I recently came across this name and loved it. The pronunciation is supposed to be Mah-hail-ah, but the most common spelling seems to be [name_f]Mahala[/name_f]. (In the Bible, it is actually spelled [name_f]Mahalath[/name_f].) To get the pronunciation I prefer, would you leave it as [name_f]Mahala[/name_f] or change it to [name_f]Mahaila[/name_f]?
Singer [name_f]Mahalia[/name_f] [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] was pronounced Mah-hail-yah, which I prefer of the pronunciations.
I would switch yours to [name_f]Mahala[/name_f].
[name_m]Just[/name_m] my two cents, but I once met a girl with this unusual name and she pronounced it [name_f]May[/name_f]-ha-luh and went by [name_f]May[/name_f]. But I think intuitively it looks like it should be Muh-hail-uh.
[name_m]Hi[/name_m] I have a daughter who is almost 5 with the name [name_f]Mahala[/name_f]. She loves her name although we also nickname her [name_u]Halle[/name_u] but she prefers [name_f]Mahala[/name_f]. I named her after my granny and she spelt it [name_f]Mahala[/name_f] and we pronounce it Ma-hay-la. When people first see the name they pronounce it Ma-har-la. I wish i had spelt it [name_f]Mahayla[/name_f] as I think it would have been easier for people to get right first time.
I would definitely assume that [name_f]Mahala[/name_f] is pronounced Ma-HA-la, and need to be corrected. The long A like you describe just isn’t intuitive.
I really like the other poster’s suggestion of [name_f]Mahayla[/name_f], which would get the pronunciation you prefer for sure. [name_f]Mahaila[/name_f] would probably get your preferred pronuncation most of the time, but might occasionally be mispronounced as Ma-HIGH-la. Plus I think [name_f]Mahayla[/name_f] also looks a little prettier than [name_f]Mahaila[/name_f].
I know two [name_f]Mahala[/name_f]'s. The also prn it Muh hay luh.