<p>Is she choosing “Dreanne” because it echoes the sound of “Giang”? </p>
<p>Tell her that people with unconventional names spend a LOT of time pronouncing and spelling their names for others. Guaranteed, people will call her “Dreen” or even “Dreeney”.</p>
<p>I love the idea of “Adrienne” (or “Adrianne”) because “Drienne” can be the nickname, and she can spell the nickname anyway she likes. </p>
<p>I understand your thinking that this would be a good time to introduce the new name, but does it have to be a legal change right now? I shudder to think what name I would have chosen for myself at your daughter’s age. She can tell her new friends and her teachers to call her by her new name and see how it sits before actually changing her name.</p>
<p>(“Dreanne”, for me, brings up connotations of what I like to call “soap opera names,” a teenage character on One Life to Live or something – it does not sound professional, but it does not sound particularly ethnic or black. I am of Polish-American descent, raised in Chicago.)</p>
<p>To the original poster: is your daughter planning to actually go through a legal name change, so that the new first name (“Dreanne” or whatever she decides on) is her official, forever (unless she changes it legally) name? This is an interesting dilemma. My own younger girl joined our family through adoption when she was a baby and was born in the People’s Republic of China. My husband and I decided (I hope this was a good decision) to give her an American first name (this was on the advice of Chinese-American friends who insisted that our girl would want to “be like everyone else”!) and to give her a Chinese middle name that meant the same thing as the name given her by the orphanage, but which sounds more familiar/prettier to the Western ear. So far, our D loves her first and middle names. A quick Google search of girls’ names beginning with “DR” revealed this Spanish name: Drina, which means “helper of humankind.” Just a thought. I am a fan of the name “Diana,” which is classic and beautiful and works well for a female of any age.</p>
<p>" Personally, I don’t really like names that appear to be more common names (Diane) spelled differently to appear interesting, but we all have our irrational prejudices."</p>
<p>I have the same prejudice. Like “Anfernee” or something. I always wonder if the person simply can’t spell.</p>
<p>I’m from NYC and I can just hear that name pronounced (sucking of teeth sound) “Dray YANNE” Like “Gee Yanna” for Gianna, which should be pronounced “Johnna.” That may be a NewYork thing, though, but it sets my teeth on edge already. Definitely an ethnic thing. Being a borough girl, I can hear the whole Italian-American-Brooklyn-Staten-Island pronounciation. Ewwww.</p>
LOL! Just this month we were enjoying a lovely water side dining experience in the Bahamas. It was interrupted by the shrill sound of a Staten Island (I believe) woman yelling at her daughter — “AM BAHH!! I’m not chasing you around! Get back here AM BAHH!” Now Amber is not one of my favorite names to begin with. But I know exactly what you mean. Like fingernails on a blackboard.</p>
<p>I also know a REALLY nice Deanna, so that colors my perception, but I agree that it is much easier to go through life with a name that people recognize somewhat. I have a difficult name and have found it to be a pain. When it came to naming my children I gave them much more classic names.
I did the profession test too, would they feel comfortable with this name in any profession they might choose?
I also just think that Deanna is a much prettier name than Dreanne, which sounds too much like drain to me. I have never confused it with Diana in my mind.
Good Luck!</p>
<p>Just read more of the posts–Adrienne, or Adrianne, seems like a great idea! She could be known as Drianne now if she wanted to and then go to Adrianne as an adult, when she might want a more professional name.</p>
<p>“It was interrupted by the shrill sound of a Staten Island (I believe) woman yelling at her daughter — “AM BAHH!! I’m not chasing you around! Get back here AM BAHH!” Now Amber is not one of my favorite names to begin with. But I know exactly what you mean. Like fingernails on a blackboard.”</p>
<p>I’m a native Staten Islander (back to the Dutch settlers!) who does not (how can I say this nicely?) share the common ethnicity of my borough, so I’m always told that I sound like I’m from the South. Which, of course, I don’t, but I don’t sound like a Brooklyn truck driver either. Here’s a confession: when we visited colleges, no one could tell that Zoosergirl was from here and I was absolutely elated about that. Both girls have anchorperson speaking voices. Thank heavens.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, I live in SopranoLand, but am the rare nonItalian in these parts. Grew up in Hudson County, which had it’s own interesting speech patterns and an Irish dominant culture. But my parents insisted on the “anchorperson” speech, as well. We’ve passed that on to the kids. I do have a few Jerseyisms, like “cawfee” and “ahrange.”</p>
<p>"I live in SopranoLand, but am the rare nonItalian in these parts. "</p>
<p>Exactly, although my MIL was as ethnic as they come. I hope I’ve had some impact on my kids’ speech, but I don’t know how much. The dragging “h” makes me crazed (“shtreet” “shtrong” etc.) and I refuse to answer when people speak those words to me.</p>
<p>I think madeup names are nice, but they should be pronounceable. A “Dreanne” that is pronounced like “dream” is too obscure. Maybe if she changed the spelling?</p>
<p>Dreene?
Dreen?
Drean?</p>
<p>A “Dreanne” might have stipper potential, but I don’t think a “Dreen” does.</p>
<p>I just noticed pt3’s suggestion of Andrea. That could solve all your problems. She could go with the “Dre” or “Drea” sounds for nicknames as a younger person, yet still have Andrea as a serious, classic name for career purposes.</p>
<p>I have two boys, but I still fantasize about what I would name my daughter. :(</p>
<p>This discussion of NY borough accents reminds me of an experience from my youth. Once upon a time, when I was 19, I was visiting my grandparents in Florida with my parents. We stayed in a nice hotel. The first afternoon, I went down by the pool to check things out, and was more than pleased to see a very nicely constructed girl in my age range, wearing not much of a bikini, bouncing herself up and down on the end of the diving board, to excellent effect. She certainly had my attention. All of a sudden, she stopped, turned to a sister by the side of the pool, and let loose with what at first sounded like the opening line of My Fair Lady:</p>
<p>“AAAAAAOOOOOUUUUUWWWWWWW. Ayee don’ wawnna go inna warter! It’s too cowwwwuld!”</p>
<p>At that very moment, I learned that accent-snobbery trumped biology for me. Maybe not if she were the last girl on earth, but she wasn’t.</p>
<p>I spent most of the evenings on that trip keeping company with another girl from the 'GIsland whose parents had paid for speech lessons.</p>
<p>LOL! The advent of sound killed the career of a few stars of silent cinema for that reason.</p>
<p>But we are behind the times. In England, the BBC received pronunciation has for a while been replaced by regional accents as being more trendy; and the accent of the Home Counties has been replaced by “Estuary English.”</p>
<p>I love the suggestion of retaining the Vietnamese first name and going by a new middle name, for now, as in “G. Xyz.” There are some wonderful suggestions here - I love Diana, Dierdre, Adrianna, Andrea. I know someone named Lianne, another lovely name.</p>
<p>If your D’s goal is a more common or American sounding name, not sure that Dreanne fits the bill. How about Danielle if she wants a D name? If your D wants to stick to names that sound like the original I vote for Brianna, Jenna, Diana or Adrianna. I don’t think you have to worry at all about the comparison to Princess Diana - Diana is a classic name that certainly stands on its own. And Deanna doesn’t bring any connotations of Diana to mind. As for Dreanne, regardless of it’s popularity or lack thereof, sorry but I have to add to the list of those who don’t care for the name!</p>
<p>I don’t know your D or family, but my suggestion is when you present these thoughts to her, avoid objecting to what she chose because its sounds, as you said, too much “like a stripper” or too “ghetto” but perhaps because of ease of sound, spelling and future professional tone.</p>
<p>Being from nowhere that anything interesting happens, I didn’t pick up a stripper connection. Your ears might be attuned to what’s around Las Vegas, the community you’re leaving.</p>
<p>I also find this next generation of kids the least racist I’ve ever encountered in this country. To object to a name because it sounds too Black, as some have considered here, doesn’t make you a racist…but it tells kids that a name that makes them sound Black is a thing to avoid. My kids and their friends are so very protective of the “we’re less racist than you guys so we don’t think that way” defense, and in a way that’s a beautiful thing. Why break that apart? Find other reasons (there are so many) to talk her out of Dreanne than “it might make others think she’s Black.” IMHO. </p>
<p>Put differently, if she wanted to become a “Kelley” or “Siobhan” and you said, “Nope, too Irish” or a Sarah or Rachel and you said, “Ewww, too Jewish…” how would she react? Same thing.</p>
<p>Adding some other feedback on name recognition and spelling: my S has a name that is Old Testament Biblical (fine by us, we’re Jewish and chose it LOL). Everyone Jewish or Christian instantly “gets” it by ear, but nobody can spell it. We see it in print often enough that we didn’t realize how challenging it is to spell. Fortunately, he says, others know they’re stumped by the spelling, so ask him for help, rather than misspell (a different problem). He says it’s somewhat tedious, although he now enjoys having a medium-unusual first name that folks remember. He says he’ll try for an easier spell for his own kids. I tell him I can hardly wait for a spellable grandchild.</p>