Japanese/English Baby Girl Name Choices

Hi,

I am English and my partner is Japanese. We are expecting our first baby, which we have found out is a girl, in a few months time. Although we are currently living in the UK we will at some point also live in Japan where all of my partners family still live.

I just wanted peoples opinions on the following names that we are keen on;

Maya
Emi
Airi
Zoe

How well do you think they fare crossing over both into Japanese as well as English? Pronunciation issues? Any other suggestions also welcome :)

Zoe would probably sound very un-Japanese; the other three are common. Other examples from the top of my head are Anna, Karen, Naomi or Marina.

and also, Lisa(or Risa), Hana(Hanna), Erica(Erika), Maria, May, Lena(Rena), Julia(Juria), Mila(Mira), Emily(Emiri), Noah(Noa)

Maya is a beautiful name! Not sure if you know, but it's a famous mountain in Kobe.

I'm also English and my daughters' mother is Japanese. Our younger daughter's name is Maya.

It IS a lovely name (Buddha's mother's name among other things...) but when we moved back to the UK a few years ago, we found that she gets very frustrated at most English people's inability to pronounce her name correctly - sooo many people pronounce it as May-a, rather than My-a. Even teachers commonly make this mistake and seem to need to be reminded time after time.

Just something to bear in mind!

Ok. Our updated list is now ;

Airi Sudo
Maya Sudo
Emi Sudo
Erin Sudo
Naomi Sudo

Surname sounds similar to Sudo btw i.e. as in short and easy to pronounce in English and Japanese, so have given this as an example to see how the names would look with a similar surname

It's you daughter after all and you should decide. But remember that Japanese names aren't just soundings but als its meanings, as Emi can be 恵美 (blessed beauty), 絵美(picturesque beauty), or 映美 (glowing beauty). Maybe you should consult to your wife.

Here are some more suggestions:

Emma
Nina
Rika (or Lica)
Erika
kaya
saya
Mary (or Mari)

I think Emi is good one it suits as japans and English also.

Airi sounds pretty! Airi can be written '愛理' or '愛梨'.
愛 means love.
I wish you are going to have a healthy baby!

You probably want to think about the kanji you want to give to your girl too.

愛梨、摩耶、恵美、絵鈴 (not common) 、直美 (rather old fashioned)

Why not give her a Japanese name that is widely recognised such as Yoko?