There’s a woman in my life named [name]Leah[/name], and she’s had a lot of positive influence on me and I want to name my (future) daughter after her. I don’t love the name [name]Leah[/name], but I really like [name]Elea[/name], pronounced uh-lee-uh, like uh-[name]Leah[/name]. I don’t like the teen mom names like [name]Aleeah[/name] or [name]Aleia[/name]. I was also considering Ellea. I just love the look of [name]Elea[/name] [name]Katherine[/name]. What do you think? Also, do you know of any other names like [name]Leah[/name] that would work? Thanks!
Personally, I would be more apt to pronounce [name]Elea[/name] “eh-lee-uh” or even “eh-lay-uh” (like the beginning of [name]Eleanor[/name]). We actually have a poster on Nameberry with this name so maybe she will reply to your post. I think it’s a soft, feminine, pretty and very rare name. [name]Elea[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] would be my preference but [name]Elea[/name] [name]Katherine[/name] looks fine too.
Thanks mischa. I don’t know, I love name, but do you think people would pronounce it “uh-lay-uh” often? [name]Do[/name] you know of any names like [name]Leah[/name] that would work?
I like [name]Elea[/name] a lot! I had always thought it was a nn for [name]Eleanor[/name], and when I posted about it on another site several months ago, others seemed to think it not very usable, but I love it, and I think [name]Elea[/name] [name]Katherine[/name] is gorgeous. FWIW, I say it eh-[name]LEE[/name]-ah. I agree with @mischa that I prefer the [name]Catherine[/name] spelling, but here I actually prefer [name]Catherine[/name] with a “K”.
You could opt for the full [name]Eleanor[/name], nn [name]Elea[/name], or some other [name]Leah[/name] names (some don’t have the [name]Leah[/name] spelling, but they do have the [name]Leah[/name] sound, which is why I’ve included them):
[name]Azalea[/name]
[name]Aurelia[/name]
[name]Julia[/name]/[name]Juliana[/name]
[name]Natalia[/name]
[name]Liliana[/name]/[name]Liana[/name]/[name]Eliana[/name] (or [name]Elia[/name] might give you the pronunciation you want? Although I’ve heard [name]Elia[/name] is a form of [name]Elias[/name], said eh-LYE-ah… or maybe that’s spelled [name]Eliah[/name]?)
[name]Lena[/name] (so similar to [name]Leah[/name], just with the extra sound, I don’t know if this is too close, or not close enough…)
[name]Talia[/name]/[name]Thalia[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name] (although the “L” and “ea” sounds are really split up!)
[name]Adelia[/name]/[name]Amelia[/name]/[name]Abelia[/name] (I think [name]Belle[/name]/[name]Bella[/name] is a cute nn for [name]Abelia[/name], although it’s probably my least favorite of the bunch)
[name]Emilia[/name]
Analilia
[name]Cecilia[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Dahlia[/name]
[name]Malia[/name]
[name]Laelia[/name] ([name]LAY[/name]-lee-ah)
[name]Lilia[/name]
[name]Noelia[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]
Thanks guys! I like [name]Eleanor[/name], but I just want the name to be as close to [name]Leah[/name] as possible. I would maybe use it as a double name, [name]Elea[/name] [name]Kate[/name] or [name]Elea[/name] [name]Katherine[/name].
I love [name]Elea[/name] [name]Katherine[/name]. It sounds so subtle and pure. The only [name]Leah[/name] variant I can think of is [name]Leigh[/name] or [name]Leanne[/name].