Dad wants to use beautiful but awkward baby name

"It's pretty and it honours my dead wife... but the meaning in English will ruin the baby's life," his brother has warned.

A man has expressed concern about what his brother intends to name his son - and for once, it's a valid point.

Writing in a parenting forum to seek advice, he explains that the name translates to "fire" in English... but it's not how it's written or pronounced.

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"It's an Indian name... but they don't live in India"

The man further explains:

"The issue is that they don't live in India, they live in the wealthiest part of Texas, they have the money and the plans to send their daughter to an expensive private Christian school, and their neighbourhood is majority white, blonde, and wealthy.

''They're already the only Indian family and they don't want to and don't plan to ever move from their area."

Sounds like people need to just accept the name, right?

Only problem is that it's "Aanal", which would be pronounced "Aahnaahll," - which exactly no peer of the child would nail.

So you can see it would be rather... awkward for the child.

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"Even well-meaning people will mess it up"

The man reports that when he raised the potential issue with is brother, his sister-in-law became angry.

''She wouldn't speak to me again until I legitimately apologised to her and meant it sincerely. I finally told her to not come complaining to me later on in the game."

The majority of commenters on the post agreed with the man's concerns, and shared their own experiences with awkwards meanings and pronounciations of 'atypical' names in English-speaking countries.

"I know an Indian guy named Anil (pronounced Ah-NEEL) whose name gets mispronounced as Anal now and then, and he hates that," one warned.

There's no way Aanal will be said the way it's meant to be. Image: iStock

Another added, "Aanal is a beautiful name that will 100% be a source of constant bullying to your niece if she is raised in Dallas, in a largely white community.

''Even well-meaning people with no ill intentions are going to mess this up."

And this commenter offered some advice to the man about his family: "I'd drop this argument with them though; there's nothing you can do about it beyond raising your concerns with them. Your niece will fight this battle in time."

As a writer of Indian heritage, I'll also share this tale: I knew a girl called Pooja, which is a common Indian name, and in fact, a very special one describing worship to a deity. 

It's pronounced 'Puhooja'... but you can image how she suffered at school at the cruel hands of young minds.

This article was updated in August 2024.

Originally published as Dad wants to use beautiful but awkward baby name