See the results of this poll: Which spelling?
Respondents: 42 (This poll is closed)
- Twila : 23 (55%)
- Twyla: 19 (45%)
[name]Twila[/name] is my most recent name crush! [name]Just[/name] this morning I was going crazy trying to think of a good middle name for it. (So far I’ve got [name]Twila[/name] [name]Wisteria[/name], [name]Twila[/name] Aliette, [name]Twila[/name] [name]Moira[/name]-- << flow is weird but I like it–and Twila Calandra. What are your middle name ideas?) Twila is the traditional spelling, and the one I prefer. I don’t think she would have any pronunciation issues, given its similarity to the word “twilight.” I think the pronunciation is intuitive, and I’d be really disappointed in any English-speaking person who mispronounced it as TWILL-uh. Lol. You may also like one of my top ten favorite names that is similar–Shyla.
I think that if you want it pronounced Twy-la, then spell it w. a “y”. [name]Twila[/name] would be pronounced Twill-a by most people, i would think. Behindthename.com says that [name]Twyla[/name] is a variant of [name]Twila[/name] and that it is based on the Cajun pronounciation of the French word “etiole” or star.
Personally, I really like this name. I think that the [name]Twyla[/name] pronouciation is prettier, though I do generally agree with you about the letter “y”. But here, the “y” is actually doing something, so that is the difference for me.
I think that [name]Twila[/name] will be pronounced the way you want, because of it’s similarity to the word twilight. I think the y takes something away from the name. I could like this name, something about it feels familiar, but it is so different.
I (like you) am not really fond of the y-where-there-could-be-an-i syndrome in the middles of names and [name]Twila[/name] looks more appealing to me with an i. Also, like @alzora, I don’t really think ANYONE with English as their first language would pronounce it twill-uh (sorry if that turns out not to be true) because it only has one l… I swear twill-uh should have to be [name]Twilla[/name]? (which I just made up this second but like a lot). Anyway. Good luck!
Turns out I didn’t just make [name]Twilla[/name] up, which I’m quite upset about because it has a nice sound. But anyway. If you want the twile-uh pronunciation, go for [name]Twila[/name]. Or if it’s twill-uh you’re after, [name]Twilla[/name] would work just as well. Good luck (again)!
I agree with this. Normally, the ‘y’ is a kiss of death in a name, but in this case I think it really works.
I would say Twee-lah the first time I saw [name]Twila[/name]. But [name]Twyla[/name] is unmistakable, and probably the standard, since it’s how Thyla Tharp spells it.
Definitely [name]Twyla[/name] to avoid prn issues.
I voted for [name]Twyla[/name]. Normally, like you, y spellings look made up or “creative” to me and I can’t stand them, but for some reason [name]Twyla[/name] just looks more right to me. It’s possible I read a book with someone named [name]Twyla[/name] when I was younger – I have a faint memory of it, so maybe that’s why.
That said, I think you’d get the same pronunciation with [name]Twila[/name]. Grammatically, it looks like it should be prn. twy-la, but that doesn’t mean people won’t mispronounce it. I have a friend named [name]Sarah[/name] and people mispronounce it all the time, which is pretty unbelievable, but proves some people are just clueless about pronunciation and will mispronounce anything. Go for the one you like best.
I like the name [name]Twila[/name] or [name]Twyla[/name]. I think [name]Twyla[/name] is the better way to go with spelling. I know most people on these sites hate the y spellings, but I think a lot of people would pronounce it Twill-uh instead the way its supposed to be pronounced. But either way looks good. Chose the one you like the best, people are going to mispronounce any name anyway.
@alzora I have no clue for middle names! I think I want to do something simple, more traditional for a middle name. Maybe something like [name]Claire[/name] or [name]Jane[/name]? Or maybe something a little longer, but not quite sure what?
Thanks everyone for the opinions! Still not sure what I’m thinking, so I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts. I do feel like [name]Twyla[/name] will be easier for most people, but that darn Y just bother me! But sometimes when I look at [name]Twila[/name] something looks a little off. I keep flipping back and forth which one I prefer.