Well, this is tricky. You’re looking for ‘[name_u]Lee[/name_u]-uh’? Why not spell it [name_f]Leah[/name_f]? That’s way more straight forward in my opinion. It’s very sweet, feminine yet strong & grows up well. I don’t personally dislike [name_f]Nessa[/name_f], but it’s not my cup of tea. I’ve never heard it associated w/any characters though? Probably not a huge deal. If it’s your favorite, go for it!
I love Hebrew-y girl names. Totally head over heals for [name_f]Aviva[/name_f], [name_f]Chana[/name_f], [name_f]Eliana[/name_f], [name_f]Eliora[/name_f], [name_f]Leora[/name_f], [name_f]Miriam[/name_f], [name_f]Nava[/name_f] (!!!) & [name_f]Talia[/name_f]. If you noticed my excitement over [name_f]Nava[/name_f], because it’s beautiful (and means ‘beautiful’) simple & unique. Reminds me a bit of [name_f]Nessa[/name_f]. [name_m]Just[/name_m] an idea!
I prefer [name_f]Nessa[/name_f] - I didn’t come up with any of the negative associations, so I’d say that’s unlikely. With [name_f]Liya[/name_f], almost everyone will mix it up with [name_f]Leah[/name_f], whilst [name_f]Nessa[/name_f], whilst uncommon, is pretty user-friendly.
@MichelleM. Thank you for your replies. Someone else suggested [name_f]Leah[/name_f] and I mentioned above that where I live most people would not pronounce the name [name_f]Leah[/name_f] “Leeyah” but “lay-ah”. [name_f]Leah[/name_f] was a character in the Bible and has a totally different meaning (it means weary).
@katinka [name_f]Liora[/name_f] is too close to my name ([name_f]Laura[/name_f]) and a bit to common. We know a lot of them. [name_f]My[/name_f] best friend’s name is Liorah and my husband’s childhood friend just named his daughter Liorah. It is pretty though.
I love [name_f]Nessa[/name_f]! I don’t have any negative associations with it. In fact, it makes me think of a character from the musical Wicked, Nessarose. I really think it’s lovely. I think [name_f]Liya[/name_f] would get pronounced Lie-uh. I’d spell it [name_f]Leah[/name_f] for your pronunciation. But I much prefer [name_f]Nessa[/name_f]!
Liya looks like liar?
I like [name_f]Nessa[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] partner is Scottish and I asked him about the name [name_f]Nessa[/name_f] he didn’t think the loch Ness monster at all? 🤷
I really like both [name_f]Nessa[/name_f] and [name_f]Liya[/name_f]! I’m Scottish and didn’t think of the [name_f]Nessie[/name_f] connection at all, only really of [name_m]Loch[/name_m] Ness/River Ness. I think lee-yah is pretty intuitive for [name_f]Liya[/name_f] too.
Nessa is gorgeous and love love [name_f]Nessie[/name_f]. I like the pronunciation of your desired LEE-YUH but don’t think [name_f]Liya[/name_f] reads that way and i don’t like how it looks. I’m jewish and am around a lot of ppl with Hebrew names - I know many Leahs that pronounce it LAY-UH and LEE-YUH, so it is possible to use the normal spelling of [name_f]Leah[/name_f] and get your desired affect.
If you love hebrew names, I’d also consider the following:
[name_f]Eliora[/name_f]
[name_f]Delilah[/name_f]
[name_f]Dahlia[/name_f]
[name_f]Amalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Odelia[/name_f]
[name_u]Noa[/name_u]
[name_f]Shoshana[/name_f]
[name_f]Ashira[/name_f]
[name_f]Davina[/name_f]
@Jujubee1 hi thank you for your input. [name_f]Leah[/name_f] has a totally different meaning than [name_f]Liya[/name_f]. [name_f]Leah[/name_f] means weary whereas [name_f]Liya[/name_f] means I am with God. They’re 2 different Hebrew names that exist.
