I love the girls’ name [name]Jolanta[/name], but pronounced in the Polish way: [name]Yo[/name]-lan-ta. I was thinking of maybe just using the nickname: [name]Jola[/name]. But I’m afraid that in the US people will pronounce the J - as in, [name]Joe[/name]-la.
So, my question is: should I spell it [name]Iola[/name] or [name]Yola[/name] or just leave it as [name]Jola[/name] and always clarify the pronunciation?
I’ve had a few Polish friends who changed their names from the J spelling to the Y spelling ([name]Joanna[/name] to Yoanna) in order to avoid pronunciation problems, so I’m hesitant to leave it as [name]Jola[/name] (or [name]Jolanta[/name]), even though I like the J (especially since her brother’s name is [name]Julian[/name]).
I like [name]Iola[/name] much better than [name]Yola[/name], but the entry and discussions on here make it seem like it would be pronounced Eye-oh-la rather than Ee-oh-la/[name]Yo[/name]-la.
What do you think?
Hmmm. I think if you use the long form, regardless of spelling, you can spell the nn however you like. So even if she’s [name]Jolanta[/name], she could be [name]Yola[/name] for the nn. I like Yolanta, although it looks a lot like [name]Yolanda[/name], for better or worse (the same root to both names I believe). I would avoid putting [name]Yola[/name] on the birth certificate, just because it looks like YOLO, the going phrase among teenagers these days standing for “you only live once”.
I would go with [name]Jolanta[/name]/[name]Jola[/name] and just deal with the fact that you will need to correct some people’s pronunciation. Yes, some people will say [name]Joe[/name]-lanta or [name]Joe[/name]-la, but some Spanish-speaking people might say [name]Joe[/name]-la anyway if it’s spelled with a Y! You are probably right, the [name]Iola[/name] spelling would result in some Eye-ola pronunciations.
Thanks for the input! I didn’t think of the YOLO connection - terrible. I think I’ll go with the J if we decide to use the name.
[name]Iola[/name] would result in some eye-oh-lah pronunciations but it’s such an uncommon name at this point you could probably stretch it to ee-oh-la. I don’t know that many people would guess “yola” as the pronunciation, honestly.
[name]Jolanta[/name] is pretty.
My temptation would be to go with [name]Iola[/name] but just because I like the look of it. I think all of them are likely to be misspoken, unless you go with [name]Yolanda[/name]. ([name]Don[/name]'t feel you have to).
[name]Iola[/name] I would assume is Eye Oh La
[name]Jola[/name] I would think could be [name]Joel[/name]-uh, Jah-lah, maybe even Jewl-uh, Who-lah or [name]Yola[/name]
[name]Yola[/name] is clearest as [name]Yo[/name]-lah to me.
I’d definitely stay away from the “J” in this situation and stick to [name]Iolanta[/name]/[name]Iolanthe[/name]/[name]Yolanda[/name]/Yolanta.
Yolanta is a beautiful name, but like the others I worry about the nickname [name]Yola[/name] in regards to the “yolo” phenomenon. Then again, instead of being teased in the future she might just laugh it off with friends. In addition to this, it’s quite possible that in a few years time this slang will die out.
A family friend of my mother’s named Wioletta has a sister named [name]Jolanta[/name] (which also means “violet”, how cool is that!) who goes by [name]Jola[/name] and has kept the “j” spelling of her name despite of the fact that she lives in Australia. That said, with the sibset [name]Jola[/name] and [name]Julian[/name] (depending on whether [name]Julian[/name] is pronounced “Dzulian” or “Yulian”) it might cause confusion is [name]Jola[/name]'s “J” is pronounced as a “Y” and [name]Julian[/name]'s is a “Dz”.
Overall, I’d suggest you use the full name rather than the nickname (especially in the case of Yolanta/[name]Yola[/name]) and avoid “J”. I think [name]Iola[/name] is the only viable nickname that can be put on the birth certificate, whilst [name]Iolanta[/name] is the best overall name.