Any thoughts on either? I would pronounce them both the same, but I am leaning more toward [name]Emilia[/name]… We have a little boy named [name]Noah[/name]. Our second choice is [name]Elizabeth[/name] 
I personally prefer [name]Amelia[/name], since I think some people may mispronounce it as [name]Emily[/name]-a.
I pronounce them differently, personally. I think that as of right now, [name]Amelia[/name] has my heart more than [name]Emilia[/name]. [name]Elizabeth[/name] is a great name, too. You really can’t go wrong with any of these choices.
If you’re pronouncing them the same, I think [name]Amelia[/name] is the only choice. It’s the spelling most people are familiar with. Otherwise, I think she’ll have a lot of misspellings in her future.
[name]Emilia[/name] for me. 
[name]Amelia[/name] is nice, and the [name]Amelia[/name] [name]Earhart[/name] association is lovely, but I find [name]Emilia[/name] to be sweeter and more charming, and I love the Shakespearean connection (Comedy of Errors). I think [name]Noah[/name] and [name]Emilia[/name] would be lovely! So would [name]Noah[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name].
Good luck!
if you’re pronouncing them the same, I would go with the more familiar and, in my opinion, prettier, [name]Amelia[/name]. It’s so gorgeous!
I say [name]Emilia[/name] as eh-mee-lee-uh and [name]Amelia[/name] as ah-mee-lee-uh…a slight difference but still. I also know people who say [name]Emilia[/name] as em-eel-yuh or [name]Emily[/name]-uh.
I prefer [name]Emilia[/name]. It’s so elegant and different. [name]Amelia[/name] doesn’t have the same appeal to me.
ashthedreamer - Funny you should mention the [name]Shakespeare[/name] connection, because my due date is [name]Shakespeare[/name]'s birthday! And I was an English major, so I thought it would be fun to do something related. [name]Emilia[/name] is also in [name]Othello[/name]! Thanks for your opinion!
Thanks for the advice! I had originally decided [name]Amelia[/name] to be “the” name, and then my husband googled it to see the meaning, and found it to also be the name of a birth defect. I still think it’s a beautiful name, but started to consider [name]Emilia[/name] as well. What do the experts think? Would you let a vague connection like that stop you from choosing a name?
[name]Emilia[/name] just has something special that [name]Amelia[/name] doesn’t. Perhaps it’s because [name]Amelia[/name] has gained such popularity lately?
In any event, my vote is for [name]Emilia[/name].
- Sincerely,
a fellow English major
I am an [name]Emilia[/name]. I must confess lots of teachers had trouble saying it- they would say [name]Emil[/name]- ee- ah or [name]Em[/name]-eye-lee-ah. I often thought that if my name were [name]Amelia[/name] it would be said correctly. [name]Emilia[/name] is a region in [name]Italy[/name]. (But no, I’m not Italian) My mum chose it because [name]Emily[/name] was too popular and she wanted something a little more unique.
Growing up there were times I wished my name was [name]Amelia[/name] as it would have been easier to say and MUCH easier to spell. I even had relatives spell [name]Emilia[/name] wrong (even grandparents!) Emillia, [name]Emelia[/name], Emmilia, Emmelia… probably didn’t help that my nn is [name]Emmy[/name] with the double “mm”. I always wished I could have been [name]Millie[/name] as a nn- I love the sound of that. The other nn I have heard used is [name]Mia[/name].
As an adult I prefer [name]Emilia[/name]- I now realise it is a special name because it hasn’t dated like the [name]Kelly[/name], [name]Sandy[/name] or [name]Donna[/name] type names of my era. Having a unique timeless name means I can often pass as younger as my name isn’t a dead give away LOL!!!
Anyway, that’s my experience of living as an [name]Emilia[/name].
[name]Emilia[/name]
I would say don’t let the fact that [name]Amelia[/name] is the name of a birth defect deter you. I didn’t even know that and considering [name]Amelia[/name] is pretty popular, I’m guessing that many other people don’t know or don’t mind it either :).
My DH came to me with this name the other day, too (we aren’t expecting, I just love talking names and he knows it). I think that I prefer [name]Emilia[/name] because of the [name]Shakespeare[/name] connection (like ash mentioned) and because it feels a bit more whimsical to me. [name]Both[/name] are beautiful names and, when it comes down to it, I honestly don’t think you can go wrong. Good luck
If you pronounce [name]Amelia[/name] and [name]Emilia[/name] the same and you like both spellings fairly equally I’d take into consideration how other people might pronounce it. (I’m not saying it should be the deciding factor but you probably should consider it). I listed the pronunciations from behindthename.com below (and * the ones I use). [name]Hope[/name] this helps.
[name]Amelia[/name]:
ə-MEE-lee-ə (English)
ə-MEEL-yə (English)
ah-ME-lyah (Italian)
ah-ME-lee-ah ([name]German[/name])*
[name]Emilia[/name]:
e-MEEL-yah (Italian, Spanish, Polish)*
Depends on what nickname you want. While both names can get [name]Lia[/name], [name]Mia[/name] and even [name]Millie[/name], [name]Emilia[/name] has [name]Emi[/name] and [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Amelia[/name]'s got [name]Amy[/name] and [name]Ami[/name] (ah-me).
Personally, I like [name]Emilia[/name] better.
I pronounce [name]Emilia[/name] like eh-mil-ya and [name]Amelia[/name] like ah-me-lia.
I think [name]Amelia[/name], if you are going to pronounce it that way. I think some, myself included, just say ‘[name]Emily[/name]-a’ when you see [name]Emilia[/name].
I agree one hundred percent. While [name]Amelia[/name] is a sweet name with a lot of lovely elements, there will always be the [name]Amelia[/name] [name]Bedelia[/name] association. In contrast, [name]Emilia[/name] seems sweeter and more refined, less clunky. And I adore the Shakespearean vibe!
[name]Emilia[/name] gets my vote
I agree with this. (and I also pronounce [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Amelia[/name] the exactly same way as what Dantea’s mentioned.)
[name]Amelia[/name] definately
I’m on the [name]Emilia[/name] side lately!
[name]Amelia[/name] meaning no limbs? Like phocomelia? My goodness, I would never ever ever have made that association, and I’m a surgeon.