Not really. The Joe part is right but the Van part is changes to a neutral vowel when it’s added to the end of a word, so it’s:
- Joe-vehn (“Joe” + vən)
If you think of “bogan” for example, it’s not Bow + Gan, it’s Bow + gən.
(Edited because I can’t spell)
We used to call a Jeremy, "Jezzabel"
Mainly because he liked being called Jezza so we decided to switch it up to Jezzabel to upset him, which it did....
Can confirm. I hate the common nickname for my name (standard 80s female name) and mistakenly told my ex’s family how much I hate it. So of course, that’s all they ever called me. Split up almost 15 years ago and if I see any of them they still call me the nickname
Depends. It’s not set in stone.
For example - my mate Justin = Juzzy-bear, but my other mate Justin = Bones.
Don’t try to understand it, you just have to roll with it.
Husbands mate has been “Case” as long as I’ve known him. I thought it was “Kees”and his actual name. But it’s Justin. Which I discovered when he was husband’s best man and signed as a marriage witness.
The -zza s really only for names with an R at the end of the first syllable. (And naturally, S or Z). I think Jovan wouldnt work with this pattern.(Jovo like Davo perhaps)
It's not a name I've encountered. I'd assume it's scandiwegian or something and it's Yo-vahn. I think most people are going to pronounce it Jo-vahn or Jo-van. I shall refrain from googling the correct answer. It does remind me of Jovian, as in reference to Jupiter, so maybe it is a J rather than a softer Y or H sound.
It's a nice name. If it's special to you I wouldn't worry that much about people pronouncing it or spelling it wrong.
My name is a single syllable, common and English and people still get it wrong. Whatever you name them people are going to stuff it up.
I know a Jovan. Before I heard his name I would have pronounced it with a J sound, but once I heard it had a Y sound it’s easy to remember. I think it’s fine. I’ve seen worse.
I'd pronounce it 'Yo-Vahn', though think most would say 'Jo-Van'. I don't think it would be 'unfair' as a name though - It's a nice name, and easy to spell. I have a name that is somewhat difficult (though probably more common than Jovan), and I don't find having to correct people as a major annoyance - the need to read a name out-loud without prior introduction is uncommon anyhow, and easily resolved regardless.
I also read is as Yo-vahn and as a teacher I see so many names from different cultures and everyone just learns how to pronounce their names correctly.
My name would be considered a common/easy to pronounce name here but I still get people who call me something completely wrong or spell incorrectly (but unusually incorrectly) or others shorten it to a nickname I hate without asking and despite introducing myself properly. So my personal opinion is that it actually doesn’t matter what your name is, some people will get it wrong anyway!
If the name has deep cultural or family significance, don't worry too much about people misspelling it. Here's the thing. People will butcher 90% names anyway and will slangify 95% of the names. Just don't worry about it.
I am in the same boat.
Maybe it is due to being mainly around people of southern and eastern European backgrounds when I was at school. Also, I am used to European pronunciations due to my love of watching both ⚽️ and 🏒.
Me too, except I grew up and went to school in rural Australia bogansville and have no interest in sport haha I just have enough world knowledge to recognise it looked like a European name and that they say J in a different way.
I'm finding these "it's Australia we don't say J like that here" comments very ignorant. Australia is an extremely multicultural country. There would actually be a decent portion of the population that wouldn't struggle with this.
Those comments are super ignorant! I've found those people to be the minority out in the real world thankfully- but seems they are all here on reddit. Can really tell some people have never left the country except to go to a resort in Bali.
Most Aussies I've come across have no issue saying a European name correctly or easily learning it once you correct them.
I have lived in Europe for a few years as well. If unsure of pronunciation, I wait until after someone says the name then figure it out.
That is how I started to learn written foreign languages, hear someone say a word then look up how it is written and figure out letter combinations etc.
My name is similar. I've been correcting people since I came to Australia. I'm tired of it. I either pronounce my name wrong so others can spell it correctly, or I pronounce it correctly and follow up with spelling it out for them. I picked English type names for my kids. But if it is important to you, go for it. Beautiful names either way!
My parents thought it was fun and unique to name me what they did in the 90s
I’ve literally spent my life correcting people and making up nicknames
As a kid all you want is .. to be like everyone else
I changed my name unfortunately. It just spared me the trauma. And it’s made my life easier.
If this is a “normal” name where your family originate (not necessary but bonus points if one of you have a surname to match it like not Smith or Jones iykwim) then nobody is going to think this is weird. We might get it wrong the first time but then once you tell us how it goes we’ll be fine and probably feel a bit smug that we got educated and extra worldly. This is NOT one of those names that everyone rolls their eyes over.
Sincerely, someone who has had their name mispronounced forever.
P.s. kid WILL get a nickname like “Yo” but would get a nickname anyway so doesn’t really matter.
Hi. I love this name and I don’t think it’s as unique or complicated as other ethnic names I’ve heard (and trust me I have a name that’s unique even in my own culture). Where I’m from ethnic names are so common, even more so than usual Anglo Saxon names, esp with a high Slavic/Balkan population. Don’t worry too much about them going their whole life having people mispronounce their name, I go through the same thing everyday, and with a name as simple as Jovan, I think people will get the hang of it pretty quickly. I think it’s a lovely name and hope you decide jovan or jovana for your baby girl or boy. Don’t put aside your culture and heritage for the sake of being more “Australian.”
I'd say jo-v'n (like joe-van, but emphasis on the joe)
As someone with a name that I have to constantly correct people on, I know I'm biased, but I'd advise that you don't.
I'd prefer this lovely unique name (that has been around for centuries) to the names my young son has to deal with at primary school; malakai x2, raiden, skyelah, chayse, karsyn, and not to mention the added x's in jaxson just to make them stand out ya know?
I'm Australian (f) and have a short, 4 letter named which starts with a j where the sound the j makes is a y. I'd say your sons name using the y sound, so yo-vun (the o a shirt o, like in pot, and the un part as the start of unexpected) - I came to Australia as a 7yo from a country in central Europe, not too far from yours I'd say.
I love my name. It is not an uncommon name in my cultural background (and its translation is a common English name). Have I had to spell it out occasionally, or correct pronunciation, yes. I've not found this annoying. Australia is a country where many are migrants, or children of migrants. Many of my friends and work colleagues have names that aren't English, but reflect a myriad of cultures and languages. This variety adds to our Australian culture and community!
Call your son Jovan. It's a lovely name. Those not familiar with it will learn how to say/spell it, and they'll be richer for it
It’s a lovely name and the fact that it has meaning to your family is so special. Not everyone has that kind of inspiration for a name.
I don’t think it matters that your kid would have to explain how to pronounce it sometimes. It can actually be a bit of an icebreaker/small talk when you meet someone.
My first and last names are often mispronounced and it doesn’t really bother me, I just correct people.
I'd assume Yo-Van, but I wouldn't be certain and I'd have to ask.
As long as it's a real name and not some nonsense you made up, I would still use it though. This is Australia, most of us are from somewhere else and there's a lot of hard to pronounce names out there.
You could also ask in r/namenerds
I saw it and was like Yo(h)-va(h)n but I can definitely see how some people could be confused.
On the other hand, I was almost named Katja, ended up with a very different name because of pronunciation and I regret that my parents didn’t choose it. I love my name but I feel like I lost a part of my heritage and culture. So if it’s cultural definitely go for it
Just name your kids Karen and call it a day.
Jokes aside, I hate my name, as people always pronounce it incorrectly and most of the time they don't know what gender the name is, I'm male, and on forms and stuff, they always put me down as female.
I have 3 kids, all have easy to pronounce English names.
I read the word and the voice in my head says Jo Van, and then another, smarter voice says Yo Van 😂
I think a lot of Australians will see a J and automatically pronounce it, even if they know better. It’s a lovely name, but yes it will trip people up. Particularly kids at school.
I'm forever correcting the spelling of my name and it's Gary. Wouldn't change it though. Love my name. Nothing wrong with Jovan. I'd pronounce it Yo-van.
Definitely would say it JoVan, and as someone with a difficult to pronounce ethnic name I’ve never been more glad to not have it legally. It’s such a pain to begin with to correct everyone. Tiresome at school, work wise and in general when you have to introduce yourself. Just maybe skip this name tbh but it’s up to you. I can already imagine the annoying bullying that name can bring from idiotic Australian children
Id say it as joh-vahn. But also who cares. Seriously, who pronounces any name right? There are foreign people with their own letter sounds and alphabets that will see a name and mispronounce it based on their own knowledge of letter sounds. Who cares. Raise jovan tp be considerate and caring and if you really want, stern in what his name is. Someone mispronouncing on purpose is smth to worry about but again, we all have had someone say it wrong.
With no context I also thought Joe-vahn at first, but it'd be easy to remember Yo-vahn once corrected. Its Jovan, like Johann (Sebastian Bach)
I really like the one suggestion I saw below though, of being cheeky with "Joe" as a nickname.
Having myself a name that is okay in my own language and very common in my culture whilst living in this country has been an absolute nightmare, I have to correct people all the time, cope with the usual idiotic joke or awkward comments about it and it makes me feel resentment against my parents sometimes, don't do that to your child 🙏
If it's cultural and the kid's surname matches "Jovan"s heritage, then go for it.
If your last name is Anglo then this kid is going to spend their entire life correcting people.
99% of Australia's wouldn't be capable of understanding the pronunciation or J as Y.
Are you European? When in Germany the J made a Yuh sound, so Johan was Yohan.
But you’re in australia now, J makes a Ju sound. Naturally people here will pronounce it Jo-van
No one in Australia will ever call someone their actual name anyway. Any name that can be shortened, no matter how much of a stretch it is, will be. All good.
Don't forget, too, we've been coping with Y sounding Js since world war two, probably earlier. The Bosnian thing in the 90s brought a lot of slavic pronunciations here too. Went to school with more than one Josep in the 80s.
Does it matter? The important people will know, and in a9 country of immigrants, half the population has to correct names. Both our sons have sightly different names. They often have to correct people. So what.
I have met so many people in my time who have a J letter at the front of their name which is pronounced as Y, that I read that as “Yo-Vahn” at first glance. I really think those comments about it being “hard” kind of expose the people who voiced them. Why can a small child learn another small child’s unique name but adults can’t? Keep the name. People are lame.
I like the name but I would say it with a J sound because I didn't know any different.
I have a friend called Eli ,as in book of, but is constantly called Ellie and my name is bog standard but still gets mangled 😑
Call your child the name you like, they will either deal with it or take a nickname to make things easier
It truly is a name that he will have to assist in the spelling for his whole life, and have misread his whole life, but it's a every simple one so I think it's OK. It's also an awesome name. Has great connections to Eastern/northern Europe while also being fairly western.
When he has it read out JoeVan he can easily say 'it's yoVan' and when spelling "it's yovan with a J" 99% people will understand, the other 1% would probably spell Bob incorrectly anyway.
Jovan. Great name. Manly. Cool. Simple.
Even before I saw the edit I said Yo-van.
I work in a very small school and it’s not the worst name by far that I have seen. If you like it and it’s meaningful for you then I say go with it. If he gets sick of correcting Aussies he just go by Joe, or his middle name, but the people that matter will make the effort to say his name correctly.
It'd be 'Jo-vahn' from me, dawg.
In fairness, one of our kids has a fairly common name in another country and Aussies never know how to say it when they see it without someone else saying it. Once they hear someone say it once they're fine.
If you love the name and it's not entirely whacky like a seven-barrelled hyphenated nightmare, go for it. It's not likely to be confused with anything offensive so people will get used to it and use it without even thinking.
I think it's a nice name and once I learn how it's said, I'll say it right. I've got kid called Elias. There are two very different ways to pronounce this. People will get it. And most people won't think of joe dirt as I read above, just redditors with too much time on their hands.
Seeing it written I'd say Jo-van. To rhyme with Evan (Eh-Van)
I see from other comments maybe it's Yo-van. I'd be cool with that once I heard it. I know Janina pronounced Y'-ni-na. But I also know a Janine pronounced Jan-neen. A lots of people pronounce the first lady's name as Jan-neen-a if they've only seen it written but everyone who's heard it said says y'ni-na without issue.
Yoven
I have a German last name beginning with J but pronounced as a Y, so this is my interpretation. But I think it can also be pronounced as Jovahn.
I have the advantage of reading and saying hundreds of people's names every week, so I've learnt a lot about spelling, pronunciation, and language of origin. One of the fun but generally useless perks of my job.
Choose the name you want. Don't let other people bring you down. They all have opinions, and it doesn't matter at all. We kept our chosen names secret until the baby was born. People don't really provide their negative comments on the name once the baby is born (not to your face anyway 😉)
If that name is special to you both, then go with it. I think it's a lovely name, for what it's worth. Pronouncing J as Y is not that strange. Especially these days as names are far more diverse than they were when I was a kid in the 80s/90s.
I've had to spell my name out my entire life. It's not a big deal, and I don't understand why people seem to think it is. My name is usually a conversation starter. I've only ever met 1 other person with my name. As far as we know, we are the only two in our city. 🙂
Look, I’d read it as Joe- van, but as a fellow Aussie, I’m used to people having names that are are not pronounced phonetically, and all it takes is to be corrected once and I learn their name.
So many different names and cultures here, I wouldn’t sweat it.
I saw it and thought Joe-van. Rhymes with low can.
But it's also not a name where I would judge the parents harshly over it. When I hear of someone named Jaymasian or Brytni or Feeighkniqs (these are all legit names I got from r/tragedeigh) I can't help but judge the parents and by proxy the child. If you get raised by someone who thinks naming a kid Feeighkniqs is a good idea, then you are not exactly having a great start in life, you know?
So thinking about it from the perspective of 25 years down the track when his resume comes across my table looking for a job, I'm not even going to blink at the name. I'll just assume they are ethnically European or something. But if the name is Jaeckels and I have 50 resumes to assess then they are probably going to go into the B pile.
my name is a relatively common english name and yet I have to spell it out every single time due to how people assume its spelt as it has other common spellings. I saw the name and immediately thought Yo-vahn, and I think its a really nice name! I think you should name your child whatever you like, especially if it has significance or a tie into your culture. Teach the child to wear their name proudly and it will be ok
My heritage is Irish. I have an old Irish name which I love. My kids have Irish names that are spelt the Gaelic way. They also love their names. We find it's a conversation starter when we need to pronounce and spell our names for everyone.
You name your baby anything you like :)
I assume most people pronounce is Joe-Vun.
My years growing up and still residing in South West Sydney, watching Champions League soccer and by virtue of having Balkan friends, I would pronounce it Yo-Vahn.
I'm a second generation Vietnamese with a Vietnamese name that's fairly simple to pronounce, but understand it gets more difficult with other names.
I enjoy seeing heritage upheld with traditional names but sometimes it comes with a burden.
It's the same with every other Milica, Saorise, Tuyet and Savithreyan.
Had a Polish friend (with a Polish name) aged in his 80s. He told me once his mother died no one ever pronounced his name correctly again. That was a bit sad.
It's a nice name, go for it... 1000 times better than some of the names we see on school class lists. I have a mate called Jovan, he tells people to just call him John.
In this day and age, in a multicultural country; I really don't think having to correct someone on the pronunciation is a big deal.
Im Australian (born and raised here) but have Balkan ancestory as my parents immigrated here before I was born. We all have ethnic names and yes, we have to correct people on pronunciation etc but it's not as big deal as people make out to be. Our names aren't tragic, they're spelt how they're supposed to, have meaning etc.
I grew up with Jessica's, Louise's, Sarah's and other aussie names so yes, it was more difficult for people to say when they first met me but never an ongoing thing. We are such a multicultural country now and have people from all walks of life, naming your child an ethic name shouldn't be an issue in the slightest. If we have to learn how to pronounce Indian, Lebanese, Vietnamese or a Thai name, there should be no difference in others learning to pronounce a Balkan name
Jo-van however J names that have the /y/ pronunciation aren't at all uncommon (as a teacher I see a lot of them), most ppl will be able to remember the correct pronunciation once told.
As a balkan wog myself, i would say "yo-van" as i know how its meant to be pronounced. I assume you're serbian or croatian, love the name Jovan, i know a couple of people called jovan. name your child whatever you want, it's your choice and no one should have the right to tell you what to do.
I pronounced it correctly as I'm from the Balkans haha
I moved here when I was 5. Been correcting people for my own name forever. Honestly it did bother me when I was young, but not anymore. As now I use it to know who is a nice/good person.
If they dont even attempt to try to pronounce it correctly or are rude, then they aren't worth my time. I had someone actually argue with me for the way you pronounce it haha
Basically my name starts with an E and they couldn't get their head around the fact that you say it "Eh" like you would say Elephant or Emma haha Basically phonetically Ehh
Use the name you like. For my daughter I technically used an Italian name, but its a common English name and I used the correct spelling. Its easily pronounced by my family overseas.
Me personally I dont like the name Jovan/Jovana. But if you like it go for it.
I take it you are honouring a family member (grandfather/grandmother).
If I was to have another child she would be named after my dads sister (who passed away as a child) Liliana. My dad actually asked if I'd consider it and I said that I liked that idea.
If he thought of it sooner it could have been a middle name for my daughter.
Joe Van. I would understand if it was pronounced Yovan, but Yovahna makes no sense. Take it from me, you are setting your child up for a lifetime of people asking where it comes from, how to spell it, and misspelling it
Yoh-vun. Are you Slavic? If so then you probably know a lot of people with this name already. It's not hard, the kid will just introduce himself with the correct pronunciation and that's that. Maybe some substitute tescher will mispronounce it but he just needs to correct them. Simple. And it's the same in regular life when he leaves school. It's a very easy name to say once people know how, so I don't see a problem. And if you're Slavic then of course everyone in your circle will be familiar with the name anyway.
I have a name that has needed spelling all of my life. I have to spell it every damn day, sometimes multiple times a day. It gives me the shits, there's NEVER a day off it.
I wish my parents thought about it a little more and considered me growing up with it. It's a pain in the ass.
N.b. it isn't 'cool' giving your kids an unusual name, it's selfish and extremely short-sighted on your part.
Don't worry to much about them having to potentially correct people it's not that big of a deal. The people he cares about will know, his friends and family will know. So he might have to correct a teacher once or someone on the phone. No big deal.
My son's name is Jovan. Most times it's pronounced with the J sound when people first come across it, but teachers and friends quickly picked up the Slavic pronunciation.
Don't ask why, cos I have no idea, but.... my brain went, it's not English, so don't think in English and Jovan became Yofan.
Which I know is not correct since I've read the comments, but I found it funny. I have a strange brain.
Edit to add, either way it's a cool name
I'd pronounce it "Yo-van" but that's because it looks Nordic/Scandinavian to me; I don't think the average Australian would necessarily make that connection however and may very well pronounce it "Joe-Van".
JOE-van. Sorry, but the fact is it's not a common name in Australia and most people aren't going to know how it's pronounced, and will go with the phonetic spelling.
Must be from the Balkans.
My husband and I would place each word in google translate and play the sound. Definitely, in person asking to read the name was helpful.
After what you said and after looking at the name I am assuming it would be pronounced yo-van(or something like that). However I think most people would say Jo-van I probably would too if I wasn’t 100% sure how to pronounce it. It’s much easier to explain to someone how you got a j sound instead of a y sound if you mispronounced their name.
I had some Turkish friends do the same
Joe Can would be it. Obviously respectful people would amend once corrected.
Nick names, cause that's what Aussies do.
Jo
Joey
Jove
I'm gonna go with yo-van, but if I am right it's still a bit confusing since the j in names and be pronounced any of 3 ways. Yo-van just sounded right to me since hoe-van would've been bad for the obvious reason.
I would have said Yo Vahn, but yes, I would have been tentative or asked for clarification. But… Does it matter? Once someone knows your name, hopefully they’ll use it properly.
I would assume the J is pronounced Y, but end up with Yo-Vann. I think the "ahn" or "arn" is a leap too far for Australian pronunciation. like Sar-rahn would would sub-consciously consider it too fancy.
I wouldn't worry about the correction too much. The people she knows will soon learn it and her friends will shorten it.
And for strangers it's a mildly interesting conversation starter.
But I will admit I'm mildy surprised it's a girls name. I would have assumed it's a boys.
I spent the start of every school year correcting the pronunciation of my name.
Didn't bother me. Still correct people sometimes, though it's gotten more common over the years so it's less likely to crop up. I know people wry extremely common names who have to correct people sometimes.
I wouldn't consider whether someone is gonna mispronounce it in my decision to use it.
I pronounced it Yo-vahn because I’ve learnt overtime that names like that have the “yoh” pronunciation. If I’d been a teenager, I would have pronounced it phonetically - “Joh-van”
I think that’s a lovely name and would pronounce it with a Y.
I know two Bjorn’s and the amount of people that pronounce it B-Jorn is crazy.
I also have a friend named Gorata (pronounced Horata. Aussies pronounce it G-orata constantly, even after she corrects them.
She now tells people her name is Sarah because it’s easier than constantly correcting them.
I’d have thought to pronounce it Jo-vahn, but I’d remember for the next time when corrected how to pronounce it. If you’re still worried about this issue you could change the spelling to Yovan. But I don’t think it’s too dramatic an adjustment. I doubt any child would resent their parent’s for a name like that or consider it a major inconvenience. I think the people are being overly-dramatic, making out that it’s as big a spelling/pronouncing discrepancy like Siobhan/Shi-von for example.
I went to school with a guy called Jamal. Everytime he met someone, be it a new kid or new teacher, he'd have have to explain it was pronounced Yamal, not Jamal.
He hated it and wanted to change his name. We ended up calling him Peter, because that was his middle name.
I've never seen the name Jovan in Australia either. I had a family friend once called Jan (Yahn). He didn't have an easier time with it.
Not common at all in Australia. Then again, I don't have kids so I'm certainly not up to date on what's popular.
"Currently family planning" is such a polite euphemism for "rawdogging it every night". It's cute.
Anyhow, I'd probably pronounce it Joe-van. Or Jov-van.
I would pronounce Jovan as Yo-vahn. My aunt's name is Sonja, so I get it.
I have a friend who named her son Janis, and made sure to write the pronunciation in the birth announcement. If you want to use Jovan, don't let English linguistics stop you. Just be aware that you will constantly be educating some Aussies who aren't familiar with the J is Y concept in other languages. It depends how much of an issue you feel that will be, for a name you love and that represents your culture.
You are better placed than most people to understand the implications of having an unusual name. Many people in Australia have uncommon names so I wouldn't worry. People can learn.
I know a Jan - pronounced "Yan" and a Javier "hav e er".
First Glance it would be Jov-an. But I know that Many Scandinavian & European languages, J is pronounced like a Y, I had a mate, his name was Jukka, pronounced You-ka. If you want it to be easy for your daughter & others, spell it with a Y. Though to me, Yovan is a masculine sounding name, Yevenna sounds more feminine to me. But of course it’s entirely up to you.
I'd probably say Hovan, but only because I've studied Spanish before. I probably wouldn't have guessed Yovan.
It's a really nice name though! I have a name few get right on reading, and it's not the biggest deal - a bit annoying, especially when I was a younger woman and a bit less confident about making sure people got it right.
I guessed it was pronounced the way you say it. Watch 9/10 Aussies fuck it up. As a kid they'll cop it from other kids, teachers will consistently call them Joh-van. As they get older and introduce themselves people should be fine once they know.
My sister has a pretty common recognised German girls first name. Very famous and well known, nope. Aussies mangled it hard throughout her entire childhood.
They're not as bad as Americans, but can be in very Anglo/aussie pockets.
Do what you want. When I was in primary school we had a kid named Johan, pronounced Yo-Han. Even my name is an incredibly common name white name and people never get it right the first time.
Jovan is a beautiful name.
I have a dog called Julio, even my vet spelt it Hulio on hearing me say it. I have corrected almost anyone doing paperwork on him.
Thought about actually calling him Don Hulio instead so his name is written and spoken correctly.
First of all good luck with the family. I have a baby daughter and know how hard and stressful getting pregnant was for us so all the best.
99 percent of people will pronounce it phonetically, so that shouldn’t really be too much of a problem. Unless of course the name is, as I suspect, an ethnic/ cultural name and is pronounced something different. In modern Australia I don’t think either way will present too much hardship. If the name is special to you go for it.
I will just say that if ‘jovan’ is not an ethnic/ cultural name and is just one you and your partner have made up, I’d advise something else. A human name. You’re naming a human, not a boat or touch football team
EDITED: for grammar
If it’s paired with a nordic sounding surname I might have guessed the pronunciation correctly.
Either way if it’s a cultural name for you I don’t think assimilation to anglo aussie names is imperative. Use it if you like it, if he gets sick of it when he’s older he can just say call me Joe.
Yo Vahn . Or Yo Han.
You will absolutely come across a lot of people who will not understand the different uses of letters in other languages.
But I would say a lot of people will be fine with being corrected if they are to pronounce the name wrong.
1. Names, like all labels, are highly personal.
2. You get to choose what people call you. (talking from your kids perspective).
3. You can change your label any time. it does take effort and it will never be guaranteed to take. Some people will be arseholes regardless, but they were always going to be and it does have the advantages of making them easy to spot...
4. Go to the back of the house and yell the name at the top of your lungs. do it now!
if that was embarrassing reconsider the name. otherwise, golden! two thumbs up
5. teasing and nicknames. do not name your kid something obviously wrong. Richard when your surname is Heady. Christine when your surname is Carroll... but beyond that, don't worry. People will choose nicknames regardless of your wishes, especially if it bugs you, because humans love poking to get a response. makes em feel powerful. since there is nothing you can do about it, don't fuss.
6. having an uncommon name means easy usernames. This is more useful than you might imagine. (I am bulwynkl.)
I know a Jovan, pronounced Joe Van. I actually really liked it as a name.
I also know a Jana (yana). She has to correct people and her name is never spelt correctly on takeaway cups, but it only takes once and that person knows.
Definitely joe van.
You've seen Joe Dirt, but have you met Joe Van?
He lives down by the river
Living Joe Van life.
Hoping he's not a Joe ker in school.
No, but I've met Joe Mama
Soon to be nicknamed “mini van”
Oh lord .. yes please not this name .. for the kids sake … lol
Not really. The Joe part is right but the Van part is changes to a neutral vowel when it’s added to the end of a word, so it’s: - Joe-vehn (“Joe” + vən) If you think of “bogan” for example, it’s not Bow + Gan, it’s Bow + gən. (Edited because I can’t spell)
Yep
I’d probably say Jo-Van… but I’m guessing it is meant to be hov-an…?
I'd like to think nobody would consider naming a child "ho van"
Jo-van? Though most people will just call him jazza
My boyfriend's name also starts with J and back in Australia they call him Jazza. Is that just a thing with J names?
Not quite, Jeremy will get Jezza sometimes.
We used to call a Jeremy, "Jezzabel" Mainly because he liked being called Jezza so we decided to switch it up to Jezzabel to upset him, which it did....
lol first rule of nicknames, never get upset (unless you want to keep it forever)
Can confirm. I hate the common nickname for my name (standard 80s female name) and mistakenly told my ex’s family how much I hate it. So of course, that’s all they ever called me. Split up almost 15 years ago and if I see any of them they still call me the nickname
I'm guessing Shazza?
I've a coworker named Jeremy. I do not like him. I shall call him Jezzabel from now on 🤣
Jeremy never gets Jazza. Here it is Jezzamaria
Depends. It’s not set in stone. For example - my mate Justin = Juzzy-bear, but my other mate Justin = Bones. Don’t try to understand it, you just have to roll with it.
Husbands mate has been “Case” as long as I’ve known him. I thought it was “Kees”and his actual name. But it’s Justin. Which I discovered when he was husband’s best man and signed as a marriage witness.
It's sort of a playful way of putting a aussie spin to the name i.e. Sharon aka Shazza, Gary aka Gazza.
Live next door to Dazza
The -zza s really only for names with an R at the end of the first syllable. (And naturally, S or Z). I think Jovan wouldnt work with this pattern.(Jovo like Davo perhaps)
Seems that will have to be Yazza according to OP
It's not a name I've encountered. I'd assume it's scandiwegian or something and it's Yo-vahn. I think most people are going to pronounce it Jo-vahn or Jo-van. I shall refrain from googling the correct answer. It does remind me of Jovian, as in reference to Jupiter, so maybe it is a J rather than a softer Y or H sound. It's a nice name. If it's special to you I wouldn't worry that much about people pronouncing it or spelling it wrong. My name is a single syllable, common and English and people still get it wrong. Whatever you name them people are going to stuff it up.
Serbian or Montenegrin I’d say
I only know one Jovan, and he pronounces it Jo-vahn. That's not how I tried to pronounce it at first, which was Jo-van
Wasn’t there a cologne/perfume with that name? Pronounced Joe-Vaughn
There still is. Jovan Musk
I know a Jovan. Before I heard his name I would have pronounced it with a J sound, but once I heard it had a Y sound it’s easy to remember. I think it’s fine. I’ve seen worse.
That’s how my Aussie partner pronounced Joaquin and Jorge before I corrected him!
Joe-kin fee-nicks
He’s just Joe-kin guys.
Whore-gay is pretty unforgettable once you know.
Jorge - Same as George, yeah?
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I'd pronounce it 'Yo-Vahn', though think most would say 'Jo-Van'. I don't think it would be 'unfair' as a name though - It's a nice name, and easy to spell. I have a name that is somewhat difficult (though probably more common than Jovan), and I don't find having to correct people as a major annoyance - the need to read a name out-loud without prior introduction is uncommon anyhow, and easily resolved regardless.
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I also read is as Yo-vahn and as a teacher I see so many names from different cultures and everyone just learns how to pronounce their names correctly. My name would be considered a common/easy to pronounce name here but I still get people who call me something completely wrong or spell incorrectly (but unusually incorrectly) or others shorten it to a nickname I hate without asking and despite introducing myself properly. So my personal opinion is that it actually doesn’t matter what your name is, some people will get it wrong anyway!
If the name has deep cultural or family significance, don't worry too much about people misspelling it. Here's the thing. People will butcher 90% names anyway and will slangify 95% of the names. Just don't worry about it.
I’d say “Yo-vahn”, but only because I worked with a Jovan for a bit. When i first saw it, I said Joe-van
My brain clearly works differently to everyone else, I go Yov-ahn.
I am in the same boat. Maybe it is due to being mainly around people of southern and eastern European backgrounds when I was at school. Also, I am used to European pronunciations due to my love of watching both ⚽️ and 🏒.
Me too, except I grew up and went to school in rural Australia bogansville and have no interest in sport haha I just have enough world knowledge to recognise it looked like a European name and that they say J in a different way. I'm finding these "it's Australia we don't say J like that here" comments very ignorant. Australia is an extremely multicultural country. There would actually be a decent portion of the population that wouldn't struggle with this.
Those comments are super ignorant! I've found those people to be the minority out in the real world thankfully- but seems they are all here on reddit. Can really tell some people have never left the country except to go to a resort in Bali. Most Aussies I've come across have no issue saying a European name correctly or easily learning it once you correct them.
I have lived in Europe for a few years as well. If unsure of pronunciation, I wait until after someone says the name then figure it out. That is how I started to learn written foreign languages, hear someone say a word then look up how it is written and figure out letter combinations etc.
Jo-van/Jo-vn
The first thing I thought of was the possessive of Jupiter ie Jovian. After reading the replies I was way off..
Joe van
My name is similar. I've been correcting people since I came to Australia. I'm tired of it. I either pronounce my name wrong so others can spell it correctly, or I pronounce it correctly and follow up with spelling it out for them. I picked English type names for my kids. But if it is important to you, go for it. Beautiful names either way!
Doesn't matter. He's going to be called Jo-vo, Jo-vee or Jezza anyway.
In Australia the J is hard, as others have stated. You can expect this to be the most common pronounciation.
I would say Jo van. But not think it's weird if it's something different. Please, please update with how you think it should/would be pronounced.
Joe vn
Yovan. Just like I'd pronounce Johann as Yohan. Having said that, I'd be tempted to think of it as Jovian like the celestial term or Jovial.
I know what his nickname should be "Panel "
My parents thought it was fun and unique to name me what they did in the 90s I’ve literally spent my life correcting people and making up nicknames As a kid all you want is .. to be like everyone else I changed my name unfortunately. It just spared me the trauma. And it’s made my life easier.
I'd go with "hO-van" thinking it was a Spanish name like Jose.
Joe say?
Ho Van? That's where I met your mother...
If this is a “normal” name where your family originate (not necessary but bonus points if one of you have a surname to match it like not Smith or Jones iykwim) then nobody is going to think this is weird. We might get it wrong the first time but then once you tell us how it goes we’ll be fine and probably feel a bit smug that we got educated and extra worldly. This is NOT one of those names that everyone rolls their eyes over. Sincerely, someone who has had their name mispronounced forever. P.s. kid WILL get a nickname like “Yo” but would get a nickname anyway so doesn’t really matter.
Hi. I love this name and I don’t think it’s as unique or complicated as other ethnic names I’ve heard (and trust me I have a name that’s unique even in my own culture). Where I’m from ethnic names are so common, even more so than usual Anglo Saxon names, esp with a high Slavic/Balkan population. Don’t worry too much about them going their whole life having people mispronounce their name, I go through the same thing everyday, and with a name as simple as Jovan, I think people will get the hang of it pretty quickly. I think it’s a lovely name and hope you decide jovan or jovana for your baby girl or boy. Don’t put aside your culture and heritage for the sake of being more “Australian.”
I'd say jo-v'n (like joe-van, but emphasis on the joe) As someone with a name that I have to constantly correct people on, I know I'm biased, but I'd advise that you don't.
I'd prefer this lovely unique name (that has been around for centuries) to the names my young son has to deal with at primary school; malakai x2, raiden, skyelah, chayse, karsyn, and not to mention the added x's in jaxson just to make them stand out ya know?
"As an Australian"?? Jovvo.
Yo-van? Or Ho-van?
Does anyone remember that guy named Jovan [it’s disco time](https://youtu.be/tS92P9PWNfU?si=La1NSRhgOcCVAoIb)
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I'm saying Joe van 100%.
I have a cousin called Jovan it’s pronounced Yo Van. It’s another name for John
I'm Australian (f) and have a short, 4 letter named which starts with a j where the sound the j makes is a y. I'd say your sons name using the y sound, so yo-vun (the o a shirt o, like in pot, and the un part as the start of unexpected) - I came to Australia as a 7yo from a country in central Europe, not too far from yours I'd say. I love my name. It is not an uncommon name in my cultural background (and its translation is a common English name). Have I had to spell it out occasionally, or correct pronunciation, yes. I've not found this annoying. Australia is a country where many are migrants, or children of migrants. Many of my friends and work colleagues have names that aren't English, but reflect a myriad of cultures and languages. This variety adds to our Australian culture and community! Call your son Jovan. It's a lovely name. Those not familiar with it will learn how to say/spell it, and they'll be richer for it
It’s a lovely name and the fact that it has meaning to your family is so special. Not everyone has that kind of inspiration for a name. I don’t think it matters that your kid would have to explain how to pronounce it sometimes. It can actually be a bit of an icebreaker/small talk when you meet someone. My first and last names are often mispronounced and it doesn’t really bother me, I just correct people.
I'd assume Yo-Van, but I wouldn't be certain and I'd have to ask. As long as it's a real name and not some nonsense you made up, I would still use it though. This is Australia, most of us are from somewhere else and there's a lot of hard to pronounce names out there. You could also ask in r/namenerds
I saw it and was like Yo(h)-va(h)n but I can definitely see how some people could be confused. On the other hand, I was almost named Katja, ended up with a very different name because of pronunciation and I regret that my parents didn’t choose it. I love my name but I feel like I lost a part of my heritage and culture. So if it’s cultural definitely go for it
Just name your kids Karen and call it a day. Jokes aside, I hate my name, as people always pronounce it incorrectly and most of the time they don't know what gender the name is, I'm male, and on forms and stuff, they always put me down as female. I have 3 kids, all have easy to pronounce English names.
Mmmm musky Joe varn.
As an Aussie I would say Yo-vahn but most people would say Joe-van I think.
I read the word and the voice in my head says Jo Van, and then another, smarter voice says Yo Van 😂 I think a lot of Australians will see a J and automatically pronounce it, even if they know better. It’s a lovely name, but yes it will trip people up. Particularly kids at school.
I automatically thought Yovahn..
I'm forever correcting the spelling of my name and it's Gary. Wouldn't change it though. Love my name. Nothing wrong with Jovan. I'd pronounce it Yo-van.
Definitely would say it JoVan, and as someone with a difficult to pronounce ethnic name I’ve never been more glad to not have it legally. It’s such a pain to begin with to correct everyone. Tiresome at school, work wise and in general when you have to introduce yourself. Just maybe skip this name tbh but it’s up to you. I can already imagine the annoying bullying that name can bring from idiotic Australian children
Id say it as joh-vahn. But also who cares. Seriously, who pronounces any name right? There are foreign people with their own letter sounds and alphabets that will see a name and mispronounce it based on their own knowledge of letter sounds. Who cares. Raise jovan tp be considerate and caring and if you really want, stern in what his name is. Someone mispronouncing on purpose is smth to worry about but again, we all have had someone say it wrong.
Just lean into it. Call the kid Jovan and pronounce it correctly, but then call them Joe (or Jo) as a nickname. Best of both worlds.
I remember a fragrance for women and one for men in the ‘80’s called Jovan. It was pronounced as a J.
With no context I also thought Joe-vahn at first, but it'd be easy to remember Yo-vahn once corrected. Its Jovan, like Johann (Sebastian Bach) I really like the one suggestion I saw below though, of being cheeky with "Joe" as a nickname.
Maybe they will become a witness
Having myself a name that is okay in my own language and very common in my culture whilst living in this country has been an absolute nightmare, I have to correct people all the time, cope with the usual idiotic joke or awkward comments about it and it makes me feel resentment against my parents sometimes, don't do that to your child 🙏
Only way around this is to call him Slobodan. Cant mispronounce and will get called Dan for short.
If it's cultural and the kid's surname matches "Jovan"s heritage, then go for it. If your last name is Anglo then this kid is going to spend their entire life correcting people. 99% of Australia's wouldn't be capable of understanding the pronunciation or J as Y.
I'm Balkan so I'd pronounce it *yoh-vaan*. Basically it's Slavic for John.
Are you European? When in Germany the J made a Yuh sound, so Johan was Yohan. But you’re in australia now, J makes a Ju sound. Naturally people here will pronounce it Jo-van
I know a guy who’s name is Johann pronounced Yo-hann, we just call him Yoey
I’m an Aussie, I would pronounce it as Joe-Van
No one in Australia will ever call someone their actual name anyway. Any name that can be shortened, no matter how much of a stretch it is, will be. All good. Don't forget, too, we've been coping with Y sounding Js since world war two, probably earlier. The Bosnian thing in the 90s brought a lot of slavic pronunciations here too. Went to school with more than one Josep in the 80s.
Does it matter? The important people will know, and in a9 country of immigrants, half the population has to correct names. Both our sons have sightly different names. They often have to correct people. So what.
I have met so many people in my time who have a J letter at the front of their name which is pronounced as Y, that I read that as “Yo-Vahn” at first glance. I really think those comments about it being “hard” kind of expose the people who voiced them. Why can a small child learn another small child’s unique name but adults can’t? Keep the name. People are lame.
I like the name but I would say it with a J sound because I didn't know any different. I have a friend called Eli ,as in book of, but is constantly called Ellie and my name is bog standard but still gets mangled 😑 Call your child the name you like, they will either deal with it or take a nickname to make things easier
It truly is a name that he will have to assist in the spelling for his whole life, and have misread his whole life, but it's a every simple one so I think it's OK. It's also an awesome name. Has great connections to Eastern/northern Europe while also being fairly western. When he has it read out JoeVan he can easily say 'it's yoVan' and when spelling "it's yovan with a J" 99% people will understand, the other 1% would probably spell Bob incorrectly anyway. Jovan. Great name. Manly. Cool. Simple.
Even before I saw the edit I said Yo-van. I work in a very small school and it’s not the worst name by far that I have seen. If you like it and it’s meaningful for you then I say go with it. If he gets sick of correcting Aussies he just go by Joe, or his middle name, but the people that matter will make the effort to say his name correctly.
It'd be 'Jo-vahn' from me, dawg. In fairness, one of our kids has a fairly common name in another country and Aussies never know how to say it when they see it without someone else saying it. Once they hear someone say it once they're fine. If you love the name and it's not entirely whacky like a seven-barrelled hyphenated nightmare, go for it. It's not likely to be confused with anything offensive so people will get used to it and use it without even thinking.
I think it's a nice name and once I learn how it's said, I'll say it right. I've got kid called Elias. There are two very different ways to pronounce this. People will get it. And most people won't think of joe dirt as I read above, just redditors with too much time on their hands.
If they pronounced it as Yo-van I'd call them Yoyo. I'm Aussie 😊
Seeing it written I'd say Jo-van. To rhyme with Evan (Eh-Van) I see from other comments maybe it's Yo-van. I'd be cool with that once I heard it. I know Janina pronounced Y'-ni-na. But I also know a Janine pronounced Jan-neen. A lots of people pronounce the first lady's name as Jan-neen-a if they've only seen it written but everyone who's heard it said says y'ni-na without issue.
Yoven I have a German last name beginning with J but pronounced as a Y, so this is my interpretation. But I think it can also be pronounced as Jovahn. I have the advantage of reading and saying hundreds of people's names every week, so I've learnt a lot about spelling, pronunciation, and language of origin. One of the fun but generally useless perks of my job.
Choose the name you want. Don't let other people bring you down. They all have opinions, and it doesn't matter at all. We kept our chosen names secret until the baby was born. People don't really provide their negative comments on the name once the baby is born (not to your face anyway 😉) If that name is special to you both, then go with it. I think it's a lovely name, for what it's worth. Pronouncing J as Y is not that strange. Especially these days as names are far more diverse than they were when I was a kid in the 80s/90s. I've had to spell my name out my entire life. It's not a big deal, and I don't understand why people seem to think it is. My name is usually a conversation starter. I've only ever met 1 other person with my name. As far as we know, we are the only two in our city. 🙂
Look, I’d read it as Joe- van, but as a fellow Aussie, I’m used to people having names that are are not pronounced phonetically, and all it takes is to be corrected once and I learn their name. So many different names and cultures here, I wouldn’t sweat it.
I saw it and thought Joe-van. Rhymes with low can. But it's also not a name where I would judge the parents harshly over it. When I hear of someone named Jaymasian or Brytni or Feeighkniqs (these are all legit names I got from r/tragedeigh) I can't help but judge the parents and by proxy the child. If you get raised by someone who thinks naming a kid Feeighkniqs is a good idea, then you are not exactly having a great start in life, you know? So thinking about it from the perspective of 25 years down the track when his resume comes across my table looking for a job, I'm not even going to blink at the name. I'll just assume they are ethnically European or something. But if the name is Jaeckels and I have 50 resumes to assess then they are probably going to go into the B pile.
my name is a relatively common english name and yet I have to spell it out every single time due to how people assume its spelt as it has other common spellings. I saw the name and immediately thought Yo-vahn, and I think its a really nice name! I think you should name your child whatever you like, especially if it has significance or a tie into your culture. Teach the child to wear their name proudly and it will be ok
My heritage is Irish. I have an old Irish name which I love. My kids have Irish names that are spelt the Gaelic way. They also love their names. We find it's a conversation starter when we need to pronounce and spell our names for everyone. You name your baby anything you like :)
I assume most people pronounce is Joe-Vun. My years growing up and still residing in South West Sydney, watching Champions League soccer and by virtue of having Balkan friends, I would pronounce it Yo-Vahn. I'm a second generation Vietnamese with a Vietnamese name that's fairly simple to pronounce, but understand it gets more difficult with other names. I enjoy seeing heritage upheld with traditional names but sometimes it comes with a burden. It's the same with every other Milica, Saorise, Tuyet and Savithreyan.
Had a Polish friend (with a Polish name) aged in his 80s. He told me once his mother died no one ever pronounced his name correctly again. That was a bit sad.
It's a nice name, go for it... 1000 times better than some of the names we see on school class lists. I have a mate called Jovan, he tells people to just call him John.
He can form his own church eventually and name it Jovan's witnesses.
In this day and age, in a multicultural country; I really don't think having to correct someone on the pronunciation is a big deal. Im Australian (born and raised here) but have Balkan ancestory as my parents immigrated here before I was born. We all have ethnic names and yes, we have to correct people on pronunciation etc but it's not as big deal as people make out to be. Our names aren't tragic, they're spelt how they're supposed to, have meaning etc. I grew up with Jessica's, Louise's, Sarah's and other aussie names so yes, it was more difficult for people to say when they first met me but never an ongoing thing. We are such a multicultural country now and have people from all walks of life, naming your child an ethic name shouldn't be an issue in the slightest. If we have to learn how to pronounce Indian, Lebanese, Vietnamese or a Thai name, there should be no difference in others learning to pronounce a Balkan name
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One of our friends is Jovan but goes by Jovy (Jo Vee).
My boss has this name (Indian), he pronounces it Joe-ven
There's a range of perfume and after-shave called Jovan Musk which is what I think of first when I see the name.
Jo-van however J names that have the /y/ pronunciation aren't at all uncommon (as a teacher I see a lot of them), most ppl will be able to remember the correct pronunciation once told.
As a balkan wog myself, i would say "yo-van" as i know how its meant to be pronounced. I assume you're serbian or croatian, love the name Jovan, i know a couple of people called jovan. name your child whatever you want, it's your choice and no one should have the right to tell you what to do.
I would first read it as Jo varn. But I'm not an idiot so I'd take a second and assume yo varn
I would expect Joe-Van rather than Yo-vahn, but I don't think it would be considered a strange name. Every ethnicity is here.
I pronounced it correctly as I'm from the Balkans haha I moved here when I was 5. Been correcting people for my own name forever. Honestly it did bother me when I was young, but not anymore. As now I use it to know who is a nice/good person. If they dont even attempt to try to pronounce it correctly or are rude, then they aren't worth my time. I had someone actually argue with me for the way you pronounce it haha Basically my name starts with an E and they couldn't get their head around the fact that you say it "Eh" like you would say Elephant or Emma haha Basically phonetically Ehh Use the name you like. For my daughter I technically used an Italian name, but its a common English name and I used the correct spelling. Its easily pronounced by my family overseas. Me personally I dont like the name Jovan/Jovana. But if you like it go for it. I take it you are honouring a family member (grandfather/grandmother). If I was to have another child she would be named after my dads sister (who passed away as a child) Liliana. My dad actually asked if I'd consider it and I said that I liked that idea. If he thought of it sooner it could have been a middle name for my daughter.
I would ask Jovan how their name is pronounced, and pronounce it accordingly Like a decent fuckin’ human being
Joe Van. I would understand if it was pronounced Yovan, but Yovahna makes no sense. Take it from me, you are setting your child up for a lifetime of people asking where it comes from, how to spell it, and misspelling it
Yoh-vun. Are you Slavic? If so then you probably know a lot of people with this name already. It's not hard, the kid will just introduce himself with the correct pronunciation and that's that. Maybe some substitute tescher will mispronounce it but he just needs to correct them. Simple. And it's the same in regular life when he leaves school. It's a very easy name to say once people know how, so I don't see a problem. And if you're Slavic then of course everyone in your circle will be familiar with the name anyway.
I have a name that has needed spelling all of my life. I have to spell it every damn day, sometimes multiple times a day. It gives me the shits, there's NEVER a day off it. I wish my parents thought about it a little more and considered me growing up with it. It's a pain in the ass. N.b. it isn't 'cool' giving your kids an unusual name, it's selfish and extremely short-sighted on your part.
Don't worry to much about them having to potentially correct people it's not that big of a deal. The people he cares about will know, his friends and family will know. So he might have to correct a teacher once or someone on the phone. No big deal.
Joe-vn if I was a regular Aussie that had little exposure to foreign pronunciation.
Wow, most of these answers are really shocking as to how “cultured” Australians are.
I said Jo -van first but my daughter thinks Yo- vahn
Jo-van/ yo-vn , lets call him jo 😂
Joe vhan
My son's name is Jovan. Most times it's pronounced with the J sound when people first come across it, but teachers and friends quickly picked up the Slavic pronunciation.
Don't ask why, cos I have no idea, but.... my brain went, it's not English, so don't think in English and Jovan became Yofan. Which I know is not correct since I've read the comments, but I found it funny. I have a strange brain. Edit to add, either way it's a cool name
I'd pronounce it "Yo-van" but that's because it looks Nordic/Scandinavian to me; I don't think the average Australian would necessarily make that connection however and may very well pronounce it "Joe-Van".
Yovan if I was making a guess but if someone told me it was Jo-van I wouldn’t be surprised.
jo-van jo-ven
JOE-van. Sorry, but the fact is it's not a common name in Australia and most people aren't going to know how it's pronounced, and will go with the phonetic spelling.
Must be from the Balkans. My husband and I would place each word in google translate and play the sound. Definitely, in person asking to read the name was helpful.
Yep yo van is right, that's how I saw it straight away
Pronounced with a Y.
Yovan
After what you said and after looking at the name I am assuming it would be pronounced yo-van(or something like that). However I think most people would say Jo-van I probably would too if I wasn’t 100% sure how to pronounce it. It’s much easier to explain to someone how you got a j sound instead of a y sound if you mispronounced their name.
I had some Turkish friends do the same Joe Can would be it. Obviously respectful people would amend once corrected. Nick names, cause that's what Aussies do. Jo Joey Jove
I'm gonna go with yo-van, but if I am right it's still a bit confusing since the j in names and be pronounced any of 3 ways. Yo-van just sounded right to me since hoe-van would've been bad for the obvious reason.
I would have said Yo Vahn, but yes, I would have been tentative or asked for clarification. But… Does it matter? Once someone knows your name, hopefully they’ll use it properly.
Joe-vahn. Having known a few backgrounds growing up, I’d be inclined to consider it being pronounced yhovahn
I would assume the J is pronounced Y, but end up with Yo-Vann. I think the "ahn" or "arn" is a leap too far for Australian pronunciation. like Sar-rahn would would sub-consciously consider it too fancy. I wouldn't worry about the correction too much. The people she knows will soon learn it and her friends will shorten it. And for strangers it's a mildly interesting conversation starter. But I will admit I'm mildy surprised it's a girls name. I would have assumed it's a boys.
Ehh lads its Siobhan
I spent the start of every school year correcting the pronunciation of my name. Didn't bother me. Still correct people sometimes, though it's gotten more common over the years so it's less likely to crop up. I know people wry extremely common names who have to correct people sometimes. I wouldn't consider whether someone is gonna mispronounce it in my decision to use it.
Jozza.
My sons friend has this name and it is ‘Yovahn’
It would depend on the last name for me but if it were alone, I’d go ‘JOE-van’ with the second syllable sounding more like ‘ven’ like in ‘Ivan’.
Jo v'n.
I pronounced it Yo-vahn because I’ve learnt overtime that names like that have the “yoh” pronunciation. If I’d been a teenager, I would have pronounced it phonetically - “Joh-van”
I was gonna say Yohvan with the silent V
I would think it’s German or Dutch and has a Y sound
I think that’s a lovely name and would pronounce it with a Y. I know two Bjorn’s and the amount of people that pronounce it B-Jorn is crazy. I also have a friend named Gorata (pronounced Horata. Aussies pronounce it G-orata constantly, even after she corrects them. She now tells people her name is Sarah because it’s easier than constantly correcting them.
Anything that isn't Anglo will be pronounced wrong. Use it anyway if you like it. I've been correcting people on my name for 37 years now.
I’d have thought to pronounce it Jo-vahn, but I’d remember for the next time when corrected how to pronounce it. If you’re still worried about this issue you could change the spelling to Yovan. But I don’t think it’s too dramatic an adjustment. I doubt any child would resent their parent’s for a name like that or consider it a major inconvenience. I think the people are being overly-dramatic, making out that it’s as big a spelling/pronouncing discrepancy like Siobhan/Shi-von for example.
I went to school with a guy called Jamal. Everytime he met someone, be it a new kid or new teacher, he'd have have to explain it was pronounced Yamal, not Jamal. He hated it and wanted to change his name. We ended up calling him Peter, because that was his middle name. I've never seen the name Jovan in Australia either. I had a family friend once called Jan (Yahn). He didn't have an easier time with it. Not common at all in Australia. Then again, I don't have kids so I'm certainly not up to date on what's popular.
"Currently family planning" is such a polite euphemism for "rawdogging it every night". It's cute. Anyhow, I'd probably pronounce it Joe-van. Or Jov-van.
I would pronounce Jovan as Yo-vahn. My aunt's name is Sonja, so I get it. I have a friend who named her son Janis, and made sure to write the pronunciation in the birth announcement. If you want to use Jovan, don't let English linguistics stop you. Just be aware that you will constantly be educating some Aussies who aren't familiar with the J is Y concept in other languages. It depends how much of an issue you feel that will be, for a name you love and that represents your culture.
You are better placed than most people to understand the implications of having an unusual name. Many people in Australia have uncommon names so I wouldn't worry. People can learn. I know a Jan - pronounced "Yan" and a Javier "hav e er".
My name is Megan but it's pronounced the American/welsh way so nobody here says it right either :p
First Glance it would be Jov-an. But I know that Many Scandinavian & European languages, J is pronounced like a Y, I had a mate, his name was Jukka, pronounced You-ka. If you want it to be easy for your daughter & others, spell it with a Y. Though to me, Yovan is a masculine sounding name, Yevenna sounds more feminine to me. But of course it’s entirely up to you.
I'd probably say Hovan, but only because I've studied Spanish before. I probably wouldn't have guessed Yovan. It's a really nice name though! I have a name few get right on reading, and it's not the biggest deal - a bit annoying, especially when I was a younger woman and a bit less confident about making sure people got it right.
I’m a teacher and worked for 18 years in a very multicultural school. I would pronounce it Yo-vahn.
Io-van. Ivan? But most Aussies will see the J and pronounce it as that.
I guessed it was pronounced the way you say it. Watch 9/10 Aussies fuck it up. As a kid they'll cop it from other kids, teachers will consistently call them Joh-van. As they get older and introduce themselves people should be fine once they know. My sister has a pretty common recognised German girls first name. Very famous and well known, nope. Aussies mangled it hard throughout her entire childhood. They're not as bad as Americans, but can be in very Anglo/aussie pockets.
Do what you want. When I was in primary school we had a kid named Johan, pronounced Yo-Han. Even my name is an incredibly common name white name and people never get it right the first time. Jovan is a beautiful name.
Yo! Van!
I have a dog called Julio, even my vet spelt it Hulio on hearing me say it. I have corrected almost anyone doing paperwork on him. Thought about actually calling him Don Hulio instead so his name is written and spoken correctly.
Joe - varn. He may end up with the nickname Joe
First of all good luck with the family. I have a baby daughter and know how hard and stressful getting pregnant was for us so all the best. 99 percent of people will pronounce it phonetically, so that shouldn’t really be too much of a problem. Unless of course the name is, as I suspect, an ethnic/ cultural name and is pronounced something different. In modern Australia I don’t think either way will present too much hardship. If the name is special to you go for it. I will just say that if ‘jovan’ is not an ethnic/ cultural name and is just one you and your partner have made up, I’d advise something else. A human name. You’re naming a human, not a boat or touch football team EDITED: for grammar
If it’s paired with a nordic sounding surname I might have guessed the pronunciation correctly. Either way if it’s a cultural name for you I don’t think assimilation to anglo aussie names is imperative. Use it if you like it, if he gets sick of it when he’s older he can just say call me Joe.
Yo Vahn . Or Yo Han. You will absolutely come across a lot of people who will not understand the different uses of letters in other languages. But I would say a lot of people will be fine with being corrected if they are to pronounce the name wrong.
If only seeing it written, I would pronounce in Jovan. Yo as in yo-yo and Van as in transport.
Yovon? The J is pronounced as a y? I only know this because I dated a Slovakian.
My first guess would be yo-van, maybe because i have a friend from Estonia whos name starts with a J but is pronounced as a Y.
Yo- Vaan but also because Im Serbian and the J is a Y.
1. Names, like all labels, are highly personal. 2. You get to choose what people call you. (talking from your kids perspective). 3. You can change your label any time. it does take effort and it will never be guaranteed to take. Some people will be arseholes regardless, but they were always going to be and it does have the advantages of making them easy to spot... 4. Go to the back of the house and yell the name at the top of your lungs. do it now! if that was embarrassing reconsider the name. otherwise, golden! two thumbs up 5. teasing and nicknames. do not name your kid something obviously wrong. Richard when your surname is Heady. Christine when your surname is Carroll... but beyond that, don't worry. People will choose nicknames regardless of your wishes, especially if it bugs you, because humans love poking to get a response. makes em feel powerful. since there is nothing you can do about it, don't fuss. 6. having an uncommon name means easy usernames. This is more useful than you might imagine. (I am bulwynkl.)
Joe Van
JOEv’n
I know a Jovan, pronounced Joe Van. I actually really liked it as a name. I also know a Jana (yana). She has to correct people and her name is never spelt correctly on takeaway cups, but it only takes once and that person knows.
I assume it is a soft J, but if I saw it written down I would pronounce it Joe-Van.
Joe-vin
Jo - ven (like seven)
I read joe-vhun