I have been pondering the name [name_f]Celia[/name_f] lately. On one hand, it fits my style perfectly. It is timeless, easy to spell, and has a vaguely pan-Latino/Hispanic feel that works well with my own ethnic background. It even in similar to my mother name, [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f]. However, I am stuck up on pronunciation. My concern is twofold; both how I like to pronounce the name, and how think others would pronounce it.
The three pronunciations I would expect are (excuse my bad phonics):
cee-lee-uh
seh-lee-uh (more of a Latin sound)
seal-yuh
Why pronunciation do you find prettiest, and which one do you think is most common? If you could include a general idea of geographically where you think a certain pronunciation/your pronunciation is common. I am in the US, if that helps, just about smack dab in the middle of the country.
I adore [name_f]Celia[/name_f]. My preferred pronunciation is seh-lee-uh. It’s the prettiest, imo. I only ever “know” one [name_f]Celia[/name_f] and this is how she pronounced her name as well.
I live in the NE, around NY, NJ, PA area. I have a friend who just named her daughter [name_f]Celia[/name_f], and she pronounces it cee-lee-uh. We don’t live in an area with a heavy accent. I would say, in this general area, that pronunciation would be most common. They are all beautiful though.