Could this work? [name]Do[/name] you think that spelling it Mlaya is too out there?
Personally, I like [name]Malaya[/name] better. I have no problem with different spellings, but Mlaya looks silly to me. I also pronounce the two different as well, [name]Malaya[/name] as Muh-lay-uh and Mlaya as M-lay-uh (like it should be spelled M’laya).
I agree with this. I also think that Mlaya would be a lot more intimidating on paper. If I was a teacher and I saw [name]Malaya[/name] on the roll for the first time, I would feel confident at least sounding it out, but if I saw Mlaya I imagine I would pause for a while before even trying to sound it out.
I agree that [name]Malaya[/name] is by far the best spelling. If you spelled it Mlaya, she would CONSTANTLY be correcting people on the spelling and pronunciation. [name]Malaya[/name] is a beautiful word and I would leave it untouched. It is unique enough in its own right.