[name_m]Hi[/name_m] guys! I won’t be having kids anytime soon (I’m 18), but I’ve been a namenerd my entire life. For the past four years, my absolute favorite girl names have been [name_f]Isla[/name_f] (eye-la) and [name_f]Maia[/name_f] (my-a). But I worry about the similar sounds since they both end in A and have the strong I sound. Are they too much alike? [name_m]Will[/name_m] it be too confusing? I have such a hard time with girl names and there are so few I love, these are really the only ones I would name my daughter in a heartbeat. Also, I know in the naming community everyone can pronounce these names, but will people confuse [name_f]Isla[/name_f] as Iz-la? [name_f]Maia[/name_f] can always be spelled [name_f]Maya[/name_f] which is a common name so I don’t think that should be an issue, and [name_f]Isla[/name_f] is on the rise in [name_u]America[/name_u] so I think by the time I have kids it should be less unusual. Thanks in advance for any help with all these hypotheticals! I’ll also take any name suggestions you have for me, even though I feel like I’ve seen every girl name that exists but now.
I like [name_f]Isla[/name_f] and [name_f]Maia[/name_f], but not as sisters. That’s my personal preference, to not care for rhyming names.
As for pronunciation, we do have words like island, and isle, so you really shouldn’t have any issues with [name_f]Isla[/name_f].
I think [name_f]Isla[/name_f] and [name_f]Maia[/name_f] are too close and would mixed up into [name_f]Mayla[/name_f] & [name_f]Ilah[/name_f] when being called out together.
While I like both [name_f]Isla[/name_f] and [name_f]Maia[/name_f], I think they’re far too close together to be sisters. Since [name_f]Isla[/name_f] is gaining popularity, particularly in [name_m]Britain[/name_m], I don’t think it will be a pronunciation issue within the next few years.
I still pronounce [name_f]Isla[/name_f] wrong in my head every time I read it (Iz-la) even though I know better.
Likewise I read [name_f]Maia[/name_f] wrong too (my-ee-a) so I would go for the phonetic spelling with [name_f]Maya[/name_f].
I also agree with the other ladies, the sounds of these two names would be tough with siblings. You’d call one and the other would answer… My sister actually named her son a name that rhymes with her husband’s name (Ex. [name_m]Jason[/name_m] and [name_u]Mason[/name_u]) and it drives them all crazy because unless they’re right next to each other in a room the cadence of the names basically sound the same causing both father and son to turn every time (or ignore my sister’s calls, thinking she’s calling for the other one).
I’ll go against the crowd and say they’re totally fine together as sisters. Somewhat similar, but not overly so. 
I think they’re pretty similar, but I wouldn’t say they’re unusable for sisters.
I don’t think they’re unusable for sisters. They are similar in terms of sound but how often will they be grouped together when they grow up? Both are gorgeous.
I’ve never met an [name_f]Isla[/name_f] so I don’t know if it’s likely to be mispronounced. I’ve never met a [name_f]Maya[/name_f] or [name_f]Maia[/name_f] who has had issues with people saying her name wrong (it’s always been MY-uh). I prefer the [name_f]Maia[/name_f] spelling and I don’t think pronuciation would be an issue.
As long as they’re not twins, I don’t think it’s a big issue. Yeah, they’re similar, but they’re not that similar. Me and my two brothers have names beginning with C/K, two syllables long, and end with m or n. They’re similar, but not too similar.