I’m not a huge tennis fan. I knew that Roger Federer and wife Mikra were in the family way. But I wasn’t watching anxiously for news of the blessed event.
Except.
Roger and Mirka have welcomed twin daughters. And their names? Charlene Riva and Myla Rose.
Myla fits in just right with all the Mayas and Mias and Kylas out there. As it happens, there’s a pint-sized Mylah in my ‘hood.
But Charlene? Knock me over with a feather! Is it a logical extension of the Charlotte/Charlie craze, or signs of the New Retro in baby names?
And is it me, or is the pair a little bit mismatched?
Thoughts?
In an interview for the French Open 2010, Roger corrected an interviewer who pronounced Myla’s name as Mila … Fed said it’s said as “Mee’lah. The question of Charlene’s pronunciation did not arise.
Hmmm , I like Myla (with any pronunciation )
Charlene doesn’t sound cheap or made up to me . It sounds like an offshoot of Chanel.Chantelle,Charmaine etc It actually sounds like a name that would be popular in South Africa amongst certain communities. (
The names can be pronounced differently in different languages and cultures
In a way, I think it is good that the names are not of the same style. It shows that they chose what the liked and loved- they weren’t trying to prove a point or to be a certain way. The girls are going to grow up to be individuals – not the same person. They should have individual names, as opposed to names that are trying to be matched. By the way, I am not against twin names staring with the same letter – names must be individual, though
Myla and Charlene is an interesting combination that sounds nouveau. It sounds like they picked names that they loved, as opposed to names from a certain style
Ooops. Typical, not atypical. Duh.
Charlene is a bit comical to a Kiwi like me. It’s like the a-typical old school bogan name and I automatically want to shorten it to the horrible Shazza. I hope it’s being pronounced differently to the strine shar leen we use here and in Australia. I cannot abide by Charlotte but would have preferred it.
Myla I don’t mind. In theory it’s quite nice but anything similar to Myra isn’t my thing at all thanks to the Hindley murderer. Ruined for me despite appreciating it’s dusty retro quality.
Still, points for being completely unexpected.
One thing: May I suggest Hannelore for a future NoTD?
I can’t say I’m a big fan of either name and they do seem mismatched to me.
I’m sorry about the current “Charlotte” craze because I appreciated that my name was at least slightly unusual as a child. The Miley, Mia, Malia trend doesn’t do anything for me.
Charlene surprised me as well!
Although I appreciate the name’s retro mien, I can’t say that I like it.
I’m sorry, I meant to say Swiss. Why on earth did I write sweet 😆
I just realized that their father is sweet, and which case, I believe they would be either pronouncing the French way of (shahr-LEHN) or the German way of (shar-LEH-neh). I’m guessing that, since the mother is Slovakian, they might have gotten it from the Slavic name Mila, pronounced (MEE-lah).
I don’t know, I do think they match. I think of Myla as a dated name that was popular in the 1950s, as was Charlene, so they work together to me. I like The flow of Charlene Riva even if Charlene is not my style. Rose is a boring middle name choice. Its very predictable. Their mother’s name fascinates me most of all.
I agree – Mirka is cool. I kind of like Riva, though. I’m blanking on where I’ve heard it before …
Well, if it’s MEE lah and shar LEH neh, that sounds better than MY-lah and shar-LEEN (I’m not fan of -LEEN enders). MEE-lah also sounds more like a “real’ name to me… MY-lah is just made-up sounding to me. Even so, I’m kind of meh on the names.
I’m a big Federer fan and was waiting anxiously for this news, very exciting but the names are a bit underwhelming.. Myla reminds me of Miley and Charlene makes me want to watch Designing Women. I wonder how they will pronounce them though?
Starbaby watch! Unrelated, I’m sorry. But WHY didn’t anyone tell me SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR is pregnant?
I’m with youcantcallitit. Fugly is the word.
Could they be prounced “MEE-la” and “shar-LAY-nah”???
I think you’re on to something … I can’t find an interview yet where the names are actually pronounced … anyone?
In that case, they definitely should be Mila and Charlena.
No, phonetics in other languages have different rules.
Charlene and Myla, huh? I can get into Myla, but Charlotte offshoots always sound cheap to me. So it’s super retro and could be adorable on a hip baby or teen. I don’t know, I’m not feeling it. As a pair they do work for me. Both are pretty fugly.
I can’t quite match them together stylistically, but it’s not a bad pairing. They both sound kind of nouveau, blending well with other “of the moment” names. I’d wager Charlene leans more toward the Charlie/Charlize family in this case.
My cousin’s little girls play with a set of twins named (to my complete delight!) Ruby and Scarlett. They get my award for best twin name pairing of the decade.
Ruby & Scarlett? That’s fabulous!