Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charis? I’ve never seen a karis. Would you pronounce Car-is or care-is?

Antonia is one of those names that has two standard pronunciations. Antony-a and On-tone-ia. I actually see the latter like the book.

OP here! We would pronounce it care-is.

We really like the anne-tone-nia pronunciation! When saying it quickly, we have found that it sounds more like anne-tone-ya.

Karis is terrible. It sounds like "carious", which is an adjective that desribes a rotten/decayed tooth, and it looks like you chose a kr8ive spelling. The "-is" ending sounds clinical even if someone doesn't make the rotten tooth connection.

Very bad, OP. Please don't do this to your child.

It's a Krisis for sure.

I also thought of Willa Cather. Just know Antonia will likely get called "Toni" or Ann at school and will have it pronounced Ann-tone-ia or Anton-ia regularly.

For any name, be prepared for common nicknames and such. Though you'll never catch them all, I didn't anticipate with my kid was a silent E being pronounced with emphasis when the kids were learning to read (Think a name like "Claire" being pronounced Clair-y).

^
Karys

^
Kheris
Kharis
Karras
Kerras
Karas
Caris
Ceris

Other spelling options:
Carys
Charis
Karris
Carris
Kerris
Keris
Kerys
Cerys
Keres
Keras

Karis is very pretty and elegant sounding (when it rhymes with Harris). I almost wish that I had heard of it before I named my own daughters. I would imagine that it would probably be misspelled and mispronounced frequently though.

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit weird and questionable to use any of these names if you're white...

The American education system is failing us. We now have adults that truly believe that it is weird for people who are ethnically European to give their children European names.

You can't make this stuff up.

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit weird and questionable to use any of these names if you're white...

You do realize that (native) Italians, Welsh, and Germans are white, right?

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit weird and questionable to use any of these names if you're white...

Antonia is a widely used name with Italian roots that has seen popularity in recent years in Eastern Europe, the UK, and South America, as well as the US.

Karis is the English spelling of the Welsh name Carys.

Karla/Carla is a common Germanic name.

Other than Antonia, which has tons of cross cultural appeal, it would be unusual (though not "weird and questionable") for a person without European ancestry to use these names.

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit weird and questionable to use any of these names if you're white...

Italian Americans are considered white. Antonia sounds like an Italian name.

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit weird and questionable to use any of these names if you're white...

In what way? They all originate from European languages.

I like Antonia and Carys (vastly prefer the Welsh spelling over Karis). Antonia is more feminine and musical. Carys is simple and elegant. They just have a very different feel.

I think Karla sounds old fashioned in the US right now, and not vintage enough to feel ready for a comeback. Many people will know middle aged women with the name Karla or Carla, which will make it seem odd for a child.

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit weird and questionable to use any of these names if you're white...

"My Ántonia, published in 1918, is a classic American novel by Willa Cather that tells the story of Ántonia Shimerda, a Bohemian immigrant girl, through the nostalgic memories of her childhood friend, Jim Burden, in late 19th-century Nebraska."


Bohemia = part of Czech Republic

It's a bit weird and questionable to use any of these names if you're white...

Anonymous wrote:Antonia is gorgeous and allows for the cute nn Annie.

Yep, or Toni. Options are good. (I say that as someone with a name that has none.)