She’s a sophisticated French spin on an evergreen choice for girls – and a goddess name, too!
Thanks to Sophie for suggesting Anais as Name of the Day.
Anais is almost always written with a diacritical mark over the i: Anaïs. Purists will tell you that the diaresis matters. Otherwise, how would you know to pronounce the name ahn na EES?
Here at AppMtn, I like to think I’m more pragmatic – at least on this topic. Umlauts, cedillas and the like are not used in American English. More often than not, they’re also not captured accurately in a database. And while part of this name’s charm is that distinctive diacritical mark, I’d argue that you’ll still find yourself pronouncing this one multiple times.
I came across a bunch of variant pronunciations, including ahn NA ees, an ah iss, ahn ees and ahn ess. After all, the name is a Top 25 pick in Chile, and a Top 50 staple in French-speaking Canada. Inevitably, the name will sound different on the opposite side of the world.
She’s often listed as a French version of the evergreen Anne. That’s not perfectly accurate. Instead, Anais evolved in the Provençal and Catalan dialects. Both are living languages in use today. They’re an intriguing mix of French and Spanish – in Catalan, for example, hello sounds like the Spanish hola while good-bye is closer to the French adieu.
Before we put her down as another attractive outcome of the evolution of various Romance languages, perhaps we should consider the Persian goddess of romance – or at least fertility. Anaitis, or possibly Anaiti, is the Greek form of Anahita. She was worshipped as far back as 500 years before the birth of Christ. You’ll sometimes see her listed beside other Eastern goddesses like Ishtar, Astarte and Inanna, as well as more familiar figures like Aphrodite and Venus.
But Anais leans French – and literary – thanks to writer Anais Nin. Her heritage was Cuban, Spanish and French. And while her provocative writings don’t quite square with our notions of childhood innocence, her bold and creative spirit certainly could inspire a modern parent.
Besides her popularity in some French and Spanish speaking communities, she has a nicely global presence. Anais Catala was Miss Iraq 2007 and Anais Lameche is a Swedish pop singer, best known as part of now defunct tween girl group Play. (However both have French roots.)
Noel Gallagher of Oasis chose Anais name for his daughter. And there’s an mutant in Marvel Comics’ X-Men universe who wears the name, too.
In the US, Anais has charted sparingly, appearing in 1988, 1992, 1993, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. She’s not completely unfamiliar, but name your daughter Anais and odds are you won’t meet another.
Overall, there’s something beguiling about this choice. Cacharel even used it – twice – for their fragrance Anaäs Anaïs. It’s awfully glamorous for a little girl, but offers the option of using homespun Annie or simpler Anna if the full name seems too much. But in a world full of vowel-intensive names like Zoe and Kaylie, Anais doesn’t seem so complicated.
Anais is just to hard to say to be potential choice. I couldn’t get comfortable with her in my mouth until the reference to Anais Nin gave me context. I say, for a name somewhat similar but much easier on an American audience, how about Annice? (although trying to spell that gave me a nasty feeling too. Any name I can’t decide on a “right” spelling is a name I won’t give my children)
I like most names that are derived from Anne and Anais is no exception. I like that stressed final syllable and umlauts are cute although I wouldn’t expect anyone in the U.S. to use them.
I find international names and the evolution of languages quite interesting. As for its popularity in Chile and some Spanish-speaking communities, the pronunciation is instinctive in Spanish.
Goddess name with simple nickname – she’s a charmer.
It’s funny – I love the idea of the name, but I have never been able to get around the pronunciation. Thank you so much for that link, it was definitely helpful but I’m still not sure if I’m on board. It seems like such a romantic name but I feel like it would be somewhat of a pain to have to say for people all the time…
I quite like Anais but I want to pronounce it AN AYE.
I like Anais. It’s not one that gets considered in our house because of my husband’s “too exotic” complaint. I would not have realized that the pronunciation was such a stumbling block – it’s one of those things that is good to know before saddling a little one with the name. I think if someone was looking for a similar sounding name with less burden of explanation, Anneliese would perhaps fit the bill. It has the addition “l” in the middle, which helps with pronunciation and the stress on syllables is similar to Anais. It also lacks any funky punctuation (although that is not really something that bugs me, personally). This is one that I’d love to hear more.
Anaïs is pretty, but because most people wouldn’t know how to pronounce it, I would prefer to use it as a middle name. I like the name though.
I’d use this as middle name because of the pronunciation issues – I cringe at the thought of hearing “annezz? annaiz?” in some flat Australian accent. But yeah, lovely name, and I think the nickname Annie makes it more appropriate for a little girl. Very chic.
No doubt Anais is gorgeous and evocative, one of the prettiest names I can think of. There’s also no doubt you’ll be fighting a lifelong pronunciation battle on this side of the pond. There is a charming little Anais in my daughter’s Daisy Scout troop, and her name is virtually unrecognized and almost always mispronounced.
Thanks for the history – wow! It’s my middle name and I’ve never thought to look her up in so much detail! Anais (I have the diaresis officially, but am too lazy to type it) is the only reason my parents named me Sophie instead of Alice – really – Alice Anais? ugh!
Anyway I’ve always loved having it as my mn, especially now, to balance out the uber popularity of Sophie. It never felt *too* strange to me either, as my sister’s mn is Aleydis. I’ve always pronounced her AH-nah-ees, and I agree with others – people butcher the pronunciation way too much, it makes me cringe, though I do appreciate that it’s a little hard to get your tongure around! Down here, a lot of people are tempted to prononce it ah-NAY, which grates me really.
Thanks again!
I loved this name and the idea of Anais Nin, until I read her diaries and several biographies ten years ago. She was a selfish, narcissistic woman who gave new meaning to the term “self-absorption”. Absolutely not a role model I want to give my daughter, regardless of how poetic and evocative her poetry and short fiction may be, or how progressive she may have been at the time.
The name itself, however, is interesting and would make a great alternative to the norm if you can get past the bitter taste in your mouth after reading in depth about her life (or maybe don’t read about her at all!)
Anais is gorgeous, but it seems way too fancy for me to use. I like my girls’ names sweet and simple, and I doubt whether a daughter of mine could ever be mysterious and provocative enough to pull off a name like Anais.
Sophie Anais is beautiful!
Ha! Thanks Emmy Jo
If that was directed to me of course. I don’t really find her mysterious as such, more light and silvery. I’m definitely not mysterious at all!
While I like the sound of Anais but I have to agree with Kat here. She was not someone I’d want to honor. Narcissistic indeed! A lovely name with a lousy namesake. Sophie, I love your name!
She’s gorgeous! I like that she is exotic yet classic at the same time.
I absolutely love this name but, due to the difficult pronunciation for most English speakers, would worry about “anus” teasings.