Re: But she knows the pronunciation
in reply to a message by Ylva
I think "it sounds nothing like it looks" is a legitimate concern for parents choosing names for their children. The fact that the parents know the pronunciation doesn't mean a phoenetically baffling name won't be constantly stumbled over, misspelled, and misunderstood. And sadly, there are actually a lot of people who don't know how to pronounce names like Chloe.
Aesthetically speaking, we're all somewhat grounded in our own culture. I know foreign names that really don't translate well into English - they might contain funny sounds, or just look crazy written out, even though they're completely legitimate. I'm sure many here wouldn't find these names attractive, and maybe by some definitions that's ethnocentric. But to a certain extent we necessarily have to look at other cultures through the lens of our own - everyone does.
Aesthetically speaking, we're all somewhat grounded in our own culture. I know foreign names that really don't translate well into English - they might contain funny sounds, or just look crazy written out, even though they're completely legitimate. I'm sure many here wouldn't find these names attractive, and maybe by some definitions that's ethnocentric. But to a certain extent we necessarily have to look at other cultures through the lens of our own - everyone does.