Looking for some help for our first baby, due [name_u]March[/name_u] 1.
Here are the two names we love:
[name_f]Lucy[/name_f] [name_f]Claudia[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_f]Joy[/name_f]
Would love some opinions. We are concerned about people not knowing how to pronounce [name_f]Isla[/name_f]. We live in the midwest, and it’s not too common around here, but I still can’t believe this name is still butchered to Is-lah instead of Eye-lah. I feel like with it’s growing popularity, maybe it won’t be an issue in a couple of years…?
Would love any input or opinions!
I wouldn’t worry about people having trouble with pronunciation. There’s that actress [name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_m]Fisher[/name_m], so it’s probably not completely unheard of to most people, and even if it is it’s simple to correct them. I really love both [name_f]Isla[/name_f] and [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], so I can’t really decide.
They’re both lovely names. I think that people will quickly get over pronunciation challenges and that it will become more familiar with time, yes.
Either is very nice.
I wouldn’t worry about the pronunciation for [name_f]Isla[/name_f]. It is zipping up the charts and it’s on my personal list of guesses for “Top 10 Names of 2020”. I really wouldn’t be surprised if it gets there. I hear it everywhere and feel like it’s one prominent celebrity baby away from taking a [name_f]Chloe[/name_f] or [name_f]Ava[/name_f]-style catapult to the top. It entered the list in 2008 at #621 (out of 1,000) and has since climbed to #230. Maybe it will level off, but maybe not.
[name_f]Lucy[/name_f] is climbing too and is much higher at #66, but it doesn’t feel as fizzy.
Which one sounds better with your surname? I’d pick off that compatibility first, and if they both sound equally good, I’d probably choose [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] for its longer history and stronger set of associations.
Also I want to point out that [name_f]Isla[/name_f] pronounced EES-la isn’t incorrect. That’s the Spanish pronunciation of the word. It’s not used as a name though as far as I know. It just means island. EYE-la is of course how [name_m]Fisher[/name_m] says it and fits the English pr., but it’s a fairly newly invented name so it’s sort of fair game.
IZ-la is pretty awful though and not right anywhere! I think a gentle correction to whatever pronunciation you want will suffice though. People will learn easily, and Hollywood is helping for the EYE-la way.
Personally I love the middles so much I’d be tempted to throw both [name_f]Isla[/name_f] and [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] overboard in favour of [name_f]Claudia[/name_f] [name_f]Joy[/name_f], which is exquisite, but if that’s not an option, I slightly prefer [name_f]Lucy[/name_f].
I do think [name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_m]Fisher[/name_m] will give [name_f]Isla[/name_f] more exposure.
[name_f]Lucy[/name_f] has the benefit of longer history of use in the US - it has ALWAYS been in the Top 1000, and what that means is it will date less. I suspect [name_f]Isla[/name_f] will have it’s day, if you know what I mean - not this year, but it’s coming - but [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]'s always been around on some level. https://nameberry.com/blog/classic-girls%E2%80%99-names-how-to-choose-one-that%E2%80%99s-truly-timeless <—it made the classic list, which I had nothing to do with.