Your opinion on this name

[Stefani]

More than likely though, I would imagine a native english speaker's first attempt at pronouncing "yiren" would rhyme with "siren".

Ah, you are correct there Imron, "Yiren" will come out more like "Why-ren" for English speakers (see I still read it more like Indonesian )

So, whether the "y" or the "w" is silent or soft or pronounced varies from region to region?

My son is now 4 years old, and his Chinese name is not his legal name. My husband is Caucasian, and I didn't quite dare naming him in Chinese as neither I nor my parents speak Chinese that well (my parents can speak and read it much better than I, but still they don't feel competent enough to name their grandson). As he goes to Chinese daycare and week-end school since he was 2 years old, it makes it easier and nicer that he has a Chinese name rather than everyone naming him (in Chinese) whatever they like. So last year I started thinking about his name, and many people had suggested different names, and I picked Qiren as I hope he will "inspire kindness" (qifa renci) in himself and others. This was before I found this forum and thought about asking you all. I wanted to get your opinion as I am quite aware of the issues of homonyms.

Thank you.