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HelpRe: Raphan
in reply to a message by guru
I love the idea of honoring your mom's family, and I like the look of Raphan. I'm really not loving RAY-fin, though. I find it non-intuitive; I want to pronounce names that start with Raph- or Raf- with a RAH or RA (like cat) sound. I also think RAY-fin trendifies the name. I mean, a "two-syllable name with a long A and an -n ending" perfectly describes the most common current trend in boys' names.
With a different pronunciation, I think Raphan would be okay as a first name. I'd save RAY-fin for the middle position. FWIW, I think Rahn would be a handsome middle name, too.
With a different pronunciation, I think Raphan would be okay as a first name. I'd save RAY-fin for the middle position. FWIW, I think Rahn would be a handsome middle name, too.
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That's interesting. I asked a few people around me right now what their intuitive pronunciation is given the spelling when written down, and they each said RAY-fin. To me it is intuitive as well, like the "a" in David, Nathan, Gabriel, and so on. But then, I don't think pronunciations necessarily have to be intuitive, for example: Sean, Siobhan, Filene, Cecile (the computer pronounce it sess-EYE-ul), Phineas (I see FINE-eez), and so on.
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It might be the presence of the ph/F-sound that does it for me. Looking at Raphan, trying to figure out how it's pronounced without a frame of reference, my mind goes immediately to names like Raphael or Rafael, Rafa, Rafferty, Rafiq, and the like, and I want to borrow pronunciation cues from them.
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