Talk to me about Jovana/Jovanna

streamtrax41

Like? Dislike? Associations? Spelling preference?

I've always wanted to honor my grandfather, who came to America from Italy when he was young. His name was Ottorino, but went by John, which has become a family name. I know a whole bunch of JoAnns, Jo-Annas, Joanies, etc. so I all but gave up on honoring him by using a feminine variant of John. Then I came across this name and I kind of love it.

Your thoughts?

Big sibs for this potential future baby are Kilian Thomas and Evangeline Harper. Mn would likely be Rose, the English translation of MIL's name (Huong).

lauralew

I know nothing about this name. I don't know if I like the sound of it. But I like the meaning/story behind it for sure. If you spell it with one n, I would pronounce it "ahna." Two n' s would be like the name Anna.

streamtrax41

According to BTN, Jovana is a Serbian feminine variant of John. I am definitely not Serbian. But I've also seen that it could be Italian or Spanish as well, especially the Jovanna spelling. I don't know. Where do people get legit etymology info?!

joyfullyfound

I've only ever heard of one person with the name, she graduated with my DH. She's gorgeous, kinda fake, was a teen mom, and is heavy duty into fitness. So, my association isn't fantastic, haha. 

That said, I think it's a lovely name. Very pretty and unique, yet not so foreign sounding it makes people WTF your name choice. I think it's a very nice choice  

lauralew

streamtrax41 said:

According to BTN, Jovana is a Serbian feminine variant of John. I am definitely not Serbian. But I've also seen that it could be Italian or Spanish as well, especially the Jovanna spelling. I don't know. Where do people get legit etymology info?!

No clue! There are a lot of really knowledgeable folks on this board... @mjriley1093‌ and @bromios‌ are the only two I can think of this late at night.

streamtrax41

CharlieFox30 said:

joyfullyfound said:

That said, I think it's a lovely name. Very pretty and unique, yet not so foreign sounding it makes people WTF your name choice. I think it's a very nice choice  

I agree with all of this. 

I know 2, one is 8 and one is almost 30. Both go by Jovie. 

ETA: Also, both of them are Armenian. 

How do they spell it? Jovanna or Jovana?
Thanks for the info!

JMU_Bride09

I think that it sounds beautiful. I have no associations, but I love it with Rose and think that it's a great way to honor your grandfather.

maelic

If you want to honor your Italian grandfather, then use Giovanna. Jovana is not really related (and not terribly pretty to boot, I would assume it's pronounced Yo-va-na).

welly01

I worked with a lady a few years ago with the name Johnna (pronounced John-ah).  It took me a while to get used to it, but it really grew on me.  That could be another way to honor the name John.  Although, I do think you'll have to tell people how to pronounce it.  At first glance, you expect it to be Joann.

Helenahhandbasket

maelic said:

If you want to honor your Italian grandfather, then use Giovanna. Jovana is not really related (and not terribly pretty to boot, I would assume it's pronounced Yo-va-na).

ALL of this.

Other feminine variants of John are Joan and Jane.

streamtrax41

Hmm. I would pronounce Giovanna differently (gee-oh-vahn-nah) and I just don't like it as much. Sigh. I'm not invested in an Italian name, I don't care so much about that. And I like the nn Jo. Double sigh. Also, possibly because I knew a male Gio (gee-oh), it seems more masculine to me. Not that it's a masculine name (it ends in -vanna for crap's sake) but just more masculine than Jovana/Jovanna. Triple sigh.

SunshineMuffin

The Italian spelling is Giovanna and has the same, 3 syllable pronunciation as Jovanna.  It's a common, American mistake to pronounce it as Jee-oh-vah-nah, much the way Gianna is often mispronounced as Jee-ah-nah when the correct pronunciation is Jah-nah.

SunshineMuffin

SunshineMuffin said:

The Italian spelling is Giovanna and has the same, 3 syllable pronunciation as Jovanna.  It's a common, American mistake to pronounce it as Jee-oh-vah-nah, much the way Gianna is often mispronounced as Jee-ah-nah when the correct pronunciation is Jah-nah.

Meant to suggest Gianna as an option here as it is a variant of the English, John.

streamtrax41

SunshineMuffin said:

The Italian spelling is Giovanna and has the same, 3 syllable pronunciation as Jovanna.  It's a common, American mistake to pronounce it as Jee-oh-vah-nah, much the way Gianna is often mispronounced as Jee-ah-nah when the correct pronunciation is Jah-nah.

Very common mistake. My Italian family includes twins Giana (Gee-ahn-uh) and Giuliana. I also know another family with Giovanna (Gee-oh-vahn-nah). I feel like most people would pronounce it this way.

FeetonGround

There was a Jovanna in my math class in high school. She drove me crazy because she was the type that would go bother the teacher until she raised her grade for every single test even if she got 95%. Because of that I don't have a great feeling towards the name though if I try to be objective it does look pretty. I do want to note she pronounced it as 'yo-VAHN-ah'.