See the results of this poll: How do you pronounce Laila in the United States?
Respondents: 19 (This poll is closed)
- Lie-la : 3 (16%)
- Lay-la: 16 (84%)
In the U.S. I would pronounce both of these spellings as lay-la. Esthetically I think [name_f]Leila[/name_f] is prettier and would have no trouble with pronunciation.
I think the only foolproof way to spell it is [name_f]Layla[/name_f]. [name_f]Laila[/name_f] is still likely to get mistaken of Lie-luh since the first syllable looks similar to how you would pronounce [name_u]Kai[/name_u] or [name_f]Mai[/name_f].
[name_f]Laila[/name_f] is my name and it can be tricky at times. It’s originally pronounced Lie-lah from it’s Arabic form, which is how my name is said, but it does take correcting, hence my username… either it gets misspelled as [name_f]Lilah[/name_f], [name_f]Lyla[/name_f] or [name_f]Lila[/name_f] or people pronounce it [name_m]Lay[/name_m]-la (which technically is wrong, because that’s the pronunciation of [name_f]Leila[/name_f]).
I agree wholeheartedly with the previous poster that suggested you simply go with [name_f]Layla[/name_f]. You can also go with [name_f]Leila[/name_f], which in my experience is much less of a hassle too. [name_m]Just[/name_m] don’t go with the [name_f]Laila[/name_f] spelling.
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I think [name_f]Layla[/name_f] is the best and least problematic spelling. The ai and ei spellings are going to be confusing.