My husband and I are TTC rn, and Zella/Zelia are on my top 5 girls list.
I can’t decide which I like better. I’d like your input! Our last name is a difficult-to-pronounce French name (we live in the US), so I’d like to choose a name that’s simple to pronounce, even if it’s not “familiar”
Personality-wise, to me Zella seems more mature, refined, wise, and like a dark purple color, and in my head it smells like cedar wood and old books.
Zelia feels different. It feels energetic, more bright and vibrant, like robin’s egg blue and sunshine streaming through summer leaves.
And? Both are good?
Meanings are super important to me, and these both have great meanings; Zelia means zealous or passionate, and Zella means One who Knows the Way, which I think is stunning.
What are your impressions of the names personally? What do you feel like are the pros and cons?
Also, how would you pronounce Zelia? Instinctively I would say ZEE-lee-ah or ZEE-lyuh, but I’m seeing some people pronouncing it ZEH-lee-ah.
[name_f]Zelia[/name_f] I pronounce with the same flow as [name_f]Celia[/name_f] so basically what you have on your post (ZEELyuh). I like the name, the meaning, the uniqueness, the look of it. As far as z names go it is close to the top of the list. I tend to like all names composed of the types of letters that make up this name for example [name_f]Delia[/name_f] and [name_f]Velia[/name_f].
[name_f]Zella[/name_f] is my favorite of the 2 and in my top 3 favorite z beginning names. It has a cool and powerful meaning but also combines really cool zip and also la la sound that makes it exceptional, rare, and a constant name that I am fond of.
I think [name_f]Zella[/name_f] has the clearer pronunciation for sure, but I like all the possible variations of [name_f]Zelia[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] first instinct for the latter was ZEH-lee-uh, though I think maybe ZEE-lee-uh sounds better.
If you’re worried about pronunciation, I’d go with [name_f]Zella[/name_f] because it’s more straightforward, and it feels more unique. [name_f]Zelia[/name_f] seems a bit more made-up, maybe due to the similarity with more popular -elia names like [name_f]Delia[/name_f], [name_f]Celia[/name_f], etc. (But I don’t think you can go wrong either way - both names are lovely.)
I like [name_f]Zella[/name_f] the most! I think it has a lot of energy, [name_m]Zell[/name_m] is fun too. I also like [name_f]Zorie[/name_f] and [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f]
I like both, but I agree with the above poster who said that [name_f]Zelia[/name_f] sounds a bit more made up. [name_f]Zella[/name_f] feels just a tad more sophisticated.
I prefer [name_f]Zella[/name_f]. It’s fresh and chic and fits the guidelines you mentioned - unusual but straight forward in terms of spelling and pronunciation. Zelia’s pronunciation is up for interpretation and I guess I prefer how streamlined [name_f]Zella[/name_f] is in comparison.
Oh, and I pronounce [name_f]Zelia[/name_f] like I would [name_f]Delia[/name_f], although to be honest I wasn’t sure at first - it was between zeer-lee-ah (with the first syllable rhyming with ‘steer’ minus the ‘r’, so not quite a straight zee- sound) and zeh-lee-ah, and to be honest I’m not sure if I say it as if it’s 2 or 3 syllables. I do sort of say the second half of the name with a -lyuh sound, or somewhere in between the two I suppose.
I like [name_f]Zelia[/name_f] more. [name_m]Just[/name_m] more bright and frilly.
[name_f]Zella[/name_f] is nice too but the sounds might get lost amongst all the Ellas and Isabellas. That said, [name_f]Zella[/name_f] would be easier for everyone to pronounce and spell correctly if that is important to you.
You should probably expect some people to ask you to clarify how you pronounce [name_f]Zelia[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] first instinct is ZEE lee ah
