I've liked this name for a long time, I remember using it on characters as a kid before my first "namenerd" phase.
It sounds complete to me as an English speaker even though it's really a diminutive. I've only encountered it as a full name on English speakers so it doesn't feel nicknamey to me, just short. It makes me think of fall/autumn, harvest, brown colors, and farms. But those associations aren't strong, so I don't think the name
Anya would clash with someone who didn't have those same 'vibes'.
It's not my first choice for a baby but I'd definitely be willing to use it. I would theoretically use
Anna but if I was about to have an actual baby and was thinking about naming it
Anna, I'd probably go for
Anya instead.
Anna is nice but it feels a little empty and relies a lot on middle names to give it personality, while
Anya has a decent amount of its own personality without being overwhelming (it doesn't have so much personality that it could compete with the baby's own personality, but it's not in danger of sounding empty either).
All my opinions on
Anya are similar to
Annika /
Anneka, but I think
Anya sounds a little better.
This message was edited 1/15/2022, 1:44 PM