I want people to pronounce it [name_m]Thay[/name_m]-A, so which spelling should I use?
If I use [name_f]Thea[/name_f], people are probably going to mispronounce it when they see the name. If I use [name_f]Theia[/name_f] or [name_m]Thay[/name_m], people are probably going to misspell it whne they hear the name.
So, what do you guys think?
[name_f]Lovely[/name_f] name :). I suspect you’ll run into mispronunciations whichever you choose. My daughter’s name is [name_f]Thea[/name_f], and it’s a 50/50 split whether people call her Thee-ah or Tee-ah (and the occasional [name_m]Thay[/name_m]-ah!). My original plan was to use [name_f]Theia[/name_f] (I pronounced it Thee-ah) but I felt that would be constantly mispronounced. It’s hard to predict these things!
I have [name_m]Thay[/name_m]-uh spelled as [name_f]Theia[/name_f] on my list. I’d assume many would be used to [name_f]Thea[/name_f] as Thee-uh (or Tee-uh), whereas [name_f]Theia[/name_f] looks different so might lead to [name_m]Thay[/name_m]-uh a little more easier.
If you want to pronounce it [name_m]Thay[/name_m]-a, I’d definitely go with the phonetic version, Thaya. I think [name_f]Thea[/name_f] and [name_f]Theia[/name_f] will definitely be pronounced as Thee-a or Tee-a.
[name_f]Thea[/name_f], for sure.
I would pronounce: [name_f]Thea[/name_f] as THEE-a, [name_f]Theia[/name_f] as THEE-ee-a (I think that this is wrong) or THEE-a, and Thaya as [name_m]THAY[/name_m]-a. For this reason I think that Thaya is your best bet.
Personally, I would assume [name_f]Thea[/name_f] as thee-ah and [name_f]Theia[/name_f] as thay-ah.
I prefer [name_f]Thea[/name_f], despite the potential for mispronunciation.