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Baby Name of the Day: Réka

February 29, 2012 By appellationmountain 8 Comments

Dome of the Hungarian Parliament, Budapest
She’s a traditional Hungarian choice, seldom heard much outside of Budapest.

Thanks to Meg for suggesting Réka as our Baby Name of the Day.

Hungarian is a quirky language, different from most in modern Europe. Finnish and Estonian are cousins, all grouped together as Uralic languages – thought to have originated in the Ural Mountains, way back in the BCs.

And yet Hungarian and Finnish and Estonian given names usually look something like the names that you’d find elsewhere in Europe. Even though the languages are sharply different from their neighbors, common cultural influences – saints, historical figures, literary inventions – seem to have pushed the names parents give their children towards the center.

Réka is one of the exceptions. She first appears in the historical record as the wife of Attila the Hun. Actually, Attila had a harem – but it sounds like Réka was his favorite, or at least the one identified as his consort. Some records call her Kreka and others use Arikan or Hereka. It appears she was a well-born Hun, suggesting that the name may have a longer history of use than we know.

What we do know is that Réka is a huge hit in modern Hungary, where she’s been in the Top Ten for a few years. Her pronunciation is simple – ree kah. Plenty of modern Hungarian women wear the name, sometimes in compound form. My favorite? Tennis player Réka-Luca Jani.

This reminds me of something: Hungary is among those nations requiring parents to choose a given name from an official register, and has since the 1950s. If you’re determined to head off list, there’s an appeals process that seems rather stringent – the spelling must lend itself to easy pronunciation in Hungarian, brand names and other innovations are discouraged. Still, the number of approved names has risen steadily over the years – as has the number of applications to use a name not currently on the list.

But Réka is most definitely on the list, an established Hungarian appellation. Ríka appears, too, but here I suspect we’re dealing with an import.

Rika is a heard in other countries, a logical short form for names like Frederika, Henrika, and even Erika or Veronika. (It makes me think of Rico, a masculine diminutive used for names like Ricardo or Enrico in Italian and Spanish.) In Japan, she can also be a feminine appellation with multiple possible meanings.

She’s not a given name in Slovene, but reka is a word – river.

On sound alone, Réka succeeds. She’s short, but has a certain bite. For every parent who prefers Mia, Maya, and Ella, there are some who lean towards Meeka, Mara, and Elsa – still short, sweet, and complete, but also slightly more complex thanks to the extra consonants.

If you’re seeking something virtually unknown in the US but instantly comprehensible, Reka fits the bill. She’s an easy Hungarian import, one that fits into 21st century English without sacrificing her roots.

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Comments

  1. Shannon says

    March 3, 2012 at 4:18 PM

    I listened to the pronunciation of this name on Forvo. Does not sound like Reeka to me, more like Rayka. The e with an accent mark in Hungarian makes a vowel longer. (I do not speak Hungarian, just interested in languages). The e in Reka is not quite as broad as the -ay in Bay, not a short e like the e in pet, and not -ee as in reek.

    Reply
    • Sebastiane says

      March 11, 2012 at 2:08 PM

      Yes, I agree with this. The pronunciation is more like REY-kah.

      Reply
    • Réka says

      April 30, 2014 at 6:48 AM

      Hi Shannon,

      Well noticed, Réka should be pronounced – Rayka. The meaning of this name is ‘Pure Goddess’ 😉

      Kind regards,
      Réka (from Hungary)

      Reply
  2. dreadedjaws says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:07 PM

    I don’t much like the sound of it. I’m not sure at all about Slovene, but in Russian, the word “river” is also reka, but the accent is on the 2nd syllable and the first syllable isn’t a long e sound – closer to a short i, making in sound very different from REEkah.

    Reply
  3. Kristine says

    February 29, 2012 at 3:12 PM

    Reka… “reeks of”. If it weren’t for that, I could totally get behind this name.

    Reply
  4. Jacqueline says

    February 29, 2012 at 1:04 PM

    I knew a Rika. She was great and I loved her name. Great choice today. 🙂

    Reply
  5. C in DC says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:47 AM

    I went to graduate school with a woman of Finnish ancestry who’s name is Rikke (rhymes with Ryker).

    Reply
  6. Meg says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:40 AM

    love it!

    Reply

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