I normally hate unusual spellings for names, and I always find myself thinking “your kid is just going to have to spell their name to everyone for the rest of their life”. Well it appears I’ve been hit by karma because I’ve recently fallen in love with the name [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. Unfortunately, for some unexplainable reason I do not like the way “[name_f]Lydia[/name_f]” looks at all. I know a little girl who spells it Liddiah but I feel that’s to far from the original so I’ve compromised on Lydiah.
Thoughts? Is it to far from the original? Too crazy? [name_m]How[/name_m] do you feel about it with the “h” in general?
I don’t think Lydiah is too outlandish, but some people might assume it has a different pronunciation from [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. Some might think the ‘iah’ part is pronounced like the end of [name_f]Mariah[/name_f] or [name_m]Jeremiah[/name_m].
[name_f]Lydia[/name_f] is quite a well known name right now, so I definitely think this will run in to problems. Like naming a kid [name_f]Jessika[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Jessica[/name_f]. It’s only one letter, but she’ll still have to mention it whenever she’s having someone write down her name.
I agree fully with the sentiments expressed above. Your kid will just become “[name_f]Lydia[/name_f] with an H at the end,” which will be a source of annoyance to her as she has to regularly repeat it throughout her life as well as having to put up with people spelling her name as [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. I strongly recommend against Lydiah. You should either find another name you like or put up with the spelling [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. Perhaps with time your aversion to Lydia will fade.
Personally, I would assume it’s pronounced differently, like [name_f]Maria[/name_f] vs [name_f]Mariah[/name_f]. If you do not like how [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] looks, what about [name_f]Lidia[/name_f]? I believe it’s the Polish spelling.
I would definitely pronounce it [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-die-ah, and anyway I would go for the normal spelling, no need to have your daughter go through that
I’m it a fan of Lydiah, but, like you, I’m also not a fan of the spelling [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. [name_f]Lidia[/name_f] would be my choice- it looks much more streamlined and pretty.
Thanks for all the opinions so far! Keep them coming. I’m still not ready to let go of the “h” yet. Her middle name will likely be [name_u]Jean[/name_u] after both of her grandmothers.