Hi Swistle! Hoping you and your readers can help me out. Sabine is tied right up there as one of my favorite girl names. I first heard it in Germany, where it’s pronounced “suh-BEAN-uh” (it is also a French name, but pronounced “suh-BEAN” in France. We prefer the German pronunciation). But, here’s my quandary: would people who hear it just think that the baby’s name was Sabrina?
I love(!) this name, but really don’t want to saddle a child with being misheard all her life when she introduces herself.
Ta!
Robin
I think the bigger issue is that people will think the name is spelled Sabina (if they hear it) or pronounced sah-BEEN (if they see it). If you were spelling it Sabina and asking if it would be confused with Sabrina, I would be shrugging and saying, “Well, sure, sometimes it will be, but many names are mistaken for other names, and all you have to do is make the correction.” A Claire can be mistaken for a Clara, or a Kristen for a Kirsten, or an Alissa for an Alicia, and I wouldn’t let that stop me from using any of those names. Parent and child both get accustomed to pronouncing it very clearly the first time and to correcting it periodically, and it isn’t a big deal.
However, in your case you wish to use a familiar name with an unfamiliar pronunciation. This is not a perfect example (it’s a more extreme case), but it’s similar to naming a daughter Caitlin and wanting it pronounced the Irish way, which is more like Cathleen: in that case I would advise spelling it Cathleen, rather than trying to override the already-familiar U.S. pronunciation of KATE-lin. And that’s the same suggestion I would make for Sabine: I would spell it Sabina, if that is how you would like it pronounced. I would consider that a matter of translating the name into the American English alphabet, as we’d change Annike to Annika, or Eoin to Owen.
I’m definitely not saying I think names should always be spelled as they are pronounced. You would not catch me, for example, advocating that Chloe should be spelled Cloey or Daphne should be spelled Daffnie, just to help out American English speakers. American English speakers have become accustomed to many names that are not spelled as we’d pronounce them phonetically: Chloe, Daphne, Isla, Zoe. But in this case you are trying to use a name that is already familiar with one pronunciation and asking to have it pronounced a different way. It would be like using the name Daphne and asking people to pronounce it Daff-na; or bringing the name Chloe here after we already had a name spelled that way but pronounced Clo. It’s not impossible, but it’s an additional hurdle: you not only have to teach people how to pronounce it, you have to override how they are already pronouncing it. (Note: this may not be relevant if you live in an area of the U.S. with a large German/Dutch population.)
But spelling it Sabina is such an obvious solution to the problem, it leads me to this question: Do you have a particular reason you don’t want to? It can definitely happen that a small change makes a huge difference in the way the parents feel about a name: many of us, for example, are likely to feel very differently about the name Catherine versus the name Kathryn, or Claire versus Clara, so you are in good company if you feel the same way about Sabine versus Sabina.
If the only way you like it is if it is spelled Sabine, I think you can decide it’s worth the hassle—but I do think it will be a hassle, more than the usual hassle of Kristen/Kirsten or Sophia/Sofia.
Name update:
Hi Swistle!
Baby girl was born September 25! A surprise to both my husband and I was that we couldn’t quite figure out her name; with her brothers, the names seemed to fit them straight out of the womb. Part of the problem was that she had been dubbed “Hortense” in utero, and initially no other name felt as right. 😂 We bandied about names for the better part of a week – Marguerite, Aletheia, Thea, Colette – but ultimately came back to what we had thought all along. Baby girl has been Sabine Nina-Elaine for almost a week now, and it fits her perfectly. Thanks to you and your readers for all your advice!
Robin
Maybe this is because I spend so much time on baby name blogs, where names like Sabine are often discussed, but here’s my thought: Using Sabine (vs. Sabina) actually decreases the chance that it’ll be confused for Sabrina.
In other words, when I see “Sabine,” I always think, “There’s that name with the German pronunciation and the surprise ending.” I might see “Sabina” as either an alternate spelling of Sabine or as a possible typo version of Sabrina.
Really like this name!
I grew up with a Sabina (spelt like this) in England. It’s lovely!
I went to school with a girl named Sabine who was from Germany. She introduced herself as Sa-BEAN-ah, but everyone called her Sa-BEAN. I agree with Switle that it would be tough to get people to use yhe former pronunciation unless you change the spelling. It’s a lovely name either way…
Sabina is also one of my top baby names. For me, it’s a family name, and the pronunciation matches the more familiar spelling. I have heard/seen the French version, but didn’t realize that the German version had the same spelling/alter pronunciation. When I say it’s a family name, I’m talking my German great-grandparent’s generation. So, if it makes any difference, years ago I think that my great-great-grandparents at least made the decision to alter the spelling to match the pronunciation.
Anyway, thanks for teaching me something about my family history! And, I hope you choose to use the name either way because I really love it!
I’m likely to be in the minority (I hope) but Seven Brides for Seven Brothers immediately comes to mind, where they alternate pronouncing it “sobbin'” and “say-byne “. I mean, it’s an easy fix and once I knew spelling and pronunciation it wouldn’t be an issue at all. The first time, if I read it before I heard, I’d assume the French pronunciation and sing the song in my head for a minute.
However, I wouldn’t assume it was Sabrina. So at least there’s that.
Great Movie! Also brings that to my mind too. Must be a Kelly thing. :)
I agree with Swistle. If I saw Sabine, I would be certain it was pronounced suh-bean. If I saw Sabina, I would pronounce it very clearly suh-bean-ah while watching the parent and child to make sure this is correct and ensuring that it is not in fact Sabrina. I think the latter spelling would cause much less confusion (once I knew it was Sabina, not Sabrina, I’d never make that mistake again). Whereas each time I would see Sabine spelled, I would probably always instinctively go with the French pronunciation. Now if this is the spelling you’re in love with, I think everyone would get on board with the spelling eventually.
I had a great aunt named Sabina but they pronounced it suh-BINE-uh. This was Kansas/Missouri in the early 1900s. That family history would influence my pronunciation for sure.
Sabina with this spelling will get you the desired pronunciation.
I think “Sabina” is a much better choice for use in English, although I do agree with Shannon above that you might get more Sabrina confusion than with Sabine. In any case, the things I would want to be aware of if I were thinking about using the German name Sabine in English:
I live in Germany and Sabine is a common name, but I confirmed in an unofficial poll of my German husband that someone named Sabine would be middle-aged at the very youngest. In a decade here I have never heard of a baby Sabine. It’s not a perfect comparison, but I think in Germany it would be like naming a baby Barbara or Linda in the US. This doesn’t matter as much for using Sabine in the US, but be aware that Germans would find it unexpected.
And I mention this only because it’s something I would like to be aware of (so I don’t think it’s a real deal breaker unless you want it to be), the first thing I associate the word “Sabine” with in English is the Rape of the Sabine Women, which is probably not a common association but it definitely came up in my high school Latin and art history classes.
I grew up with a Sabine, pronounced Sabina. i think it’s a lovely name and that you should go with the spelling to like.
I think Swistle has a good point. I remember reading the books “Gryphon and Sabine” and to this day I struggle to pronounce the woman’s name!
Your pronunciation is lovely, and you can definitely educate people, though that can become tiresome to some people.
Sorry, GRIFFIN and Sabine. By Nick Bantock.
I would not confuse it with Sabrina but I would definitely have a hard time not pronouncing it Suh-BEAN.
Hi, I am British Australian but live in Germany. We have a daughter whose name gives a similar but reverse issue to your query. She is Mathilde, pronounced “ma – tilld”, but we find it is pronounced more like “Matilda” over here. She was named (a family name) before we moved to Germany and we are not native German speakers. Anyhow, those who know her, know to pronounce it our preferred way. Those who don’t, we correct and they learn, and are often interested to hear of differing cross-lingo pronunciations. Hope this is helpful! PS love Sabine, and would vote for that spelling.
My husband is German and I actually had Sabine on my name list for our daughter (whom we ended up naming Annika), but I had the opposite problem, which is that I’m fluent in French and wanted the French pronunciation, and my husband couldn’t not pronounce it the German way. I do love the name though, with its classic spelling (I like it much less with an A on the end) and think it’s beautiful with both pronunciations. It could be one of those things where you agree to go with the pronunciation from strangers and not get too fussed over it, and the people who know her well will say it correctly. We’ve done something similar with our daughter. We pronounce her name the German way (AHN-ee-ka), and everyone who interacts with her regularly knows how to say it, but when nurses and other random people say ANN-ika, we just let it go.
Also, agreed that Sabine tends to be an older generation name in Germany. Though, there is Sabine Lisicki, if you follow tennis, and she’s only in her twenties…
I think either way it’s a lovely name. Sabine is less hassle but more authentic. Sabina is easier and just as beautiful. I’m generally a stickler for traditional spelling but in this case I’d pick Sabina.
I took German in high school, so I would pronounce Sabine your preferred way and think it is a lovely name. For whatever reason, I do not like it with the alternative spelling of “Sabina” as much (perhaps because it looks “made up” to me). Like other commenters, to me, the Sabrina issue is not a big deal at all. You will get mispronunciations of Sabine (or, frankly, Sabina (Sab-EYE-nah)). I don’t see the mispronunciations as a big deal, though. Anyone you are in regular contact with will get it right; plus, a lot of times you will be doing the introducing, “This is Sab-EEN-ah”. I wouldn’t sweat others getting it wrong occasionally. (I’m an ANN-drea who has never been too ruffled by people calling me ON-drea.)
My son has a Sabine in his first grade class but I don’t know how they pronounce it since she is always called by (and her name also written as, for all but the most formal purposes) her nickname, Sabi. This is pronounced SAY-bee. It’s cute on her.
I would go with Sabina for pronounciation, but also to avoid association with the previously mentioned painting The Rape of the Sabine Women.
If you use the name you’ll have to decide which you dislike more – the spelling of Sabina (and the likely occasional confusion with Sabrina) or Sa-bean without the uh if you spell it Sabine.
I would personally go Sabine.
Just to be clear you would still pronounce it Sa-bean-uh, but she might get sa-bean sometimes.
My daughter is Sabine! (I was actually a question-asker on this website almost a year ago). The name is from my husband’s family — they are Swiss-German and would have pronounced it Sabine-ah but we decided to just go with “Sah-bean” because it is easier. Also, I don’t know if this matters to you, but we really liked the idea of a name not ending in the -a sound (both my husband and I are teachers and we have noticed that every time we call roll it seems like 90% of the girl names end in that sound).
We couldn’t be happier with the name Sabine. Also, Beanie (or Beans, or whatever) is a pretty awesome nickname.
Thank you everyone for your input! There is something about the spelling Sabina that just doesn’t resonate with me as much as Sabine. We live in a fairly international city, so I think people would get used to our preferred pronunciation, if we chose to go with it. But i definitely appreciate all tbe perspectives! We actually don’t even know the sex of this baby yet, but I am crossing my fingers for a girl, as we have three boys already!
I really like the name Sabine pronounced with the a. I think it might be mispronounced the first time around, but the pronunciation is easy to remember. And wouldn’t be a huge problem.
I’m from Germany. I don’t know of any German name ending in -e that is pronounced -a (common misconception in the US?) If that’s the pronounciation you are going for, that’s totally fine of course, but I wanted to add that the correct German pronounciation for Sabine is Zah-BEE-neh.
It’s probably the way our ears/brains are wired. The way my German born German teacher pronounced them tended to sound like one of the -a variations to me, so that’s how I tried to pronounce them.
I knew a child named Sabine and I don’t recall her ever being misheard as Sabrina. However, her family used the French pronunciation. It’s a cute name! Personally I prefer that pronunciation to Sabina– and I do think Sabine-said-Sabina would be misheard as Sabrina quite often.
You say “right up there” with your top names, but not that it is your #1 name– for me the pronunciation issues would be a dealbreaker/enough to knock Sabin(a) down a few spots so it had no chance of being the name we actually used. Perhaps the middle name spot? It’s a great name otherwise!
I love this name, as I had a Cabbage Patch doll named this as a child. :) She came with her own birth certificate and I honestly don’t remember how it was spelled, but I said, Sa-bean-a. People would always ask me, “you mean, Sabrina?” and I would say “no, Sa-BEAN-a.”
As I read this, I vote for the Sabine spelling. I think it’s prettier and cooler, and seems more like a distinctive name rather than a misspelling of Sabrina. You will have to tolerate some mispronunciation issues, but who cares? The end result is awesome, and people who know and care about your child will learn easily.
We have a daughter named Sabina, spelled with an “a”. We love it and it is also a family name with the same spelling (it is my mothers name and my grandmothers name who immigrated from Poland). We have had very few instances of people mistakeing it for Sabrina, but people do say “that’s unique”. I always laugh internally because it is so familiar to me. Either choice you make I think the name (obviously) is beautiful!
I understand the possibility for confusion on the pronunciation … my daughter’s name is Katerina ( a nod to our Germanic ancestry) and it’s constantly confused as “Katrina” so instead of correcting people we just say to call her “Katie “ … similarly just go with it as a middle name and call her Sabby or Beanie as a nickname !!! … like Lena Sabine Johnson , “ come here Sabby , you little scamp “ !!!