My daughter’s name is [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] (L-eye-da) and I am seriously considering changing the spelling to [name_f]Lida[/name_f].
People reading it mispronounce it as [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] often and as she has grown I have come to think she suits the simple i-spelling more than the y-spelling.
Please help! [name_m]How[/name_m] would you spell the pronunciation of L-eye-da, and which do you prefer? Is it too late to change the spelling? Thanks for your input 
I’d pronounce [name_f]Lida[/name_f] [name_u]LEE[/name_u]-duh, not LIE-duh. I think [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] is the most phonetic spelling, and I think you’ll get just as many pronunciation issues with [name_f]Lida[/name_f]. It wouldn’t be confused with [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. Maybe the popularity of [name_f]Lila[/name_f] would help people get the pronunciation correct, but I didn’t say it correctly at first. I think I prefer the [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] spelling, just because I wouldn’t say [name_f]Lida[/name_f] the same way.
I have a masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology, and significant experience in phonetics - so I think I can give helpful
input.
I think that if you change it to [name_f]Lida[/name_f], people will pronounce it Lid-ah.
I would pronounce [name_f]Lida[/name_f] as lid-uh
I think she’s young enough that it wouldn’t be a big deal to change the spelling, but I also don’t know if changing [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] to [name_f]Lida[/name_f] would help very much. I would also pronounce [name_f]Lida[/name_f] like [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-da at first glance. I’m not sure that there’s any spelling that would make L-eye-dah obvious. I thought of [name_f]Leida[/name_f], as in [name_f]Lorelei[/name_f], but Lei can also be pronounced as [name_m]Lay[/name_m] and [name_u]Lee[/name_u] as in [name_f]Leila[/name_f]. [name_f]Leyda[/name_f] seems just as confusing. Perhaps Lidah? Or Lieda?
Well, if you’re just tired of her name being mistaken for [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] and don’t mind the occasional [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-dah/L-eye-dah confusion, then I think [name_f]Lida[/name_f] could work well enough. “[name_f]Ida[/name_f] with an L” seems like it would be an easy explanation.
I think [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] is the best way to spell that pronunciation. But maybe it would help if you added an h and changed it to Lydah?
I admit that I thought it was [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] when I first saw it - sorry! However, I am inclined to agree with others… [name_f]Lida[/name_f] would read as “lee-dah” to most people.
I don’t know if changing it would help much. Adding more letters probably won’t help either as [name_f]Leida[/name_f] would be “lay-dah”. [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] is probably the best spelling for the pronunciation that you want, unfortunately.
I think Lidah or Lydah would be your best bet, as has been suggested. [name_f]Lida[/name_f] looks like [name_u]LEE[/name_u]-duh or LID-duh and so won’t solve the pronunciation problem.
But if you also want to change it because the “i” spelling just seems to suit your daughter, I’d go with Lidah.
No, I don’t think changing the spelling will solve the problem. I don’t get why anyone would pronounce [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] as [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. I’d assume they just can’t read or aren’t paying attention to the fact that there’s no “i” after the “d” quite honestly. I think [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] is the best option for your pronounciation. It seems you’ve just run across a lot of people who aren’t reading correctly.
At quick glance I did mistake [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] for [name_f]Lydia[/name_f], but once I knew the distinction I never would again. Pretty name! I’d leave it if I were you. People who know her will not continually confuse the names, and [name_f]Lida[/name_f] would frequently be mispronounced. I think the [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] spelling is sweet and simple.
I would pronounce [name_f]Lida[/name_f] as [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-da. I think [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] is the most phonetic spelling, and you’ll probably just have to explain it a bit as it does look like [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] if you’re not paying attention. It’s a bit inconvenient, but as a person who has a commonly misspelled name, it’s not really a huge deal.
That said, if you’re set on changing it, perhaps Laida would work? Maybe get some other berry opinions on how they’d pronounce Laida.
Honestly in today’s world there’s no standard of pronunciation!
The names [name_f]Lina[/name_f] (lee-na), [name_f]Lila[/name_f] (Lie-lah), [name_f]Lily[/name_f] (lih-ly) all contain the Li- sound yet pronounce it completely different! So I don’t think it will make too much of a difference pronunciation-wise whether you spell it [name_f]Lyda[/name_f] or [name_f]Lida[/name_f].
That said, I prefer the look of [name_f]Lida[/name_f] better, but that’s not what your problem is.
Tricky one! I think with the popularity of [name_f]Lila[/name_f] then [name_f]Lida[/name_f] isn’t too much of a stretch but people will always say it incorrectly. That’s true of most names. Kids don’t care at all. Girls also love a y in their name so I would keep it!
I would keep it as [name_f]Lyda[/name_f].
Thank you everyone for your input. I do understand that it is a difficult name to spell/read/pronounce either way and I think I will leave it as ‘[name_f]Lyda[/name_f]’
It is a tricky one OP. The reply that caught my attention was Lydah well with an ‘h’ on the end. I think you are fine to keep it but if your daughter has continuing issues you might try spelling it with a different ending so people ‘see’ the difference to [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. Best wishes.
Keep [name_f]Lyda[/name_f]. I would call [name_f]Lida[/name_f], Leeduh.
I’d keep [name_f]Lyda[/name_f]. [name_f]Lida[/name_f] may also be mistaken for [name_f]Lydia[/name_f].
I actually like [name_f]Lyda[/name_f]
Oh, I like [name_f]Lyda[/name_f]! I’d pronounce it as you do (with the long i sound). It looks like you decided to keep the spelling as is, that would be my recommendation as well. Hopefully any issues other people have with it will slow down soon and you can fully enjoy her beautiful name!