Ayla or Anya? Yes, again

Hi, everyone. I made a topic here a little while ago asking for help to decide between these two names and choose middle names. Then a friend of mine who I’ve been talking to about names pointed out to me that “you don’t need to worry about middle names at first, most people will call her first + last so you need to like that first and then worry about what to put in the middle”. We got wonderful middle name suggestions in my last topic, several have made it to our list, but I want extra opinions on the first + last. We have a ridiculously common and simple surname, so much that I’ve seen a girl/woman on nameberry changing her name to [name_f]Anya[/name_f] who has our surname too!
Here are our options, pros and cons, and things we don’t mind with each name:

Ayla [name_m]Hunt[/name_m].
Pros: All of it, one of our favourite names. I always wanted to name my child [name_f]Hailee[/name_f] or [name_f]Hailie[/name_f] (not a fan of the -ey spellings) but my husband vetoed it, that’s as close as I could get and he still liked it. I’m also Jewish and having this name would make me very happy.
Cons: Feels and looks incomplete to some people (used to [name_f]Layla[/name_f], [name_f]Kayla[/name_f] etc), can be pronounced as AY-la or EYE-la and it will vary from person to person. Lack of nicknames, I’m a fan of nicknames but there isn’t much you can do with [name_f]Ayla[/name_f]. I had a student named [name_f]Hazel[/name_f] who went as Hazelnut and it’s cute, but not as easy to do with [name_f]Ayla[/name_f].
We don’t mind: The two different pronunciations, I actually really like [name_f]Isla[/name_f] too, correcting once, she would be fine.

Anya [name_m]Hunt[/name_m]:
Pros: absolutely gorgeous name, a favourite of mine for very long too. Not too common, though [name_f]Ayla[/name_f] (with both pronunciations) isn’t common around where we live either, can definitely see it as a name that works with any age and it’s just so sweet.
Cons: the “on a/on ya” sound that makes the name sound like you’re “on ya hunt”, the mispronunciation as ahn-eye-a and ann-ya which I really don’t like, can also be corrected once but I just really don’t like those.
We really don’t mind: The lack of nicknames (though easier to find some than [name_f]Ayla[/name_f] is, at the top of my head I can already thing of Yaya and [name_f]Annie[/name_f]), the possible misspelling of [name_f]Ania[/name_f] or [name_f]Anja[/name_f], also a one time correction situation.

I find important adding this information so that you already know what we don’t like, what we do and what we don’t mind. I feel like that can make it easier for you to give your vote. If not, feel free to ignore all of it.

Based on how they look and how they sound, would you go for [name_f]Anya[/name_f] or [name_f]Ayla[/name_f]?

Anya!! I think most people know how to pronounce it correctly. I like [name_f]Ayla[/name_f] spelt [name_f]Isla[/name_f], but not with the [name_f]Ayla[/name_f] spelling.

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I love [name_f]Ayla[/name_f]!!

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Love [name_f]Ayla[/name_f], but I think you should go with [name_f]Anya[/name_f].

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Based on your descriptions, [name_f]Ayla[/name_f] seems the best option. I like how it honours your heritage as well as sounding like one of your other favourite names. Besides that, it is lovely and i like how it looks

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We’re going for the AY-la pronunciation, so the spelling [name_f]Isla[/name_f] wouldn’t work. Thank you!

I got so scared of it after hearing people saying it sounded like that and something not very nice too :x but nice to know not everyone hears it. Thank you!

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Thank you!

Thank you very much!

I prefer [name_f]Anya[/name_f] I just think it’s a gorgeous vintage name it’s really pretty and I personally haven’t seen [name_f]Anya[/name_f] mispronounced. I think [name_f]Anya[/name_f] is lovely!

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I like [name_f]Ayla[/name_f] better! The nn [name_f]Lala[/name_f] is cute :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I love [name_f]Ayla[/name_f]! (love it pronounced either way) It looks great in writing, and also sounds lovely with your last name. [name_f]Anya[/name_f] is beautiful too, but I would be scared off with the “on ya hunt” sound as well.

[name_f]Ayla[/name_f] [name_m]Hunt[/name_m] gets my vote :blush: and as the PP mentioned, [name_f]Lala[/name_f] is a cute nickname.

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It’s funny that these names look so similar and are spelled so similarly yet sound completely different! Both are beautiful, but I give my vote to [name_f]Anya[/name_f]. I don’t think it would mispronounced as much as [name_f]Ayla[/name_f], and I like the stronger first name with the short, punchiness of [name_m]Hunt[/name_m]. Plus I think adding a soft middle name (like [name_f]Anya[/name_f] [name_f]Eloise[/name_f] [name_m]Hunt[/name_m]) would make a perfectly balanced name!

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I’ve seen it a couple of times but honestly it’s just a matter of correcting that person once and it’ll never happen again so it doesn’t bother me much. [name_f]My[/name_f] only fear is it sounding too much like “on your” when said fast, our favourite mn at the moment is [name_u]Blake[/name_u] but sometimes we love it, sometimes we think it sounds like “on a break” and then hate it. Thank you!

I completely get that naming is hard and you have to think of everything but I just think [name_f]Anya[/name_f] is so pretty and refreshing to see. I don’t hear what you think could potentially be heard but both names are lush so follow your gut instincts. Good luck :purple_heart:

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I really, really love [name_f]Anya[/name_f] :heart: It’s so simple and international, but has a real sense of style and character too. It also feels more classic to me than [name_f]Ayla[/name_f], which is so close to [name_f]Isla[/name_f], [name_f]Eila[/name_f], [name_f]Iyla[/name_f], [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_f]Lyla[/name_f], [name_f]Layla[/name_f], etc. and as such feels a bit more “now”.

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Anya is beautiful, international, fun and bright!

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The sound of it terrifies me really, which is why we were looking for a surname name middle name! Maybe she could go by both and get away with it. Thank you

Anya [name_f]Eloise[/name_f] is such a delicious combo, I LOVE it! But we settled on the idea of a surname-name or boy name for a middle, as we lost a boy a little before he was born and he was going to have a surname name himself, so it never officially made the list.

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Oh I absolutelly agree. It has so much class and at the same time so much spunk to it. I’m just really scared of the sound situation, I feel like nicknames and mean-is things can happen to every name, but I really don’t want to make it any easier lol thank you very much! I though of changing it to [name_f]Anna[/name_f], maybe it would be easier on sound, and then I though of the possibility of everyone saying [name_f]Ann[/name_f]-a, which I’m not a fan of. We tried thinking of other names but nothing came close, our boy name idea came in seconds and we never doubted it.