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[Opinions] Havyn
I love the spelling of the name Havyn for a girl. Not sure if I would pronounce it Haven, Heaven or Have'n. Does anyone know a Havyn? What are your initial reactions to it?
Thoughts?
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It looks like Haven with a trendy spelling. I think Haven is cool on a girl, but if you are going to use a word name, I don't see the point in changing the spelling. JMO.
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I’d pronounce it Haven and I would spell it with the e not the y. That being said people on this site tend to be kinda harsh, try Babynames.com, then Name message board and then Need name advice. There they tend to be nicer about their opinions, that’s why I don’t hardly ever post on this board because, especially if you’re pregnant your hormones are going crazy already and so words can really get to you, you’d think other moms would be nicer about their opinion because of that. However I do love the name Haven! Great choice.
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I'd rather receive honest opinions than sugar coated flatteryEspecially about naming a child. And yes, I'm a mother. If I don't want opinions, then I just don't ask period. Like when I asked about names I might consider for a next child and I asked about Feia. Someone here said it really is a lot like the word for 'ugly' in Spanish. I'm VERY happy that I'm finding stuff like that out BEFORE naming a child. Now I can make a well-informed decision, instead of being unhappily surprised if I encountered Spanish speakers that snicker at my child's name.
And typically someone who's adopting a child doesn't really have pregnancy hormones driving them crazy...
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I wholeheartedly agree!
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You'l find that the people on babynames.com would be much more likely to enjoy more "creative" names like Havyn. This board has some mums, however this is about names and the study and origins of names, so there is a lot of people who have no kids. Not 'baby names'. I don't necessarily think people on here are 'harsh', but they are truthful and don't sugar coat it.I'd rather 100% honesty, rather than everyone just lying and saying they like it. If it's a name that i'm seriously considering, then I want real opinions, opinions that you probably wouldn't get in real life.
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I don't think you should be surprised that people who choose to spend at least some of their time on a site dedicated to talking about names are going to have opinions about names.
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I understand that we don’t always exercise the most tact, but it is a name opinion board. Maybe there needs to be a Name Affirmation board where people can go when they only want to be told they’ve made a great choice. I am, and have always appreciated, the kind of person who will tell you that you have spinach in your teeth, or toilet paper stuck to your shoe, or you have the potential to give a human being a lifetime of discomfort by giving them a problematic name.
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This is the Opinions Board. If people come to an Opinions Board, they shouldn't be surprised to receive people's opinions, which will often not coincide with their own. Most of us don't say "I love it" or "I hate it" without at least trying to explain why; there isn't a Board for propping up people's egos. Anyone who doesn't like what happens on this site is welcome to leave, but we are not likely to change our posting habits on the off-chance that somebody might not like them.
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Quoteu, you’d think other moms would be nicer about their opinion because of that.
Most of this board isn't "other moms".
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If I were to see the name Havyn, I would think it’s a creative spelling of Haven. I think Haven will be better because I think it’s best to spell word names like how the word is spelled.
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It doesn't really "look uneducated" in real life, on a real person, IMO ... unless that person comes across as uneducated. What people perceive when they see an unfamiliar spelling, is lower status than a familiar name with a "correct" spelling. Lower status than the judging person sees herself as having. Because we feel dumb when we don't know how to read a name - we expect to be able to read your name, and if we can't, we'd rather decide it's you who is dumb. One can rationalize that there is a "correct" spelling that does not use a Y, of which someone might seem "ignorant." Nevermind that replacing vowels with y has been used to indicate a personal name for a long time, and by many kinds of people.When it's not attached to a person, doesn't a name with a Y in in look ... you know ...a little ... mediocre? I dunno, look at some, and compare your reaction to them, with your reaction to the Y-less versions. Maybe you see what I mean? Katheryn, Carolyn, Camryn, Dyann, Edyth, Allyson, Robyn, Jayne, Krysti, Karyn, Jacquelyn, Elayne, Lynda, Caitlyn, Angelyn, Lyndsay, Danyelle, Madyson, Madelyn, Olyvia, Mykenzie, Jordyn, Ryley, Lauryn, Jasmyn, Devyn, Jadyn, Kevyn, Ashtyn, Ayden, Destyni, Macyn, Haydyn, Tristyn, Addisyn, Jayce, Iyla ...versus Katherine, Caroline, Cameron,

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This message was edited 1/10/2019, 10:06 AM

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I'm okay with y spellings in some names (although they can be a nuisance; I said "no, with a Y" for years until I stopped bothering and let people misspell my nickname). Word names are different, though...it almost seems disingenuous to me when they're changed? I wonder, why pick a word name if you don't actually like the word? It's like the parents are trying to disconnect sound from meaning, which is a futile endeavor when the sound is recognizable as a word...I don't understand why it'd be worth it, especially since most of the words are already relatively uncommon as names.

This message was edited 1/10/2019, 12:05 PM

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I totally agree.
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Well, I basically agree with you - if I recognize a word-name, then it just looks to me like a confusing error, and think why would you want to separate a word-name from the word? But, if it's not too aesthetically displeasing to me, I get used to it quickly. I'm accustomed to learning fairly arbitrary name spellings. Elisabeth, Norah, Aiden, etc. Even when I don't find them aesthetically pleasing myself. I do find some respellings pleasing, so I try to understand them that way.
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I am a Haven. I would not like my name spelled Havyn. And Haven is becoming fairly popular.
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Spell it Haven.It’s a word. It has a correct spelling.Don’t do Heaven it’s tacky AF (but if you have to then spell it Heaven).Misspelling word names doesn’t make you creative or unique. It just makes you look like you weren’t literate enough to pass third grade.
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Thanks for the input. I had no idea a name would generate such strong emotional reactions. I viewed it as more of a Gaelic name, and conjured up thoughts of a strong, confident women. I pictured it pronounced more with the Ha sound that would be in Hadley.
For the record, adding a y, or spelling something a little different shouldn't come across as uneducated. Unique, but not uneducated. I certainly wouldn't want my child to have the same name as 3 other kids in her class.
I am not an uneducated 15 year old. I am 40ish, and am successfully self employed. She will be our 9th child, a child we are adopting at the age of 6. (Before you judge, there are only 2 left at home, the rest are grown ups living on their own.) But I have taken your advice and insight into consideration.
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Why are you viewing it as a Gaelic name? It's not a Gaelic name lol.
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I didn't say you were uneducated. I said misspelled word names look uneducated. And it's true. They give the impression that you do not know how to spell a word. If you want uniqueness, well, sticking a y in there is actually not going to do it. Finding a name that's actually unique will - not that hard with a little research into popularity stats. I wouldn't want my kid to have the same name as three other kids in the class either, but to use an example - the Jacksons and Jaxons and Jaxsons are all really Jacksons in the end. They're all going to sound the same and still be associated with the same name.
What I'm really mystified by now is viewing it as Gaelic - how do you view a misspelled English word as Gaelic? (But you can find plenty of actually Gaelic names on this site, many of which will be actually unique, so I'd recommend that!)
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The thing is, changing a random vowel to a Y really isn’t all that unique. It’s a trend that’s been overdone for the last 10-15 years. Those of us who study names have seen more than our fair share of it over the years. And it’s the type of people we’ve seen do it who have informed our opinions about the level of class and education it represents.There’s absolutely nothing inherently wrong with living in a trailer, but if you met somebody who told you they live in one, you couldn’t help but have some immediate gut assumptions about their background. It’s the same thing with a name like Havyn.
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It just because so many trendy names have the -on - an or -en at the end of the name turned to -yn, just to spice up a name (regardless of the inconvenience it is to have a name you need to constantly spell out). I think that's where these reactions came from :)If you like Haven, then maybe just use Haven? I doubt she'll have anyone in the class with the same name as it was on place #433 back in 2012. And of course you've got the luxery of asking her for her opinion. Maybe she likes Haven/Havyn, maybe she doesn't. I think it'd personally try to find a name that isn't too far off of her birth name if I had to rename a 6 year old. Good luck to you with the adoption and the decisions regarding her name.
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Thank you Mar. We actually wouldn't rename her in the first place, except she is from another country and doesn't speak English. We give our adopted kids an American name and keep their given name as their middle name. We continue calling them by their given names when we are in private. Our adopted kids have preferred their American names but could never have given their input or consent when they didn't understand the language, haha :)
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It’s a word. It has a correct spelling. Spelling it wrong does come across as uneducated.Hadley is good. I actually like Haven (the meaning makes me feel warm and fuzzy).At 6 the child is old enough to have input into whether they want to change their name or not, so I hope you’re willing to give them the chance to have input. They may be pretty attached to their birth name and it’s going to be tough enough for them to get used to a new family without throwing in a new name if they aren’t prepared for it.
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Wow.Haven is pretty bad by itself.. Havyn is just... no.. no no..It looks more like you'd pronounce it havin, like havin fun.
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It definitely does not pass The Test.With any name, you have to ask yourself which sounds more natural:“The Honourable Judge ______ presiding,” or “Please welcome to the stage the luscious ______”.Right or wrong, as snooty as it sounds, I would definitely make assumptions about the parents of a little Havyn, and those assumptions would be that they’re young, uneducated, and not particularly classy. Sorry.
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Wow, it's even worse than 'Haven' which is how I would say it. I can't imagine many would think to pronounce it as 'Heaven'. It just wouldn't make sense.
One of my naming pet peeves (and one that is mutual among the name community) are Y-replacing names. They look juvenile and make the parents look illiterate and dumb. Basterized spellings such as Landyn, Camdyn, Emmersyn/Emersyn, Jordyn, Camryn, Londyn and so on.
I don't reccomend 'Haven' but at least the spelling isn't an eyesore.
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I agree!Though I do like Haven for a boy.
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I was confused about how to pronounce it. You apparently are as well. That doesn't really make it a good name in my opinion. I was thinking something like hay-veen, which wasn't even one fo the 3 options you gave.The Y makes the name seem trendy and looks made up (which it is). I wouldn't want to have this name. I wouldn't expect a doctor to have this name...
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My initial reaction is that it looks as if it had been chosen, all by herself, by an unmarried fifteen-year-old mother. I would guess that it should sound like Haven, but anything's possible.
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The fact that you yourself don't know how you would pronounce it is a sign to me that this is a bad spelling. Not that I'm totally sure that pronunciation you're trying to get across by "Have'n." If you want to name someone Haven or Heaven, just name them that. Then people will know how to pronounce it. The purpose of the way a word is spelled is to tell you how to pronounce it. (Though I also don't really think Heaven is a reasonable pronounciation of Havyn.) Pronunciation aside, I don't ever really like alternate spellings to word names. I think they universally look silly and uneducated.
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I can't agree more with your opening statement. I mean...*applause* A very valid point.
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I'd read it as Haven; no other pronunciation would occur to me, unless I was corrected.I generally don't like when people change the spelling of word names. It seems unnecessarily complicated.I don't even like Haven that much; it has connotations of hiding, fear, danger to me. But I'd prefer Haven to Havyn.If someone told me Havyn was related to Havin (https://www.behindthename.com/name/havin/submitted) or some other non-word name, I'd probably like it more.

This message was edited 1/9/2019, 1:18 PM

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