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Anais
An old favorite. What do you think of Anais? Is it usable? I pronounce it with three syllabls (emphasis on the last syllable) kind of like ahn-na-EES. This is the French pronunciation.
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I pronounce it the way you do. I like it, but I think it would be troublesome to use in the States at least. Everyone would mispronounce and misspell it all the time.
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Honestly, I don't like this name, it took a lot of getting used to with regard to the original spelling and the correct pronunciation.There seems to be a lot of problems with the pronunciation, as I have read in many examples.
Many says, for example, Ann-ice, Ann-yes, Ann-ä-(as said in H-a-rry)-eess, Annaniss,
Annanass, Annaliss, Ah-nees and whatever more.Personally, I would prefer Alanis, Alais or Aleydis.
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Some juvenile playground bully would undoubted twist it to Anus, and the kid would be teased mercilessly. I would probably only use it for a book character.
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Hmm the correct pronunciation is so far off of anus that that particular child would have to be very creative. I know that children can be creative, but they can pretty much destroy any name so I wouldn't let that keep me from using it. And he/she would also have to know how to spell it and that you could pronounce that spelling differently in order to get anus out of it. Doesn't seem very likely to me, to be honest. I think the most common mispronunciation would be ann-NAYS.
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I have a little niece-in-law names Anais;she lives in France. Pronouncing it the French way, bien sur!
Lovely name.
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So pretty, and totally usable.
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Oh, it's so captivating. One of my favorite up-and-coming poets is Anaïs Duplan.
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I think it will be fairly easily recognizable in the US because of the Aden & Anais brand, but not necessarily known how to pronounce. I don't particularly like it, I think it looks nice but I don't like saying it. It's too much work. Ha
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What....it's feminine? What...the emphasis is on the last syllable? It's like a whole new name! I have only ever heard of one Anais who was pronounced ah-NAY-is and was a little boy. I loved it at the time, and still don't mind it.But I'm going to have to think on this pronunciation a bit more. Right off the hop, I'm not a big fan.
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Hi !!!!I love this name since I was a child!I like Anaïs because it is one of the few names that have the same pronounciation in both Italian and French. Infact although that kind of i is odd I can read it as it is written.After that I love its aïs sound.
This makes it very different compaired to other Anna variants.
It is charming and fairy-like name imo.When I was younger I didn't know that Anna was its origin.
I thought it was a name like Maël so with a Celtic ancestry.
(I love all is Celtic).I still think it is charming.Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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Love love love it. Prn. would be an issue but I've known kids with names like Saoirse, Caoimhe & Tadhg here in Aus and none needed to be told more than once or twice. And all of those seem more problematic than Anais (and still useable - Caoimhe is on my own list. Some names are worth the extra hassle!)

This message was edited 2/21/2017, 8:58 PM

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I'm from the U.S., and it's perfectly usable. I even grew up around a couple girls named Anaïs, with that pronunciation. It does seem to be more common among Hispanic girls, though - at least, in and around Chicago. Lovely sound.
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I also thought that the pronunciation wouldn't be a problem, but then I stumbled upon a video of Anais Gallagher and she mispronounces her own name as ah-NEHS :(
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Can your really mispronounce your own name? She was probably just using a different pronunciation that is more common in her area/ dialect.
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Anais is a very common French name. Pronouncing it with two syllables is a bit like naming your child Zoe and pronouncing it ZO, Aine and pronouncing it AY-nee or Yael and pronouncing it YALE. It's fine if they like it, to each their own :) I guess you can't really mispronounce your own name, I should have worded it in a different way. She is only using the pronunciation her parents decided on, and it is her name the way it is.I'm just a bit confused because they named her after Anais Nin and it seems a bit odd to name your kid after someone and then mispronounce it. It's as if you didn't really know much about the person you named your child after at all ;) Even the spelling indicates a three syllable pronunciation, Anaïs (I don't use any accents when I write here because I like it when the names are clickable :)).If people want to, they can name their kids Jodie and pronounce it JODD-dee or Juanita and pronounce it waww-NIT-ta or something. I simply don't like this, but if they like it it's fine they should name their children what they want. It's not like I'm going to tell them to their face that I think it's horrible :P Just my opinion :) She is from England. I know another Anais from England and she uses the correct pronunciation so I don't think it is something regional. The name is not very common outside of French speaking countries.

This message was edited 2/22/2017, 8:23 PM

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Two pronunciation horrors for you to ponder; both somewhat French!An old teacher, long retired, once told me she'd taught a girl whom she addressed on the first day of school by the name of Yvonne (which according to the list was indeed her name) and the kid didn't respond. On investigation, she'd grown up in a tiny, isolated village with no cinema within range and very bad radio reception. Mother must have read a book, though, and liked the name Yvonne enough to use ... but her best guess was Why-Vonny and that was what the kid firmly believed her name really was. Nothing and nobody could change her mind, so they all stoically called her Why-Vonny for ever after.And my mother came home from work one day looking like a dog with water in its ears and muttering something under her breath. Not her usual behaviour. It turned out that she'd been in a meeting where one of the participants introduced herself confidently as Hell-Oyz. Mum's French was rusty but not so rusty she couldn't spot Heloise!So, yes, Two-Syllable Anais could well have been in the same situation. In today's world there's no excuse except laziness, but lots of people are either lazy or, let's say, over-confident. Or both.
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Wow, Why-Vonny :D That really is a creative way to pronounce it! My friend knows a woman named Anntwynette. I think her parents heard it somewhere and thought it was supposed to be spelled like this. I think she was born in the 70s so it wasn't as easy to look things up as it is now. Still Antoinette would have been a million times better!
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Oh wow, it stays clickable with the trema, nice :D
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In Quebec, this name was #31 in the top of the most given baby names in 2015. It's quite cute, although I personally associate with mishief, I don't know why. If you like it, I don't see why you should not use it. People can learn the pronounciation.
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When I was younger, my mother's friend from work had a little girl named Anaïs. Once people were told how to pronounce it, they were infatuated with the name. I think it's a beautiful name and definitely usable. I live in the US, just for reference.
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In the US, I presume? Absolutely usable, but be prepared to tell people how to say it. I think most will think it attractive but odd. If you're in more literary/artistic circles Nin will certainly help people recognize it.I went to school (in the PNW) with an Anais, and she liked her name but for simplicity's sake often went by Ana.Personally, I think it is a beautiful name and would love to meet a little Anais. I think it would read best though on a child with French ancestry or as a tribute name -- just being used for being pretty would fall a little flat to me. (Just read your profile and see that you are French -- so I say absolutely go for it!)

This message was edited 2/21/2017, 6:44 PM

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