Help Me Create an English Sounding Name!

Hi,

Inspired by the topic in this subforum, I would like your help and advice in creating a new, English sounding name for myself! See, I'm Russian-Australian and have this old, great and totally unpronounceable name KIRYL. Yeah. Dont try pronouncing it. The name meaning is the 'boss' and I love it and really used to it, but it's getting more and more annoying having to spell it to ererybody and anybody. So, please vote in the poll and let's help me get an easy saying name at once!

Oh. Don't ask me what my surname is. Just don't.

Poll Options expired

  • 19
    1. Cyril. At least keep your Russian origin!
  • 48
    2. Kyle. Starts with the same letter and easy to pronounce!
  • 7
    3. Keith. Good old Aussie name.
  • 6
    4. Carlos. Why not?
  • 233
    5. Keep your original name or Mother Russia won't ever forgive you!

Comments

  • Is this a nick-name type situation or for use on things like a resume?

    How do you pronounce Kiryl? (the 'Ki' anyway, kite or kick or ??)

    • +2

      Both really. I'm in a good government job right now, but thinking about going further in the company. Kiryl is pretty much pronounced the same as Cyril with a K.

      • +49

        Vladislav ?

        …Baby don't hurt me

      • What about Boris? It is the universal ex-pat russian name

  • Him, this can be important. I do look Australian(in a good way:) but I have an accent most people call French or Spanish, sometimes Serbian.

    • +5

      Assuming people pronounce it Ki-ril I think you should keep it, sounds cool! Not common at all here :)

    • Keep it. Just tell people to feel free to call you Cyril if they prefer.

      Hey at least you don't get "randomly" picked out for security searches even though you have a Christian background and self-describe as an atheist.

      Oh and one of my nicknames in school was Useless.

    • How do you look Australian, when Australians is simply just a mix of every single race?

  • +43

    Max Power is the best english name

    • Oh we do have an insider here:)

    • +35

      Yes, it is. :)

    • +4

      Followed closely by Topham Hatt?

      • -1

        See my post below - there are better options for second place there

    • +9

      Did you get it off a hair dryer?

    • +5

      He'll be the man with the name you want to touch, but you mustn't touch!

  • +7

    Kyril sounds sexy :) I like it.

    • +25

      :) thanks, and your number is?

      • +6

        Don't take it personally Hermestri. She has this thing for men whose name starts with either 'k' or 'W' and are unpronounceable. If you have both , she'll marry you :b
        Like she did me :)

        • +10

          Awkward:) its okay. I'm married already. And decent:)

        • +6

          Your name starts with J (x2) and B, what drug are you on?

        • +1

          @strangeloops66:

          what drug are you on?

          obviously none … I enjoy being erotomanic way too much to ever want to be cured of it :b

        • @strangeloops66:

          I don't think that's his real name d00d.

        • +1

          @Jar Jar Binks: have you been watching Dr. Phil again? lol

        • @Jar Jar Binks:
          Jar Jar only eat Cereal

  • +1
    • Wow, now these are so.. Cruel!

  • "Oh. Don't ask me what my surname is. Just don't." ….. What if i guess?

    • I'd rather you didn't, but in any case I won't confirm nor deny it.

      • +9

        Putin?

  • +5

    I think you should call yourself "Jake-the-Snake Roberts". Then you'd command respect anywhere you went. Either that, or a good strong masculine name, like "Nigel", or "Eugene".

    What's your surname, by the way? We really need to know that, so we can assess how the first name we're recommending goes with it. For example, if your surname is "Ics", then maybe Eugene would not be good.

    • Those are good examples, if a bit macho for me. Lol

  • +2

    According to the Super Mario Wiki, your English name should be Cristo ;)

    I'd personally really like to hear how your real name is properly pronounced. To hell with our inability to pronounce things more exotic than 'Keith' lol.

    My doctor is Russian (rather easy to pronounce though - Sazhin). I love his accent. Is sexy.

    • Well, when I tell people how my name is really pronounced, I encounter blank look and extreme confusion followed be 'what?'. Must be due to the accents being in different places.

      And your doctors name - I'm afraid it's a first time I heard it! I'm religious and Christo sounds too blasphemous to me, ha:)

  • +3

    I vote for Kirby

    • Is it actually a name?..

      • +1

        It's an Irish surname, popular with leprechauns. You'll get no respect with such a name. Now, if you don't like Jake-the-Snake Roberts, which you've been strangely reticent about, how about "Drago"? Are you 7-foot high, fair-featured and ripped as a MF by any chance? Assuming you are, then Drago's the ticket mate. Totes.

        • +1

          I hear ya brah

      • Google Kirby.

        • Google "leprechaun kirby"; it returns 96,000 hits. Everything from cute little teddy bears to cartoon characters…

        • +5

          Screw Kirby.

          Let's go with Zangief. Wear red underpants. Might also help if you grow some chest hair, a beard and some mutton chops.

    • reminds me of the famous brit vacuum cleaner range

  • +24

    Kiryl is a bloody excellent name and you are absolutely mistaken if you think you need to change it.

    • Thanks man, I appreciate it!! I always felt uneasy about having this name in Australia.

      • +2

        I have a foreign sounding name. I will never betray my family heritage by changing it. I just go straight into giving the spelling by default before being asked and learnt not too be offended that nobody gets it right if they try to say it or spell it themselves. No big deal. Plenty of us around with strange names

        • I think the way Australians say my name right now is already betraying my heritage…

      • -1

        No way, my Russian name is even worse!

        • Well if this is your real name I am really full of tears.

    • Yeh! Tell people that your name is Cyril. Only if they need to know, then tell them that it is a different spelling. Many common names have a variety of spelling possibilities.
      According to wikipedia it is derived from the Greek name Κύριλλος (Kyrillos) meaning "Lordly, Masterful"

      • Yeah, I have been thinking about that.. It just sounds so different from what I'm used to when saying my real name..

  • +1

    Peoople will be intrigued and interested in how to spell it. You will become unforgetable with Kiryl. Keep it.

    • +1

      Good point, looks like majority agrees too!

  • +2

    Don't change your name just to fit in… because those who mind, don't matter and those who matter, won't mind :)

    I mostly use my middle name , Kairan , which believe it or not, is actually easier to pronounce than my first name.

    My first name is african and starts with a 'W'. It means "the messiah /the saviour of the people" O.O Didn't think I could live up to that one, so I went with Kairan, meaning "the little dark one" or "blacky" in irish :)

    It could have been worse. I'm often reminded by the irish side of the family , that the proper spelling of my name is 'Ciarán' :O

    • +2

      Thanks man for kind words:) I like your name, easy to say and sounds exotic. Just wanted to mention, Carlos is on the poll due to my second heritage, which is Cuban.

      • +1

        DEAR LORD….so you are Russian (tallish,built AND fair hair/skin/eyes with accent that could be lied down next to and listened to all night….not quite as much so as French or Italian,but up there,AND have a Cuban..so can seriously get your sexy on from those hot Latin genes)
        GET OUT,just call yourself Yves or Marco (to add the aforementioned French/Italian mix)or yes,Carlos(again with that sexy Latin stuff)and just become the type of guy women would dream up in a lab experiment(no,no…don't shatter any of that fantasy by adding the truth to it,just stay the perfect image of sex god that you are).MAJOR points go to you for also mentioning
        A:the wife
        B:being a decent guy who doesn't blaspheme AND
        C:You are Russian,yet have a sense of humour.
        Now,if you'll excuse me whilst i go fight off the worlds women to get to a cold shower and put on some Barry White.HAHAHAHAHAHA.

        • +1

          Santiago Pandemonium

        • +1

          I get the feeling you like our friend Hermestri a little bit, no?

        • @waterlogged turnip:

          It's nice to read that stuff there, but I really have no idea where the myth of 'tall blonde Russians with blue eyes' is coming from.. It is quite far from the truth, unless the Russian population changed drastically in the last 10 years.

  • English Sounding Name

    • Wow, wonder how no one else noticed it? Was typing on my phone.

    • to the person who negged me : read the posts title

  • Vestan Pance

    • Lovely name! Especially good when spoken with russian accent:)

  • I feel you. My name is 'Rachelle' which I pronounce as 'rayshel'. Pretty simple. Whenever I say this to people though, they can't get it. They have this confused look and ask me to repeat it. So what I did was I just pronounce it as Rachel and they get it right away.

    Another problem was that when they read my nameplate, they would pronounce it as 'ra shel' and ask 'is that how you say it?'. And I always say yes coz I can't be bothered.

    So to cut out all these unnecessary chitchat, I just say 'Rachel' and don't wear my name plate. Saves a lot of time. But then again it's not too far off anyway.

    So I guess, keep your original name if you have the patience to deal with people.

    • +1

      so the first syllable of your name is in english and the second in french ?

      • +1

        Haha I don't even know anymore man. I never had a problem with it back in my country before. But I don't really care too much about it. I just want to eliminate the process of asking questions about the name so we can get straight to the point.

        • I reckon you should adopt "Z-Rach" (I assume it's pronounced "Zed Rack") as your name in real life. It's a name stacked with confidence.

    • I once worked with someone of the same name. She'd label her stationery with "Rash".

      • +5

        You sure that wasn't to stop people from using her stationery? o_O

        • I still have one of her yellow highlighters somewhere!

    • +1

      I've known several Rachelles, all pronounced it as 'ra-shell'. Interesting! Any ideas on the origins of the name… is there an actual right/wrong way to say it? I guess I would've assumed yours would have been pronounced 'ra-shell' too based on my previous experiences. In which case, I apologise in advance. Just in case I ever happen to meet you. lol.

      That must be a pain :(

      I hate my boring, older generation, bland name. But I guess it does make life easy in some ways. Though some people still manage to get it wrong - I don't bother correcting them though. Kinda makes life a little more interesting when they mess it up lol. "Huh? That's not my na… oh heck, sure, I'll be that for the day.."

      • My name is Matt. Some people call me Max. I'm not that old. How many Maxes do you know versus how many Matts?

        • Max is v popular in little boys now.

      • Yeah it is interesting how the different Rachelles of the world prefer different pronunciations. I do know some prefer ra-shell so idk!

        I don't bother correcting people too though. But then I also hope that person doesn't hear a friend or someone who knows me pronounce it the other way. Then they'd be thinking why I didn't correct them lol

    • Haha, yes I got so fed up with having to repeat my name numerous times, I just said one day call me Kyle! And people do so without any hesitation, but to me Irish name like this is a little…unnatural?

  • I often think its silly that a lot of asians change thier name to a "more English" sounding name. Personally I dont think its necessary, but Humans like to fit in with the rest of the crowd. But I can understand when their name sometimes doesn't work/pronounce right in the english language.

    • +2

      It's for employment reasons. They (name changers) think most people can't help but discriminate a little when we see an non-English name in a resume and then preferring to hire an Anglo-saxon (or someone of the same race as you) because of stereotypes.

      • Huh? but they can just discriminate them after they see them at the job interview.

        • +3

          There's still a resume screening process. Not everyone gets to have a face to face interview.

        • +2

          Having a more English sounding name may help them get the job interview in the first place.

          People who read resumes have a lot to sift through, and so they're picky. Some employers may discriminate on names due to assumptions they may have about the person's ability to speak English fluently etc. Actually meeting in person will mean that the person has a chance to prove the prejudices wrong.

    • +1

      And then you get the Asians who do what they want, here's to all the "Pony's" and "Fly's" out there.

    • +4

      "I often think its silly that a lot of Asians change their name to a "more English" sounding name."

      What about this woman:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Dikshit

      If i had her name and moved to Straya, I'd be tempted to change my name to… well… ANYTHING ELSE.

    • +2

      the reason why my mum uses a english first name is because its confusing. Not sure if this is a rare situation or anything but her surname is Yu and her first name is Yu Cheng and that equats to Yu Yu Cheng so when she has to sign up for things they often get mixed up. now she uses Jenny.

      • Alice: Who did this?

        Bob: Yu did it.

        Yu: …

        Alice: I did not!

  • +6

    The name meaning is the 'boss'

    Your new English name is Bruce Springsteen

    • Never heard of this guy, time to check out some of his work.

  • Bruce Springsteen was also known as "The Boss"…so go with Bruce.

  • +1

    why not just leave your name as it is but pronounce it "karl" if anyone asks?

    I have a bit of a weird (to Australians, anyway) name but people I meet get it right eventually. If they don't, its a useful way of confirming that person isn't someone I want anything to do with anyway (because theyre either xenophobic or tone-deaf :p )

    • Karl sounds so pompous and just doesn't suit me at all..

      • To me Karl sounds much like a name of the people!

        I thought Karl as well.

  • +5

    Al Kader?

    • Terry Wrist

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