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Starbaby Twins: Charlene and Myla

July 24, 2009 By appellationmountain 22 Comments

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?

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Comments

  1. bobbynorwich says

    May 23, 2010 at 11:17 PM

    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.

    Reply
  2. Juliet says

    December 23, 2009 at 9:28 AM

    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

    Reply
  3. Bewildertrix says

    July 25, 2009 at 10:23 PM

    Ooops. Typical, not atypical. Duh.

    Reply
  4. Bewildertrix says

    July 25, 2009 at 10:22 PM

    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.

    Reply
  5. Mookie says

    July 25, 2009 at 9:21 PM

    One thing: May I suggest Hannelore for a future NoTD?

    Reply
  6. Charlotte Vera says

    July 25, 2009 at 8:29 PM

    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.

    Reply
  7. Paul says

    July 25, 2009 at 1:47 AM

    Charlene surprised me as well!

    Although I appreciate the name’s retro mien, I can’t say that I like it.

    Reply
  8. Sebastiane says

    July 24, 2009 at 6:46 PM

    I’m sorry, I meant to say Swiss. Why on earth did I write sweet 😆

    Reply
  9. Sebastiane says

    July 24, 2009 at 6:45 PM

    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).

    Reply
  10. Sebastiane says

    July 24, 2009 at 5:44 PM

    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.

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      July 24, 2009 at 9:01 PM

      I agree – Mirka is cool. I kind of like Riva, though. I’m blanking on where I’ve heard it before …

      Reply
  11. JNE says

    July 24, 2009 at 8:35 PM

    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.

    Reply
  12. H says

    July 24, 2009 at 7:10 PM

    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?

    Reply
  13. photoquilty says

    July 24, 2009 at 6:45 PM

    Starbaby watch! Unrelated, I’m sorry. But WHY didn’t anyone tell me SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR is pregnant?

    Reply
  14. photoquilty says

    July 24, 2009 at 6:43 PM

    I’m with youcantcallitit. Fugly is the word.

    Reply
  15. youcantcallitit says

    July 24, 2009 at 5:48 PM

    Could they be prounced “MEE-la” and “shar-LAY-nah”???

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      July 24, 2009 at 9:01 PM

      I think you’re on to something … I can’t find an interview yet where the names are actually pronounced … anyone?

      Reply
      • Mookie says

        July 24, 2009 at 11:09 PM

        In that case, they definitely should be Mila and Charlena.

        Reply
      • youcantcallitit says

        July 25, 2009 at 12:55 AM

        No, phonetics in other languages have different rules.

        Reply
  16. youcantcallitit says

    July 24, 2009 at 5:46 PM

    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.

    Reply
  17. Allison says

    July 24, 2009 at 4:36 PM

    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.

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      July 24, 2009 at 8:50 PM

      Ruby & Scarlett? That’s fabulous!

      Reply

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