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HelpName advice - baby girl
My husband and I want to name our baby girl (coming in January!) after our grandmothers. Mine is Rafaela, which I want as the middle name. His grandma is Asha. We want some variation of Asha, or something that includes "asha" or maybe "ash" but we're kinda stuck.
We don't like Ashley because we want something that's not super common. We kinda like Natasha, but it seems a bit Russian, and we aren't. (We're Indian and Hispanic, if that helps anyone)
Thanks in advance!
We don't like Ashley because we want something that's not super common. We kinda like Natasha, but it seems a bit Russian, and we aren't. (We're Indian and Hispanic, if that helps anyone)
Thanks in advance!
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Replies
Tasha ?
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Haha now I'm paranoid it's too Black instead of too Russian ;)
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no not at all
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A lot of non-Russian people use Natasha. Masha could also be an option.
This message was edited 10/17/2021, 12:56 PM
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I love Natasha! I don’t think it’s too Russian sounding
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I love Asha Rafaela. I honestly can't think of any name with asha or ash that I like better than just Asha, so I'd keep it as is. The only ash names I like as much as Asha are Ashara and Asherah, but neither of those would work with Rafaela because of the repeated "ra" syllable.
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Asha is such a beautiful name, and so is Rafaela! Asha Rafaela would be an amazing combo.
I think you've already gotten a lot of suggestions with 'ash' or 'asha,' so I'll throw a few other options out there. Asha means 'wish, desire, hope,' so a name with the same Sanskrit root could be neat:
Esha
Abhilasha
Akanksha
Kamakshi
Trishna
You could also try a name from a different origin with the same meaning:
Nahia (could be spelled Naia -- I think this goes so well with Rafaela)
Maram
Arezoo
Avila
Desi
Diletta
Emel
Amal
Kamini
Kanta
Lalita
Mireille or Mireia
Munya
Venus
I think you've already gotten a lot of suggestions with 'ash' or 'asha,' so I'll throw a few other options out there. Asha means 'wish, desire, hope,' so a name with the same Sanskrit root could be neat:
Esha
Abhilasha
Akanksha
Kamakshi
Trishna
You could also try a name from a different origin with the same meaning:
Nahia (could be spelled Naia -- I think this goes so well with Rafaela)
Maram
Arezoo
Avila
Desi
Diletta
Emel
Amal
Kamini
Kanta
Lalita
Mireille or Mireia
Munya
Venus
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2 other names including Asha are Ashanti and Sasha. I'm sure they've been recommended. And "Vashti" contains Ash.
Have others said that you can use the search function to search by letter combos? You can search for *ash* and *asha*.
Asha Rafaela is really nice. I like Asha. I knew one. She was lovely and I thought her name was beautiful and simple and interesting.
You could also use just Ash or, like, Ashton? Ashlyn is kind of nice? Not my taste but not bad and not too common.
Have others said that you can use the search function to search by letter combos? You can search for *ash* and *asha*.
Asha Rafaela is really nice. I like Asha. I knew one. She was lovely and I thought her name was beautiful and simple and interesting.
You could also use just Ash or, like, Ashton? Ashlyn is kind of nice? Not my taste but not bad and not too common.
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Ditto Ashana. That has the same feel as Asherah and Ashara but it also works with Rafaela, and it has the versatile nickname Ana (or Shana) if the baby ends up not liking the full name or Ash/Asha/etc.
This message was edited 10/16/2021, 12:41 PM
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Natasha hasn't been exclusively Russian for many years now. It was very popular on black girls born in the seventies and eighties, and now it's pretty much assimilated into most any culture.
There's always Sasha.
Consider your grandmothers' middle and/or maiden names as well.
There's always Sasha.
Consider your grandmothers' middle and/or maiden names as well.
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I think Natasha is lovely and a very multicultural name
Asha is nice, Ashanti, Ashlyn, Sasha, Tasha, Vashti, Rashida, Ashira, Stasha, Ashala, Ashanta
Asha is nice, Ashanti, Ashlyn, Sasha, Tasha, Vashti, Rashida, Ashira, Stasha, Ashala, Ashanta
This message was edited 10/15/2021, 1:24 PM
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Ashanti is the first that comes to mind. Ashanti Rafaela sounds lovely. Natasha is okay too, though it wouldn't be my first choice.
Other suggestions:
Aisha Rafaela
Dasha Rafaela
Alisha Rafaela
Anisha Rafaela
Masha Rafaela
Sasha Rafaela
Esha Rafaela
Keep in mind you can also use another first name you really love with middle names Asha Rafaela
Other suggestions:
Aisha Rafaela
Dasha Rafaela
Alisha Rafaela
Anisha Rafaela
Masha Rafaela
Sasha Rafaela
Esha Rafaela
Keep in mind you can also use another first name you really love with middle names Asha Rafaela
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I agree with your last point as well
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Asha Rafaela is pretty. Ashanti comes to mind, and Ashira, Ashlynn, Ashby, Ashni, Ashna
I agree with the previous posters ideas too.
You can use Think Baby Names site too look up Ash names as well that is my go to tool for searching for names with particular elements
I agree with the previous posters ideas too.
You can use Think Baby Names site too look up Ash names as well that is my go to tool for searching for names with particular elements
This message was edited 10/15/2021, 11:17 AM
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I think Natasha is a great name and I knew a girl from India with that name and it didn’t seem odd. Not sure where you are, but I believe Ashley as a girl name is ranked 154th in the USA as of 2020, and unranked in England and Wales since 2019.
Some other suggestions:
Sasha
Aster
Anastasia
Asha
Tasha
Ashni
Some of these are definitely more of a stretch than other, but I hope it still helped. :)
Some other suggestions:
Sasha
Aster
Anastasia
Asha
Tasha
Ashni
Some of these are definitely more of a stretch than other, but I hope it still helped. :)
3
Thanks! I should've specified that we are in the USA, so that does affect some things. Yeah, I guess Ashley isn't as high as it used to be, but there are also a lot of alternate spellings that make it feel more common (Ashlee, Ashleigh, etc). Or maybe we just know a lot of Ashleys haha
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Is there a reason you want a variant and not just Asha? Is that grandmother still alive and lives nearby and you don't want to cause confusion about whether you're talking about the grandma or the baby, or do you want a longer name? Or does it have a connotations I don't know about? (I just think Asha is perfect already, but it's not popular where I live so maybe it's actually dated and I just don't know :P)
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Yes, we actually have a lot of reasons, probably too many haha. My primary concern is pronunciation. The name is supposed to be pronounced AH-shah, and I fully expect a bunch of people saying ASH-ah (like the tree), which would annoy me to no end. It's a slight concern of my husband's as well. He mostly doesn't want to do a direct naming because she's still alive, and he feels weird about it, which is fair.
We also both want longer names so there's more options for nicknames.(We both have short names and no nicknames :/ )
We also both want longer names so there's more options for nicknames.(We both have short names and no nicknames :/ )
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You probably know a lot of adult Ashleys - which makes parents less likely to want to use it on a child, it seems overly familiar.
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Yes, that's true actually haha. They're mostly from work or school. Guess it was really popular in the 80s/90s. I think my husband just plain doesn't like the name, so it's not really a strong contender anyway.
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