Too difficult to pronounce?

The following girls name are derived from the [name_m]Breton[/name_m] saint’s name, Maël. The closest I can describe the pronunciation to this name is that it’s very similar to Mile (if we said Mile with a french accent). Roughly My-el or Mah-el (as in [name_u]Yael[/name_u]). (I’ve heard it both ways). So with that in mind, I get…

Maëlys – My-eh-leese, Mah-eh-lees
Maëla, Maëlla – My-el-uh, Mah-el-uh

I especially like Mah-el-uh.

Sadly, it reads – in American English at least to me – as [name_f]May[/name_f]-luh and [name_f]May[/name_f]-leese, with a strong emphasis on MALE which is not so pretty in a girl’s name. The umlaut over the ‘e’ is necessary for the foreign pronunciation, but not something that we are used to seeing here so I don’t think it’d help.

What do you think?

Another french fave is [name_f]Mireille[/name_f] – mee-[name_u]RAI[/name_u]. I have seen an anglicized version of this as Muirae, though I can’t see an anglicized version of Maëla looking right.

Any names you love but are vetoed due to pronunciation issues?

[name_m]Both[/name_m] would be butchered every time she met a new person in the US. But, hey, does it really matter to you? Once people got to know her they would get her name right. And I do agree they’re very pretty.

I know a little girl named [name_f]Mayella[/name_f], and it’s a BEAUTIFUL name. It’s not too hard to pronounce if you spell it Maella. I’m sure people will get it right.

I don’t know if this helps but I have a name that almost no-one pronounces right the first time if they read it. Personally, I find it kind of fun collecting all the different pronunciations. Also, once you correct them it’s not really a problem. With so many different names around these days, the majority of people are interested when they hear a name that’s unusual and pretty (which I think yours is :slight_smile:

srmarynapalm – thanks! That does help a lot. I think it is a name that once corrected or heard, it will stick. That’s definitely not the case with some names – especially ones that are actually easy to pronounce but have multiple pronunciation options (i.e. [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]). Good to know that you’ve found amusement rather than annoyance.

nameweary – I honestly don’t think it would bother me. I have a common name that is spelled differently and while pronunciation isn’t so much an issue, I have to spell my name for everyone till they get to know me. Still it became a curiosity after seeing some strong opinions about pronunciation around here.

Kate_elaine – I did think about [name_f]Mayella[/name_f], but that doesn’t achieve the pronunciation I like and I think that’s another mispronunciation I’d run into with Maëlla aside from Mayla. It’s a beautiful name though!

Thanks berries!

I think Maëlys or Maëla have a better chance of people eventually getting it over Maël. I grew up with a name that is common in a few European countries, and very few people get it right on the first try (and I didn’t have any special characters to really mess people up with). There were times that I wished I had a more common or “easy name”. Once, I told my parents that I was changing my name to [name_f]Holly[/name_f]. With that in mind, I can say that even most common names get butched. It made me learn patience and I’ve come to like my name.

You might choose a nickname like [name_f]Mya[/name_f] to encourage the correct pronunciation.

Another point of note: There is the Italian name, [name_f]Mirella[/name_f], which I think I read is related to the [name_m]French[/name_m] [name_f]Mireille[/name_f] that you might be interested in. One part [name_f]Mireille[/name_f] and one part Maëlla, and should be pretty straight forward for people in the US. I adore [name_f]Mirella[/name_f], and its Italian diminutive, Mirellina.

spell it in ENGLISH how you want it pronounced in ENGLISH.

don’t expect people to say in a [name_m]French[/name_m] accent.

teacherma-- thank you! I once wanted to change my name because I thought it was boring :slight_smile: I was a teenager. [name_f]Mireille[/name_f] seems to have more options. There is also [name_f]Mireia[/name_f], which is its spanish counterpart. Thanks for the tip.

Orphanedanyou – I don’t expect people to say the name with a french accent in the states. However for the purpose of this post I did want people to get an idea of the french pronunciation – mainly to see if the pronunciation was simply too french to get our mouths around. I also noted that I couldn’t come up with an anglicized (which is to make english in form or character) spelling that would achieve the pronunciation.