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Fetching Names: The Honest i

December 29, 2011 By appellationmountain 31 Comments

Letter iI do not like names respelled to end with an i.

Maci, Juli, Kari – no, no, no. Macy, Julie, Carrie – yes, yes, yes.

Nicknames – Ceci for Cecilia – get a pass. And I don’t so much mind Ashlie and Averie, though I think it might be frustrating to introduce yourself as “Ashlie with an ie” for ever and evermore.

Except that I do find myself completely in love with names that conventionally end in i, perhaps because it is rather rare – at least in English. And so this week’s list is all about girls’ names that end with the letter i, stylishly.

Naomi – Maybe the best example of an enduring appellation that ends in i, the Biblical Naomi has been quietly on the rise for years, reaching #96 in 2010. Looking for something similar, but less popular? The French Noemi is an option, but Noemie is the more common spelling. And now there’s the Scandinavian Noomi, worn by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, known for her roles in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the new Sherlock Holmes movie.

Eleni – I’m dazzled by Eleni’s, the New York cookie company known for their elaborately decorated sweets. Eleni Gianopulos is the baker behind the business. Like many famous bearers of the name, she’s Greek – but then, there was also a sixteenth century Empress of Ethiopia called Eleni, so the name has international cred. And, of course, Eleni has impeccably classic roots – she’s derived from Helen. With Elena, Eleanor, and Helena all feeling current at the moment, Eleni is both striking different and appealingly familiar.

Kateri – The Mohawk version of Catherine, popularized by a seventeenth century convert to Christianity, is something of a puzzle. The pronunciation is debated, and I’m not sure if any one else answered to Kateri until Catherine Tekakwitha came along. She’s scheduled to be canonized shortly, possibly encouraging more Catholic parents to consider Kateri for their daughters. Still, I think she could work for parents of other faiths. First, she’s considered the patron of environmental causes. Second, Kate names are mainstream.

Iolani – If non-Catholic parents hesitate to embrace Kateri, perhaps those without a connection to Hawaii will pause before considering Iolani. But I love her meaning – it translates roughly to “heavenly bird” – and the former royal palace in Honolulu is the ‘Iolani Palace. Iolani also reminds me of Iolanthe – the Violet-variant first used by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Anjali – She’s an Indian import that could wear well circa 2012. Her sound is close to the evergreen Angela and yet her look is worlds away. Like Iolani and Kateri, she might be too much of a risk for some parents. But if you dare, Anjali could be that rare name – attractive, unusual, and cross-cultural without requiring constant explanation.

Do you have any strong feeling about ends-in-i names? Are any of these daring enough to make an exception?

More names you might like:

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Comments

  1. Lou @ Mer de Noms says

    January 2, 2012 at 2:42 PM

    I have a Filipino friend named Angeli, and personally have a place in my heart for the French name Magali – which is occasionally used with an -ie spelling. I’ve also heard of the name Nayeli once or twice.

    Reply
  2. Charlotte Vera says

    December 30, 2011 at 12:51 AM

    Because I grew up with so many of them, Anjali and Naomi, while lovely names, sound a bit too familiar to me. Eleni has a lovely, lilting sound, as does Lelani; and while Heidi is much more prosaic, she’s a family name that I can’t help liking.

    Quite a lot of Indian girls’ names end in i: Shruti, Preeti, Anjani, Anuragini, Priyadarshini, Aarti, Parvati, Jyoti, Rani. . .

    On a completely different note, I’m moving again! I spent the first half of my life in India, the last decade or so in Canada, and now I’m off to New Zealand. We have an initial three-year visa for the country, but who knows? We may be there longer!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 30, 2011 at 1:02 AM

      Enjoy New Zealand! 😀 what part of Canada (I’m in Vancouver).

      Reply
    • Sarah A says

      December 30, 2011 at 11:52 AM

      Charlotte, congrats on the big move and have fun in New Zealand!! We’ve never been but DH is a huge LOTR fan so it’s on our list of places to visit 🙂

      Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      December 30, 2011 at 6:05 PM

      Oh wow! What an adventure … and what a great chance to hear more interesting names. 🙂

      Reply
  3. liz says

    December 29, 2011 at 11:06 PM

    My sweet niece Anneli! Her dad is Norwegian.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 30, 2011 at 12:46 AM

      Love Anneli! I have a cousin named Siri to honor Scandinavian heritage (pre Apple Siri!)

      Reply
      • liz says

        January 4, 2012 at 2:12 AM

        😉

        Reply
  4. Dearest says

    December 29, 2011 at 6:31 PM

    I’m not too fond of any of these actually. Eleni is my favourite, but she has all those soft sounds I don’t care too much for when theyr’e the only ones present.
    Looking through my list I find Abeni, Aditi, Amani, Citali, Delphi, Eleri, Ellidi, Eridani, Esti, Eulli, Imani, Imari, Inari, Izanami, Kirsi, Kyriaki, Lapsi, Lelwani, Libani, Lowri, Lumi, Litchi, Mabli, Mardi, Marsaili, Medeni, Mervi, Midori, Mielikki, Mikkeli, Mirai, Munani, Neroli, Niaouli, Nori, Patchouli, Rhymni, Runi, Sini, Siri (this should have been on the list!), Tabiti, Taidi, Teleri, Tesni, Tulsi, Verdi and Yumi..
    Delphi, Ellidi, Kirsi, Marsaili, Mielikki, Sini, Tesni and Tulsi are my favourites, but Sini is the one I’m most likely to use. It means ‘blue’ 🙂

    Reply
  5. Elisabeth, You Can't Call It "It"! says

    December 29, 2011 at 5:54 PM

    Great post! The diversity of the origins of these names fascinate me. Hebrew, Greek, Mohawk, Hawaiian, and Indian. The German Lorelei is a great suggestion, too.

    Will you do a boys’ name post? Henri, Levi, Dimitri, Malachi, Nikolai, Loki. When it’s authentically trendi, I love it. 😉

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 30, 2011 at 12:44 AM

      Ohhh great suggestions!! How about Ali?.

      Reply
  6. Julie says

    December 29, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Names like Imani, Lorelei, Mari, Malachi are fine. But names like Laci, Kimberli and Jessi feel very twee and stuck in the 80’s.

    My SIL adores the name Sylvi, and while I realize it’s legitimate… it looks incomplete and I sort of expect it to be written with a glittery, pink gel pen.

    Reply
  7. Sally says

    December 29, 2011 at 12:07 PM

    Molly Ringwald’s eldest daugher’s middle name is Ereni, which apparently means “peace” in Greek. (Her first name is Mathilda.) I think my favorite ends-in-i names would be Naomi and Levi – a lot of them just seem to look incomplete, or cut off.

    Reply
  8. The Name Station says

    December 29, 2011 at 5:01 PM

    I think Joni and Juni, are awesome – less thrilled by the likes of Lizzi, for sure! And I think Hawaiian names like Iolani are beautiful!

    Reply
  9. C in DC says

    December 29, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    My grandmother and my niece share the middle name Naomi. I like your list. Kateri fascinates me. I thinks “rhymes with Atari” would make for the easiest pronunciation, although cah-ter-AYE (long I on the end) would be neat.

    Reply
  10. Liann says

    December 29, 2011 at 11:24 AM

    My cousin’s name is Katiri (pr. ka-TEER-ee). Not sure where my aunt and uncle got it, but it seems too close to Kateri to not be related to it, or at least inspired by it. She goes by Kati, an -i ender, but that’s how her name is spelled, so I give it a pass.

    Reply
  11. dreadedjaws says

    December 29, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    I’m a fan of I… at the start of a name… at the end, things get dodgy, as you’ve mentioned. Generally, I find the ends-in-i names less than inspiring, although you’ve got a nice collection here, but they aren’t really for me. Ends-in-i respellings and nicknames are always dated to the 80s for me and I automatically picture the heart over the i (was this an 80s thing or does it persist to this day?)… Cindi (heart dot), Vicki (heart dot), Nicki (heart dot), Toni (heart dot), etc. Juli, however, looks very weird to me – like the last letter was forgotten, rather than purposely omitted.

    Reply
  12. Sarah A says

    December 29, 2011 at 10:50 AM

    I’m not big on respelled ends-in-i names either; for some reason they often seem incomplete and almost childish.

    Of the ones you mentioned, Naomi is my favorite. I also adore Anjali. Along the lines of Anjali, I would add Amani for your consideration. I don’t know what it means, but Amani is a legitimate Arabic name. I have two cousins with the name and a friend in MI has a 2 year old Amani (older sister is Maari@).

    For boys I love Rafi, Ari, and Levi. Rafi is a serious contender for us, but that I-ending really gives me pause and makes me want to put Raphael on the birth certificate.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 30, 2011 at 12:41 AM

      I grew up listening to Raffi so I totally <3 Raphael (and I used to sing Baby Beluga to my daughter endlessly in my turn <3)

      Reply
      • Sarah A says

        December 30, 2011 at 11:56 AM

        Catherine, I grew up listening to Baby Beluga as well 🙂 I know the singer is most people’s only association with Rafi/Raffi, but I knew a friend of a friend in college who was Raphael nn Rafi and I’ve been sold on it ever since.

        Reply
  13. Sebastiane says

    December 29, 2011 at 10:19 AM

    I’ve always loved Kateri! I have only ever heard it pronounced (kuh-TARE-ee).

    Reply
  14. KatieB says

    December 29, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    I’ve never liked Angel- names but Anjali is growing on me.

    I agree with you about the respelled -i endings…My sister went with the spelling Luci for my neice … she has even admitted to wanting to continue the trend if she has another girl, Holli seems to be the front runner. *cringe* I plan to try and convince her that Mali (Molly) would be a better fit.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 30, 2011 at 12:40 AM

      or Mairi 🙂 or Heidi (unless Miss Montag ruined the name for everyone).:

      Reply
      • KatieB says

        December 30, 2011 at 8:34 AM

        Actually, my sister’s best friend named her daughter Heidi. Is Mairi pron. like Mary?

        Reply
  15. Emily says

    December 29, 2011 at 8:57 AM

    Names respelled to end in -i annoy me to no end. The names you listed are nice enough, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them on someone else’s child. They just aren’t for me.

    Reply
  16. Zeffy says

    December 29, 2011 at 8:13 AM

    My mother is a Noemie, but she doesn’t it like it very much. I much prefer it to Naomi, which always makes me think of the angry, phone throwing supermodel. Of the ones you mentioned I particularly like Kateri. It is a great alternative to Catherine but still has all her charms.

    Reply
  17. Catherine says

    December 29, 2011 at 5:57 AM

    Eleni’s been a long time favourite of mine 🙂 lots of Anjalis where I live (huge huge East Indian and Pakistani communities).

    Reply
  18. onomasticsisfantastics says

    December 29, 2011 at 5:29 AM

    It’s strange how spelling and accent can change a name. I had to force myself to read Kari and Carrie as the same. Kari is instantly CAR-ee and Carrie is CAH-ree.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      December 29, 2011 at 12:22 PM

      I went to school with a Kari (Kahr-ee) and a Kari (CAIR-ee). My brain still has trouble with that.

      Reply
  19. Lauren says

    December 29, 2011 at 4:29 AM

    All of these are awesome! I also like ends-in-i names, a lot, so I’ve broken down my favorites into categories:

    Girls’ names: Ani, Araceli, Joni, Lindi, Miri, Heidi
    Boys’ names: Alexei, Avi, Ari, the French Henr

    Reply
  20. waltzingmorethanmatilda says

    December 29, 2011 at 4:27 AM

    These are all very stylish I-enders; I have seen an Eleni and two Anjalis recently born. Iolani has a beautiful meaning.

    During the dazzling deluge of Christmas names, I was taken with Lumi and Lumikki – Finnish for “snow” and “snow white”.

    Reply

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