How would you pronounce Lelia?

Girl Names
1

See the results of this poll: How would you pronounce Lelia?

Respondents: 30 (This poll is closed)

  • LEEL-ee-uh : 20 (67%)
  • LEEL-yuh : 3 (10%)
  • Other, leave comment: 7 (23%)
2

Instinct for me is to pronounce it [name_m]Lay[/name_m]-lee-uh.

3

I know two people named this. One is [name_u]LEE[/name_u] - luh. The other is [name_m]LAY[/name_m] - luh.

[name_f]Edit[/name_f]: Actually, I believe those two are spelling [name_f]Leila[/name_f]. My bad! But it could be confusing, with people named [name_f]Lila[/name_f], [name_f]Lelia[/name_f] (2 pronunciations), and [name_f]Lelia[/name_f] (sounds like there are multiple pronunciations as well). I think they are all pretty though!

4

I also think it will often be confused with [name_f]Leila[/name_f]! [name_f]Lelia[/name_f] hasn’t been a popular name since the early 1900s, so it’s just not familiar to people!

5

I thought about this, too. But I’m hoping since it is spelled the same as [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] and [name_f]Celia[/name_f] and rhymes with both, maybe people will get it right? My son’s name is spelled as it sounds and almost no one can get it right, so I’ve pretty much already given up on trying to understand people’s interpretations of names! lol

6

I would say LEH-lee-ah

7

[name_f]Celia[/name_f] is [name_m]SEEL[/name_m]-ya, [name_f]Delia[/name_f] is DEEL-ya, [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] is oh-[name_m]FEEL[/name_m]-ya etc… but I don’t think you need worry about people saying “LEEL-ya” because it’s slightly awkward and unnatural, a bit too difficult to pronounce. I think people will stretch it out to “[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-lee-a” which is simply more intuitive - it will happen organically.

Having said that I’ve been pronouncing this name (in my head) with a short E sound, rhyming with [name_f]Camellia[/name_f]. Lélia is the title heroine of a [name_m]George[/name_m] Sand novel and the accent over the E makes me want to soften it to “Lelly-a” or something. Gorgeous choice, by the way. :slight_smile:

8

I’d probably go for “[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-lah.” There are so many names in use right now that look and sound like this. I’ve seen the same spelling ([name_f]Lelia[/name_f], [name_f]Leila[/name_f], [name_f]Lyla[/name_f], [name_f]Laila[/name_f], etc) used to render several different pronunciations. It gets confusing.

9

[name_u]Lee[/name_u]-lah or Leel-yah for me.

10

I pr it [name_u]LEE[/name_u]-lah.