I was actually just curious about your name. My wife and I are adopting a little girl from China this year and picked the name Chani, but haven’t found a whole lot of people familiar with the name. I actually picked the name from one of my favorite novels (Dune, by Frank Herbert), but my wife has concerns that it may confuse people. We pronounce it like our vice president’s last name (which was actually my one reservation about the name). Any idea where you got your name (other than from you parents, of course) and how it’s pronounced?

my name’s from dune too. totally different pronunciation! it’s hard to describe… kinda with an ‘english’ a sound. like when the dentist asks you to ’say ahh’. the ‘ni’ part is pronounced just like ‘knee’.

there are so many zillions of mispronunciations of my name (including really awful ones like ‘charlie’) that I’ve mostly stopped caring; I correct people a couple of times at first, then say ‘close enough’ if they haven’t got it.

still, I love my name :) when I was a kid playing make-believe games I always wanted to keep my own name. the only alternative I would accept was ‘inahc’.

its best name in the world for me………………… really.

According to some websites (including Wikipedia’s entry for the Dune
character Chani! ^_^), Chani can be a pet name for Chana/Chanah
(Hebrew name, origin of Hannah). If so, it should be pronounced
with the “ch” soft as in the Scottish “loch” and the last part
“ahnee”. The 1984 TV version of Dune and the 2000 TV version of
Dune pronounced it two different ways (”Chaney” and “Chahnee”)
(I suspect that both are wrong…especially since Frank Herbert
seems to have been into Hebrew names generally…although it IS
possible that he COULD have meant entirely another ancient name,
from an entirely different place, such as India, in which case
“Chaney” or “Chahnee” with a hard “ch” could be correct/accurate!).
I prefer to think of the Dune character Chani’s name as being
pronounced like the pet name for the Hebrew name Chana/Chanah
(with a soft “ch”)…but it seems that I am in the minority
in thinking so (perhaps that’s partly because of the huge, huge
popularity of the TV versions, which are great but which do not
necessarily or automatically present everything accurately! ^_~).
(Actually, I wish I knew how Frank Herbert himself pronounced it,
or thought it should be pronounced, or whatever. No one seems to
know. Or maybe his son knows. Hmmm.)

But anyway, I think that naming someone after the Dune character Chani
is special…however you pronounce it! ^_^

=^___^=

My name is also Chani, and my parents also got the idea from reading “Dune”. Just wanted to say, it ’s nice to find that someone else also pronounces it the same way as I do. I wouldn’t want to change my name either. :)

Hey, found your blog randomly.. I used to be into Creatures too but didn’t bother upgrading to Creatures2 :P

I noticed on an older entry you mentioned you were the official Google Pizza Ambassador.. that sounds awesome! How did you get it? I looked on the official website and I can’t figure out how to apply.

Oh and I also love the look of the blog.. spiffy!
-Priyesh

priyesh: I emailed the pizza people at google… umm… try pizza_ambassador at google dot com

Thanks, I’ll give that a try!

I now know how to say “Chani”, good :)

Nice blog, like the “flowered” background :)

yep. thats the proper way to do it. i found this blog searching for “chani`s theme” . wicked and rare song from a rare album called “dune spice opera” :D
i was playing dune 1 . which is completely different to the rest of the dune games. more of old skool 1992 adventure game. nonetheless, the characters themeselves talk, and they pronounce it unline dick`s surname :D. in any case. peace be upon you!

Chani is a common name for boys and girls in Punjabi, India. There it is pronounced as “Chun-ni”. It is a common nickname for Punjabi names Charanjit or Charanjeet. There are several Punjabi folk songs with lyrics about Chani, typically denoting a young maiden.

that explains why I’ve had people on msn and jabber trying to speak indian-looking languages at me… maybe I should try learning a bit :)

I haven’t had people jabber at me. But it is really nice to know that there are other people out there with the same name as me. I thought only my parents were the ones obsessed with the dune series. lol. I’ve had a load of misspellings as well the most recent was chante? i had trouble acceptimg my name when i was younger but now i think it’s nice to be unique

Hi Chani,

I am helping out with WICS at SFU (you used to be a member, right?). Unfortunately I don’t have your email so I hope you get this!

We are thinking about doing a Google Summer of Code project for this summer, and I was told you might have some information about this. If you could email me back that would be great.

Thanks,

Kate

Just be careful if you go to Brazil(and maybe other portuguese-speaking countries), Chaninha is a diminutive for Chana, or Xana.

The diminutive is often used to name female cats, but the original means pussy/vagina, so little pussy might sound awkward.

So, don’t worry if you hear someone giggling when you say your name.

Wow! Someone with my name as well! Not to many of us out there but love my name. The older I grow the more I like it.

Hello! I found your blog a few days ago when I began reading some rss on Akregator. I like it much. It really is a blog, not a bunch of funny movies and stuff.
Are there any pictures of you on the web? I’m really curious :P

Hi Chani(s)!

I’m pregnant and due any day with a girl who will be named Chani. I love the name and love how special and unique it is, as well. Glad to hear that you all like your name- we were worried that she might not love it as much as we do. Now i just need to choose the middle name!

Take care, all.

Pam

Hey, just curious…. is your name pronounced “shahn-EE” or “SHAHN-ee?” I love the name. ;)

Hi everyone
Thank god for this blog! I’ve always had issues with my name and how to pronounce it! I pronounce it Shar-Nee, the R is because I come from Oxford (UK) and they add Rs to everything!
I’m surprised no one wants to change their name, I was thinking of changing it to something similar like Charlie but it is going to take a lot of thought.
x

grace: no. ;) it’s something like CHAHN-ee.

Chani LM: funny, one of my aunts (in england) insists on pronoucing my name that way.

I’d never want to change my name… I love being the only Chani in the area. :)