For All the Americans Out There...

What do you think of the name Imogen? I am considering it for my baby, but don't know how she'll be perceived in the US with this name.

I do realize that she will be called "Im-oh-gene" here, and not the beautiful "Im-oh-jen" like in Britian, but I think I'm OK with that. My grandmother's name was Jean, so it would be a nod to her.

And for those of you in Britian, what do people named Imogen usually shorten it to, if anything?

Thoughts are greatly appreciated!

I'm an American, and I pronounce Imogene like "Im-oh-jen" or even "Im-oh-gin" but not "Im-oh-gene"...

Maybe I'm an exception?

I think Imogen is a gorgeous name, but i'm in Britain so I don't how people in America would pronounce it. I know a lot of Imogens here, and most of them go by their full name, but a couple of them are sometimes called Immy. =)

I pronounce Imogen I-mo-zhen like Imogen Coco (sp?). I am from America. If I had a little girl named Imogen or Imogene, I would call her Immy.

I would have pronounced it Im-oh-gen and I'm American too. Maybe it's a regional thing to pronounce it Im-oh-geen. (I feel like I read somewhere that the "geen" pronunciation is more prominent in the South, but I have no idea where I read that.)

I love the name Imogen and very nearly used it for dd2, even got dh to agree to Imogen Lucy C_____. I loved the sound of nn Immi Lu.

Unfortunately if didn't survive my 2 week mental trial. I usually only give 1 week trials (where spend all my naming energy concentrating on a single name from my short list to get comfortable with it and see how it might sound in imaginary real life situations) but I gave this one an extra week. The thing that finally killed it for me was thinking about how my family in Canada (I'm in the UK now) would receive the name...Imo-what??? I was more worried about them saying it im-oh-ghen (kind of like megan). I just didn't think they'd be able to say it nicely without coaching.

Maybe Imogen has had more exposure in n.america these days? Hope so, cause it's on my short list again for no. 3 due in april.

Also, I think the british singer/songwriter/producer Imogen Heap goes by nn Immi.

I'm American and I would pronounce it imo-jin not imo-gene. But maybe we all pronounce it right here because we're name aficianados (read: name nerds) and know better. I love the name but the thought of people saying imo-gene makes my skin crawl. If an occasional mispronunciation doesn't bother you as much, then I say go for it--it's lovely! And I, too, like Immy for a nn.

Imogen is one of my favorite names. When I say it (Texan) it comes out Im-ah-jen or Im-uh-jen. I don't mind Imogene, but I would correct people who pronounced it -jean, so I prefere the spelling Imogen without the e at the end.
A kind of French nn for it would be Ginette (little Gen), a French roommate of mine, Virginie, went by nn Ginette and I think it could work for Imogen as well.
NNs are a personal choice, and so is pn to a great extent. People mispronounce my name all the time- Jacquelyn. They say "Jack-lyn" but I was raised to pn the 'que' so it is more like "Ja-kwuh-lyn".
No matter what name you choose, you will have to also choose the pn, which makes even common names more unique!

I suppose you could also do 'Mo' for nn. I know a couple guys that go by nn Mo so it seems a bit masculine to me. Although, I also know of some girls fn Morag and Morven who go by nn Mo.

There's also Gen (like nn for Genevieve) or at a stretch the more standard Jen if you don't like the look of Gen.

I really love the name Imogen, and I pronounce it IM-eh-jen, like Pam and Linda's phonetic spelling on Nameberry.

I love its elegant, offbeat charm. :-)

Take care!