We love the name Leela, but because I am European I would have written it as Lila, that unfortunately in English / America seems to be mostly pronounced as Lyla (sound that we don’t want to use).
I am not sure if I like the Leela spelling, and I was wondering if I can then write this name as LEALA, or LEAHLA or LEILA?
Also, assuming I can use those spellings, which spelling to you prefer to see written down: LEELA, LEALA, LEILA or LEAHLA? Or would you simply use LILA and correct people? Lila James for example is pronounced Leela.
If I use the spelling Lilla, the sound would be different from Leela, I think? As English is not my first language I don’t hear the difference too much, but my husband does and he says it would shorten the ee sound a lot, making the name sound less sweet.
I would personally go with [name_f]Lila[/name_f] and correct pronunciation if needed, people should pick it up quickly (this is my favourite spelling) but if that would get irritating and you want to keep it simple then [name_f]Leela[/name_f] works well.
I personally don’t think the other 2 spellings give you the pronunciation you’re after. To me, Leahla is Lee-uh-luh & [name_f]Lilla[/name_f] is Lih-luh (like lily), so you don’t get the “ee” sound, as your husband said.
Sorry I just wrote that before you edited your post! [name_f]Leala[/name_f] I would instinctively pronounce the same as Leahla, but I know some people say [name_f]Lea[/name_f] / [name_u]Lee[/name_u] the same. I do prefer the look of this to Leahla. [name_f]Leila[/name_f] I would say Lay-la
Lee-la is my instinctual pronunciation for Lila, though I generally do hear it as Ly-la. But I think it’s easily corrected. Just like Alicia who is ah-lee-see-ah, not ah-leesh-ah; or Lena who is leh-nah, not lee-nah.
I’m in the US and I would pronounce [name_f]Lila[/name_f] as lie-luh. [name_f]My[/name_f] favorite spelling for lee-luh would be [name_f]Leila[/name_f]. But if you love the [name_f]Lila[/name_f] spelling then correcting people could be worth it
I would use the [name_f]Lila[/name_f] spelling. It’s the prettiest spelling, and I also think you’ll find some people pronounce it correctly on the first try.
I’m one of those that say Ly-lah, but with a simple correction I would learn her name
I know a [name_f]Lila[/name_f] with the prn. Lee-la! She does get called Ly-la relatively often but people who know her know it’s lee-la.
[name_f]Leala[/name_f] could work. Leahla sounds like Lee-uh-la to me. [name_f]Leila[/name_f] is Lay-la. [name_f]Lilla[/name_f] is like Lil-uh, with the [name_f]Lil[/name_f]- rhyming with [name_m]Bill[/name_m] or [name_u]Will[/name_u].
I’d do either [name_f]Lila[/name_f] and correct people or [name_f]Leela[/name_f]. [name_f]Leala[/name_f] and Leahla would both be lee-AH-lah and [name_f]Leila[/name_f] is pronounced LAY-luh for me. Another spelling could be simple [name_f]Lela[/name_f]!
[name_f]Lela[/name_f] is my favorite spelling. Straightforward and doesn’t look wonky like [name_f]Leela[/name_f]. I’m assuming you live in the US if you’re worried about [name_f]Lila[/name_f] being pronounced Ly-lah, which you’re not wrong it would. I usually support using the spelling that follows your heritage, but if your daughter will grow up in an [name_f]English[/name_f] speaking American place, I would avoid it. It would become rather annoying for her to have to correct almost everyone she meets.
[name_f]Leila[/name_f] might get you Lay-lah rather than Lee-lah, but I can see it working better than [name_f]Lila[/name_f]. Leahla looks like Lee-ah-lah as [name_f]Leah[/name_f] is a common spelling for Lee-ah. Almost the same for [name_f]Leala[/name_f], but honestly think this might work. I just don’t really like how it looks. [name_f]Lilla[/name_f] is Lill-ah to me (I only know 1 [name_f]Lilla[/name_f] and that’s how she pronounces it).
I just got back from living in [name_f]France[/name_f] so my impulse is to say [name_f]Lila[/name_f] (and Lyla!) like you want but at any other point in my life, I would’ve said them with the lie- sound. [name_f]Leela[/name_f] is definitely the most straightforward spelling you could go with but I don’t think [name_f]Lila[/name_f] would be too difficult to correct.
[name_f]Leila[/name_f] would be LAY-la to me, [name_f]Leala[/name_f] and Leahla would be LEE-ah-la, and [name_f]Lilla[/name_f] would be LILL-uh (like Lily) so [name_f]Leela[/name_f] or [name_f]Lila[/name_f] would be your best bet.
I know a girl named [name_f]Lila[/name_f] who pronounces her name LEE-la. I think that works, and I’d say [name_f]Leela[/name_f] would be the next best choice!
