Is the name [name_f]Chaya[/name_f] useable? I’ve loved this name for a while but I don’t know if it would be pronounced correctly.
I’m not sure how to pronounce it, but I would pronounce it as Shy-uh at first glance.
I think it’s totally usable. Yes, it will get mispronounced and misspelled, but my name is a very straightforward top ten name and it’s still mispronounced and misspelled. I mean, consider [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]. Is it [name_f]Sara[/name_f] or [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]; is it Sair-ah, or Sah-rah? She’ll introduce herself with the correct pronunciation and the people who know her will say it right. I know someone with a fairly unusual Hebrew name and most people stress the wrong syllable at first, he corrects them once and everything is fine.
I agree with what the previous poster said.
I initially pronounced the name exactly as it’s spelt - [name_m]CHAY[/name_m]-uh - and I feel like many other people would make similar mistakes. That being said, I don’t think that should discourage you from the name if you truly love it. My name, [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], seems like it should be easy to spell and pronounce, right? Wrong! I’ve had misspellings and puzzled looks my whole life, and my name is certainly not unusual. That’s just the nature of things. If you’re prepared to correct people (a lot), I don’t think it’s a problem.
On first glance I prounounced it like Chai-ah. Similar to [name_f]Chara[/name_f], one of my guilty pleasure names—I actually quite like this. And I agree with what the previous posters said.
I knew a [name_f]Chaya[/name_f] in school, pronounced Chy-uh (like chai). It didn’t cause too many problems with students or teachers, from what I can remember. Maybe a few corrections were needed occasionally.