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HelpNeed help with gold-inspired names: Auriel/Auria
Hi all! I need help with a new first name to be used at work. I find my given name to be too cutesy for my career field (I'm going into academia in chemistry/physics) – think 'Kitty' or 'Mimi'. I can't really imagine a Professor Kitty [lastname]. It's already hard enough to be taken seriously as a woman in a STEM field...
I really want my new name to honour my maternal grandmother. Her name in my heritage language translates to ‘golden visage’, and that’s where I got the inspiration for Auriel and Auria, based on the Latin ‘aurum’ and also the chemistry symbol Au for gold. I’d appreciate if you could give your thoughts:
1. How would you pronounce Auriel/Auria? Would it be unreasonable if I asked people to pronounce the ‘Au-‘ like the ‘awe’ in awesome? (So ‘AWE-ree-uhl’ or ‘AWE-ree-ah’) I don't hate 'OR-ree-uhl/ah' and wouldn't mind correcting people at first, but I would prefer the 'awe' pronunciation in general.
2. Would you prefer Auriel or Auria and why?
3. Does Auriel (‘AWE-ree-uhl’) make you think Disney mermaid? I really like this name, but is the mermaid thing enough to ruin it? Does Auria sound like Oreo with an ‘a’? Any other weird associations?
Thanks for your input!
(I’m in the US/Canada by the way, although I interact with a very international community so pronunciations from all different accents are welcome.)
I really want my new name to honour my maternal grandmother. Her name in my heritage language translates to ‘golden visage’, and that’s where I got the inspiration for Auriel and Auria, based on the Latin ‘aurum’ and also the chemistry symbol Au for gold. I’d appreciate if you could give your thoughts:
1. How would you pronounce Auriel/Auria? Would it be unreasonable if I asked people to pronounce the ‘Au-‘ like the ‘awe’ in awesome? (So ‘AWE-ree-uhl’ or ‘AWE-ree-ah’) I don't hate 'OR-ree-uhl/ah' and wouldn't mind correcting people at first, but I would prefer the 'awe' pronunciation in general.
2. Would you prefer Auriel or Auria and why?
3. Does Auriel (‘AWE-ree-uhl’) make you think Disney mermaid? I really like this name, but is the mermaid thing enough to ruin it? Does Auria sound like Oreo with an ‘a’? Any other weird associations?
Thanks for your input!
(I’m in the US/Canada by the way, although I interact with a very international community so pronunciations from all different accents are welcome.)
This message was edited 3/18/2022, 7:46 PM
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It wouldn’t be unreasonable, but my first instinct would be OR instead of AWE. It does make me think mermaid and I think Auriel would be mistaken for Ariel a lot. If I just saw it on a paper, I would probably think it was a typo of Ariel. Awe-ree-a doesn’t sound like Oreo, but’s OR-ree-a does and would be my first guess at how to pronounce it. I think if I had to pick one I would do Auria, just because it doesn’t look like a typo of Ariel. Auria could possibly be confused as Aura, but as it is a less common name, I don’t think it would happen as much as Ariel. Interesting enough though I don’t know anyone named Ariel in real life, but I do know an Aura. Have you thought of other gold inspired or au- names? Aura could be one. Autumn could work and be more familiar, but maybe not as academia as you want. I was also thinking Aurora, Aurelia, or Oriana.
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1. I pronounce them both like "awe".
2.I like Auria better. I'm not sure why but the -el ending sounds elderly to me (like in Oral, Earl, Pearl Aurel, Muriel, Cheryl, etc.)
3. I didn't think of Ariel, but Auriel does seem like a fantasy character name somehow.
Extra: I agree with others that Aurelia is perhaps your best bet!
I know you're going to do well with STEM! Best of luck to you.
I also really like the names Ora and Aura..but they might be too close to Oreo depending on how you say it.
2.I like Auria better. I'm not sure why but the -el ending sounds elderly to me (like in Oral, Earl, Pearl Aurel, Muriel, Cheryl, etc.)
3. I didn't think of Ariel, but Auriel does seem like a fantasy character name somehow.
Extra: I agree with others that Aurelia is perhaps your best bet!
I know you're going to do well with STEM! Best of luck to you.
I also really like the names Ora and Aura..but they might be too close to Oreo depending on how you say it.
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1. My first language is Canadian English and I would say Auriel/Auria like "AWE-ree-elle" and "AWE-ree-uh" (Auria is indistinguishable in sound from Aria/Arya).
2. If I had to pick one for your intended goals, I'd say I prefer Auriel, but only because it's the better of two bad choices. To me, both names have a very immature energy, like the kind of thing a child thinks up for a beautiful princess, but Auria is especially flighty and shrill. Auriel has a tiny bit more gravitas, even if it is theatrical.
3. Auriel does sound like Ariel. But when I look at the name I don't make that connection. It's just the sound that is similar. Still, I would anticipate lots of accidental misspellings of Ariel if you go with Auriel.
2. If I had to pick one for your intended goals, I'd say I prefer Auriel, but only because it's the better of two bad choices. To me, both names have a very immature energy, like the kind of thing a child thinks up for a beautiful princess, but Auria is especially flighty and shrill. Auriel has a tiny bit more gravitas, even if it is theatrical.
3. Auriel does sound like Ariel. But when I look at the name I don't make that connection. It's just the sound that is similar. Still, I would anticipate lots of accidental misspellings of Ariel if you go with Auriel.
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1. Idk, my mother tongue isn't English
2. Both are nice, if you prefer a more feminine sounding name go for the latter, if not, than yhe former will be better.
3. I don't think of mermaids before you mention it, and both inevitably sound like Oreo so maybe you should try Aurelia.
The link below are feminine names associated with gold, and Golda, Oriana and Zarina are my personal favourites.
Link: https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/meaning/gold,golden
2. Both are nice, if you prefer a more feminine sounding name go for the latter, if not, than yhe former will be better.
3. I don't think of mermaids before you mention it, and both inevitably sound like Oreo so maybe you should try Aurelia.
The link below are feminine names associated with gold, and Golda, Oriana and Zarina are my personal favourites.
Link: https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/meaning/gold,golden
This message was edited 3/18/2022, 10:41 PM
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I slightly prefer Auria. I like Aurelia more than Auriel or Auria, though. Reading it in my head, I lean toward "oh" as the first vowel sound. If I were meeting a person with that name and had only seen it on paper, rather than hear someone introduce themself, I'd probably ask about how to pronounce it.
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Thanks! I've considered Aurelia, but thought it might be too overtly ancient Roman? I'm not European (i.e. white) and would feel a bit weird about using such a strongly Roman-associated name, if that makes sense?
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I guess to me anything with "au" in there meaning gold is going to feel Roman-associated to me.
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Also for what it's worth: I have known several MDs and PhDs in my life so far, and several of them have unconventional or even "silly" names but I still found them respectable and professional. If you want to change it just because you don't identify with it I understand that but a doctor can have any name under the sun. One of my friends has a very 90s "valley girl" name and she will have her PhD in a few months. Idk just some food for thought.
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Thanks! That's a good point, but I do think that first impressions matter to some extent, and names contribute to first impressions (at least if we're talking about academic publications, since name + institution is often the only information you have about someone when reading a paper). Also, I should have added that I'm looking for a new 'work' and 'social' name, while my original given name will be used with my family and my closest friends. Sort of like a pen name. I edited the post to make this clear. Thanks again for your thoughts though!!
This message was edited 3/18/2022, 7:46 PM
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Marigold? Orabella?
This message was edited 3/18/2022, 7:19 PM
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