy :/ IMO

[ferntailwp]

I pronounce Anais uh-NYE-uhs. I like Anais and Atticus, so one from each side. I think Anastasia is nice, and I don't think it should be received too poorly. The only issue would be if you don't like the nn Ana. My name's Eros, the greek good of sexual love, and a male, and I never had any issues.

[allyfally]

ferntailwp, how do you pronounce your name. Is it like ear-Ose or an air sound?

Does anyone have any unusual A name suggestions? Boy or girl.

[ellenelle]

I pronounce Anais both ways: Ahn-eye-EES and An-EYE-is since the former is the French way and the latter is the...other way? Anglo way? I actually really like it, esp. with the French pronunciation.

I see where compromise looks tough. Annika is an unusual, soft but edgy name, so I'm a tad surprised that he doesn't like it when he likes Anais... I think Anastasia would work fine. I bet you'd come to use a nickname, but it could develop from a mannerism or quality of hers if you don't like ones associated with the name (Ana, Ani or Annie, Sia, Stacy, Asia, etc). If you're looking for any suggestions, I'd be happy to try my hand.

EDIT: Just read what you said above, haha! These might be too out there, but how about...

Atlas (maybe as in Atlas Shrugged by Anais Nin?)
Aeneas
Abram
Abraxas (Abe or Brax)
Absalom (Abe, Sal/Sol, even Sully)
Adair
Adlai
Alban
Alexei
Arno or Arlo
Aloysius
Andreas
Asa
Auberon

Aerin
Acadia
Acacia
Abrial
Aster
Astrid
Azalea
Anya or Aine
Anthea or Althea
Alouette
Alys (Welsh variant of Alice)
Amabel or Amalia
Amaryllis
Annelore
Annora
Azure or Azura (love this and it has the zjuh sound that your boyfriend likes!)
Aphra (famous woman playwright by this name)
Artemis or Athena

[allyfally]

I'm actually suprised he doesnt like Annika as well. I didnt think he'd hate Atticus either, actually.

[ferntailwp]

It's air-ohs, either can be accented really although AIR-ohs is more common.

Speaking of greek names I love Athene/Athena, it's my pseudonym ln. I might suggest some swahili names, though, because they kind of have some aspects of the names both of you are going for.

[allyfally]

I do like Athena, but Idk if I'd ever use it. Not familar with swahili names, but suggest away!