it's Carys....sounds like Paris...

I knew for many years that I would name my daughter Carys. I must have heard it on the news when a famous couple chose that name for their daughter. It stuck with me. It sounded like a sweet name: soft and pretty. It's a Welsh name meaning love. When we found out we were having a girl, Carys was the first and only name on our list of girls. The only thing we struggled with, was the spelling. Do we spell it in a way that people can pronounce it? Do we add an extra "s" at the end? It wasn't until Carys arrived that we decided on the spelling- we chose the traditional spelling of the name (obviously). Every other way, of spelling it, just didn't seem right. So, fast-forward a few days later, months even.... and her poor name gets masacred in every way possible. People simply cannot pronounce the "rys"- they'll pronouce it like "Carries, Ka-reese, Ka-riss". We get unsolicited comments like: "Interesting, how do you spell that", or sometimes just a plain "Oh, nice". We made the mistake of sharing the name we chose, while I was pregnant, with select people and certain people even said "how are you going to say that in French?" um, wouldn't it be pronounced the same way as it is in English?- This is why I won't share any future names (should there be a next time). I'd rather not hear people's opinion on the name that will stay with my child for the rest of her life. Most commonly, though, we get "Oh, that's a different name"- I wonder what that's supposed to mean? Different in a good way or different in a bad way? I guess either way, I don't really care. I love her name, I love the way it's spelled and I even love to see it written. It isn't very often that someone can pronounce it and I find myself saying "CARYS... it sounds like PARIS...C-A-R-Y-S". Sadly, I know Carys will spend the rest of her life spelling out her name and prouncing it, but at least it makes her special and unique. Besides, I figure your name could be Bob and you'd have to spell for somebody at some point in your life. The name suits my baby girl. Just like her name, she is sweet, pretty and most-definitely loved.