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Help[Opinions] German Quints
Remember all those posts on quints a couple of months ago? Well, 2013 seems to have been a good year for quints. I just read in the evening paper that a woman gave birth to five girls yesterday and as of today they also have names:
Maria, Melissia*, Josefina, Justina and Evelyn.
No word on any middle names, though. I wonder if they have one.
(Hey, just for fun: what middle names would you choose for them?)
They join their three-year-old big brother (whose name, sadly, wasn't mentioned in the article).
* No typo, at least not on my part. I can't vouch for the Hamburger Abendblatt, though (which is my source in this case).
Maria, Melissia*, Josefina, Justina and Evelyn.
No word on any middle names, though. I wonder if they have one.
(Hey, just for fun: what middle names would you choose for them?)
They join their three-year-old big brother (whose name, sadly, wasn't mentioned in the article).
* No typo, at least not on my part. I can't vouch for the Hamburger Abendblatt, though (which is my source in this case).
This message was edited 11/13/2013, 1:38 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
Evelyn stands out among her three North European siblings and one flight of fancy - unless it really is Melissa. Or an attempt at blending Melissa and, maybe, Alicia. Could it work as meLISHa in German, Frollein? I think not, but the world is internationalising rapidly so perhaps.
Maria Lieschen
Melissia Gretel
Josefina Rut
Justina Klara
Evelyn Anna
I like Justine very much in English, and my Dutch friend Tineke is a Justina ... she hates it, though. Justina is good!
Just for fun, let's pretend they're Anglo:
Maria Lucy
Melissa Betsan
Josephine Ruth!
Justine Clare
Evelyn Rosamond
Maria Lieschen
Melissia Gretel
Josefina Rut
Justina Klara
Evelyn Anna
I like Justine very much in English, and my Dutch friend Tineke is a Justina ... she hates it, though. Justina is good!
Just for fun, let's pretend they're Anglo:
Maria Lucy
Melissa Betsan
Josephine Ruth!
Justine Clare
Evelyn Rosamond
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Sorry for only getting back to you now (I've been crazy busy those past few days... ah, make that weeks and months, really).
So anyways, I've been mulling over your questions (you knew I would ;) ) and this is what I think:
Having Melissia pronounced as meLISHa would be quite a hassle for the girl. You see, -lissia doesn't make a -lish sound in German, it's just, well, -lis-si-a or -lis-yah depending on the speaker (something like that anyways, I'm terrible at transcribing pronunciations). So a -lish pronunciation would be rather unintuitive and the kid would probably spend her days correcting people's pronunciation of her name ;)
If the parents were really going for the Melisha pronunciation, spelling the name Melicia would have been a better choice (in my humble opinion, of course) because with the increasing globalization names ending in -licia really are open to several pronunciations these days, thanks to their -c-. With names like Felicia, Alicia and even Cecilia, for example, there is still the traditional German -ts- pronunciation (which is considered somewhat dowdy by some, charmingly quaint by others and retro chic by other others), the English pronunciation, a Spanish-ish pronunciation and kind of a blend of the German and Spanish pronunciation. Spelling the name -lissia though eliminates those pronunciation ambiguities.
Taking a closer look at the sibset gave me a different idea, though. At first I thought the set was a bit... well, maybe not exactly odd, but a tad "unbalanced" if you will. "Theme-y but not theme-y", know what I mean? Don't get me wrong, I think all the names work fine on their own, and they kind of work as a sibset, too. Nonetheless, to me, Evelyn sticks out like a sore thumb among her sisters' names. (And this is coming from someone who usually doesn't care for matched sibsets, multiples or otherwise: me)
So anyways, I've been mulling over your questions (you knew I would ;) ) and this is what I think:
Having Melissia pronounced as meLISHa would be quite a hassle for the girl. You see, -lissia doesn't make a -lish sound in German, it's just, well, -lis-si-a or -lis-yah depending on the speaker (something like that anyways, I'm terrible at transcribing pronunciations). So a -lish pronunciation would be rather unintuitive and the kid would probably spend her days correcting people's pronunciation of her name ;)
If the parents were really going for the Melisha pronunciation, spelling the name Melicia would have been a better choice (in my humble opinion, of course) because with the increasing globalization names ending in -licia really are open to several pronunciations these days, thanks to their -c-. With names like Felicia, Alicia and even Cecilia, for example, there is still the traditional German -ts- pronunciation (which is considered somewhat dowdy by some, charmingly quaint by others and retro chic by other others), the English pronunciation, a Spanish-ish pronunciation and kind of a blend of the German and Spanish pronunciation. Spelling the name -lissia though eliminates those pronunciation ambiguities.
Taking a closer look at the sibset gave me a different idea, though. At first I thought the set was a bit... well, maybe not exactly odd, but a tad "unbalanced" if you will. "Theme-y but not theme-y", know what I mean? Don't get me wrong, I think all the names work fine on their own, and they kind of work as a sibset, too. Nonetheless, to me, Evelyn sticks out like a sore thumb among her sisters' names. (And this is coming from someone who usually doesn't care for matched sibsets, multiples or otherwise: me)
This message was edited 11/17/2013, 7:42 AM
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It's not a bad set. I just wish Melissia was Melissa. That extra i seems so unnecessary, imo.
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I'm trying to learn German! It's very difficult, but that may be my laziness/the site I'm using. Everything is capitalized and so many things sound alike!
Anyhoodles...
I love Evelyn and Josefina is pretty spunky.
Maria Louisa
Melissia Rosemary
Josefina Lily
Justina Delphine
Evelyn Juno
Ah, lame combos. They were just the first names to pop into my head without much thought.
Anyhoodles...
I love Evelyn and Josefina is pretty spunky.
Maria Louisa
Melissia Rosemary
Josefina Lily
Justina Delphine
Evelyn Juno
Ah, lame combos. They were just the first names to pop into my head without much thought.
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