Do you think it’s wrong to change the spelling of a name in order for it to be pronounced correctly? Is Soleil known enough that people generally pronounce it as so-lay and not so- leel? I love the name and think its pretty as its spelt. But what about Solei?
Also to add, I did a bit of digging and ‘Soley’ is pronounced the same as Soleil but it is the Icelandic word for “buttercup” which I love that, because we are nature people and my sons name is Jade Salix. Also, my husband is german/ norwegian so our last name is Zipfel. So i dont think ‘Soley’ would be too out there.
One of my friends is named [name_f]Soleil[/name_f], and I’ve always adored it! To be honest, she definitely had quite a few instances where her name was mispronounced (so-leel mostly), but she was never too bothered by it. In general, I think people’s familiarity with the name depends on the region you live in, but I’m of the opinion that changing the traditional spelling takes away the beautiful origins and internationality of the name, and simply correcting a pronunciation is no big deal – but it’s totally up to you whether you think it’s worth it or not!
I don’t think anyone would judge you for spelling it [name_f]Solei[/name_f], but I personally wouldn’t do it. I feel like I’d want to be respectful to the original language that I’m taking the name from, if that makes sense? And I feel like it’s not too hard to correct those who get it wrong! But if you’re uncertain, [name_f]Solei[/name_f] can definitely work.
From what I can tell [name_f]Sóley[/name_f] isn’t pronounced the same as [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] – it seems to have an emphasis on the first syllable instead of the second one like [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] https://forvo.com/search/Sóley/is/ and it doesn’t solve the spelling/pronunciation problems like you pointed out yourself (the sol-ee problem), so I think I’d stick to [name_f]Soleil[/name_f]!
From a little bit of digging I do see some places that say Soley is pronounced the very similarly ( https://youtu.be/7n5iPvT_VP8si=MmK33JHou42mNups ), and personally I love the connection to buttercup.
However like @tallemaja said it doesn’t really solve your pronunciation issue. As an English speaker if I saw Soley I would assume it was Soul-ee as its and even less familiar than Soleil, so I feel like you’d actually have a higher chance of getting the pronunciation you want with Soleil. If you wanted a more phonetic spelling I would probably go with Solay or Solae but then you kind of lose that nature connection.
Sorry I don’t think there’s any perfect solution for this one. You’d have to choose what would bother you more.
People will mispronounce it as so-leel very often. There will be people who know to pronounce it as sol-lay, but I would guess that most will mispronounce it.
[name_f]Solei[/name_f] will probably get mispronounced as well, but not as often. It would probably be mispronounced as sol-eye.
As for [name_f]Soley[/name_f], I think this is a fine name. From a pronunciation standpoint, to me this name as the emphasis on the first syllable (Sol), kind of like the name [name_m]Sully[/name_m]. If it is supposed to have the emphasis on the “ley” syllable, then this will probably be mispronounced in that regard. But, I do think that it will be pronounced sol-ee almost all the time, just with differences in where the emphasis goes.
I also think [name_f]Soley[/name_f] looks good with your last name and works well with big brother [name_f]Jade[/name_f]
I was actually going to recommend [name_f]Soley[/name_f]! I do think it’s easy to say like sol-ee, but I think [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] is pretty familiar? Then again I took [name_f]French[/name_f] in high school and was familiar with it as a [name_f]French[/name_f] word long before I saw its use as a name. I think [name_f]Jade[/name_f] and [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] together really well!
I know french so when I saw this name for the first time I pronounced it correctly. Then [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] told me that she pronounced it so-leel. Probably because she gave up. In NE US.
I think [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] is such a beautiful name! I’ve always been drawn to it. However, I do think you’re going to get a ton of mispronunciation and misspelling with it unfortunately.
[name_f]Soley[/name_f] I like because it’s more phonetically spelled and might help people more easily know how to say and spell it. I don’t think it’s too out there.
I don’t have much to add to the conversation, I’m in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] and I think [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] is quite widely recognized here. So I’d recommend sticking with that.
But I really just wanted to comment on how amazing your son’s name is! [name_f]Jade[/name_f] [name_m]Salix[/name_m] is so outstanding and handsome! You’re obviously an incredible namer so I know you’ll do great again.
I think youre right. Either way it will get mispronounced. But I realized that even people with “normal” names have issues. I myself suffered all my life with mispronounciation or people didnt even bother to really look at it.
In Icelandic it’s spelled [name_f]Sóley[/name_f]. [name_f]Soley[/name_f] is the Swedish and Norwegian spelling. And it’s pronounced SO-lay, not soh-LAY, so the pronunciation would be incorrect. It doesn’t mean buttercup in Icelandic either. As a Faroese name it’s a pet form of [name_f]Sólja[/name_f] which does mean buttercup. In Icelandic it’s a combination of sol (sun) and ey (island).
Of course you’re free to spell the name however you want, but it wouldn’t be the Icelandic or even Faroese word for buttercup.
I don’t think there’s any perfect solution for this one. You’d have to choose what would bother you more.
