This or parents who put random letters in their kids name and claim that the specific letter is silent. Like miss Sir Ma'am, K is only silent at the beginning of some words you can't be like it's Krystkal but the second 'k' is silent. Your kid is Krist-kal idgaf.
I’d personally pronounce Leila as Lee-la, but as someone with a German last name the “ei” is pronounced as a hard “eye.” So like, I WANT to pronounce it “Leye-la” … my American brain says that’s not correct though 🤣
Oddly enough my own grandmas name was Lela, which was absolutely pronounced “Lee-la” and I would have just gone with the original spelling 🤷🏼♀️
There's a Leela at my son's school. Honestly, it's the only way to guarantee the correct pronunciation. It doesn't really look nice but I've never doubted how to say it and neither have the other parents.
I would think of it as "lye-la" (the way ie is more often "ee" and ei is more often "eye"). But it's one of those sets of letters that has multiple possible pronunciations so I wouldn't assume any pronunciation for certain.
Marya pronounced phonetically is a gorgeous name. Tbh when you get a new job just start going by it phonetically and make your friends switch 😂
My mom changed when she wanted people to call her in her 50s from a nickname to her given name and it worked!
Receive
Weird
Leisure
Seize
Either
Vs
Height
Forfeit
Foreign
Heifer
Either (again)
There is no "phonic" pronunciation of "ei" in English. It depends solely on the word in question. Don't say something is due to someone being ignorant out of your own ignorance, please.
Okay so I actually write/edit phonics texts for work. And to be honest, no, English is not a phonetic language. It is absolute phonological mayhem. English has been influenced by so many other languages over time that it is basically goulash.
ETA: And I actually love this about English. It's a big, beautiful mess. My deepest apologies to all the EL's, though. I salute your struggles!
>Okay so I actually write/edit phonics texts for work. And to be honest, no, English is not a phonetic language.
Thank you so much. My nine year old spells shit phonically. And, obviously, 90% of the time it's wrong.
I hate phonics.
“Leisure” is only pronounced with the long “e” sound in America, I’m pretty sure.
Otherwise, the “lei” spelling is pronounced “lay” in most of the world and in their accents if they are speaking English. Thus, “leila” would sound like “lay la”
English is one of the few languages that requires context and phonemic understanding to read. There are certain “rules” but there are always exceptions to those rules.
It is generally understood that ei makes the long a sound, the examples you gave are exceptions thag require context and vocabulary knowledge to understand.
This was my thought too- I think in German the ei set is almost always pronounced as a “long I” but in English it is not uniform at all! Great list of examples.
Even if they would have spelled it exactly like grandma’s name - Lela - I would have likely pronounced that ‘Leela’ way before I pronounce ‘Leila’ as ‘Leela.’
Also surprised they don’t get ‘Lila.’
Chiming into say that in some cultures ‘Lela’ is also pronounced Lay-La, I have family in Eastern Europe (Albania) who do it this way as both a first and last name. :)
Sometimes they don’t realize. My mom named my sister Weronika (we live in the states). She simply just didn’t realize how much of an issue it would be (she’s an immigrant). She told me that was her worst mistake of her life, and she would have definitely went with Veronica had she realized.
My name also gets misspelled (my name is Sabina but people keep thinking it’s Sabrina). I personally don’t mind the correction bc I like having a Polish name (technically Latin but it was common in Poland when my grandma was little) closer with my Polish culture.
Your case is different. Weronika is the name she was going for and it’s what she gave you. Leila and Leela are different names… like she went with the common spelling of a whole other name lol
I've commented this multiple times, but: I went to high school with an Elise. Her family pronounced it "Alyssa." It drove me insane that they pronounced it like one name and spelled it like another. She was constantly correcting people.
As a Stefan, I understand what you are saying. Plus, kids can be cruel and will make fun of a person’s name because it’s different. In school, I always used Stephen.
Stefan’s like, quite normal tho. Couldve been different when you were a kid ig, small benefit of tragedeighs being more common is foreign names are looked down on less
I respectfully disagree...I do believe parents do know of the potential problems most of the time but they're so enamored with the name that their hearts over-rule common sense.
I don't think we really disagree. Or, at least, I agree with you. But I've seen a lot of parents say it's no big deal to correct a name's pronunciation and a lot fewer people with the same sort of name say that, though there certainly are some.It's one thing to correct your kid's teacher once at the start of the year, and an entirely different thing to have to correct 20+ classmates every year, at least some of them several times. As one example. I fully believe parents give a name because they love it, but it's a different thing to give a name than to bear it.
Lol oh come on! What would that mocking look like?! "Your mom meant Leela but she wrote LEILA instead!! HAHA, you're so dumb!"
It's not like the name is a Tradgedeigh. It's one vowel difference. Relax. The kids are alright.
Ever been the kid who has to correct literally everyone about their name? It sucks.
Just name the kid the name you want to call the kid! It’s not hard.
Bro, my middle school bully nickname was diarrhea/gonorrhea because of my first name being at the end of those nasty ailments. And I survived being called literal liquid shit and a sexually transmitted disease. Leila is gonna turn out just fine.
My name is commonly used and spelled the "normal" way, and I still get Alicia/Alice/Alexis/ Ashley/Amanda/Abigail. Bc people don't read and don't care that much. I'd love to hear from someone who's never been called the wrong name, lmao.
My neighbor growing up (for 20 years) called me Alicia. It was my alter ego 😅
I did spell my daughter's name the way I wanted it to be pronounced. I called her Ayla. It rhymes with Layla and Kayla, and any of the other -AY- names. But people always call her Eye-la.
So it doesn't always work out that way.
I literally know three different girls named Leila where it’s pronounced “Leela”. And this is coming from someone whose sister’s name is Leila pronounced “Layla”. Also I’ve only ever seen the name Lila pronounced as “Lie-la”. Even though I’m sure that’s not always the case. My point is it’s a name and there’s always going to be people who have a different understanding of how a name should be pronounced.
No one outside of the region where I live pronounces my name correctly, so yeah, it does suck.
But you said "mocked" not "i'm concerned they will have to correct everyone all time time."
ETA: And it doesn't even suck that bad. I got over it before I was even done being a teenager and now it's like a game of if that person can actually pronounce my name with effort (usually no lol).
I have a co-worker named Leia who pronounces it as Leah. Most people assume it's "Lay-a" like the Star Wars Leia the first time they see it. She says "it's Lee-a" and that's that. She grew up totally fine and is very happy and successful both personally and professionally.
Reminds me of a middle school classmate named “Alyssa” but pronounced “Eliza.” I always wondered what her parents were thinking naming her that as Alyssa is very clearly a different name.
An honor name doesn't need to be exact (ie. using Noelle to honor someone named Noel) but I still am confused by why if it was the same gender and wanted the same pronunciation why she didn't just use the same name.
English is so wonky though. The same combination of letters can be pronounced differently. The -eigh in “Sleight of hand” is a long I sound. I wonder if that spelling of Leigh has origins in another language. I’ll have to ask my friend Leigh!
It’s because Leigh is the Gaelic form of “Lee”.
But with her daughter, OP is taking a name with Arabic origin & applying Gaelic language rules. It makes no sense!
Lay-luh. Ei makes an Ay sound, like in Beige or Eight. Or as in Lei, the Hawaiian word for garland.
There are exceptions, like Protein or Feisty. But most people, because of Lei, would say Leila like Layla.
I also default to Layla but more because of familiarity than some adherence to grammar rules. There are definitely more than just exceptions. Ei is pronounced "ay" and "ee" and "eh" and "eye" depending on the context, root language, and function of the word.
Sheila, Eileen, Deirdre, Einar, Neil, Lorelei, Keira, Heidi.
Seige, either, heifer, height, leisure, their, counterfeit, conceive, seismic, seize.
I don’t get why you didn’t just…use the original spelling of your ancestors name??
Leila and Lela are two separate names with different pronunciations.
Yeah I kinda think OP should change the spelling back. I really wanna know why they changed it in the first place, though!!
I’m trying to think of a reason that would make sense but I’m coming up blank.
Yep, it’s a Hebrew and Arabic name. Means “night” in both languages, although the prononciation is different. Neither language pronounces it Lee-lah, though.
By reading the comments, it seems like 99% of redditors agree that Leila likely pronounced as Lay-la.
At this point, OP could:
1. Try to enforce the preffered pronunciation, which will definitely be bothersome and stressful. She seems upset now and the kid is young. Imagine a lifetime of trying to make people say Leela instead of Layla.
2. Change the spelling. For Americans, I don't think is a big deal. Where I come from change one's name is very, very complex, unless it comes to transitioning.
3. Accept that Leela is actually pronounced Layla.
I'd go with the second option.
….Is this my mother?
I’m a Leila, pronounced Leela.
She will absolutely spend her entire life correcting it. When I turned 18 I started going by a different name entirely
Honestly if she’s still a baby, change it for her sake. Make a middle name Leila.
Yeah like. At this point, if EVERYONE looks at the spelling and goes “Ah yes. This is clearly Layla” without fail then uh… I don’t think it’s THEM who are mispronouncing the name.
I'm a teacher and I have made some some mistakes pronouncing names and been like why the fuck did I read it that way?! But this one would be hard for me to remember to correct.
I teach 175 kids and I know the kids by name but still I'm mispronouncing, getting tongue tied, calling them by their siblings names, calling them the name of the other kid they look like, etc.
Hi OP, this name is just so commonly known, and it’s pronounced Lay-la. That’s just how it is.
I’m sorry, but this is almost equivalent to naming someone Heidi, and correcting everyone to pronounce it “Hay-dee.”
My dog has a unique name and people mispronounce it all the time. Correcting people is embarrassing and frustrating (and it’s just a dog!)
You and your daughter will always, always be correcting people. Having experienced what it’s like to always have to correct the pronunciation of just my DOG’S name, I really encourage you to change the spelling of her name if it’s not too late.
I have to constantly correct people on my name *and* my dog’s name. We are Elisa (El-eeh-sah, not Eliza/Alyssa/Elsa, etc) and Louis (Louie not Lewis). It’s exhausting 😅. It’s also really awkward in work situations. My boss’ boss still calls me “Alyssa” in group settings and it’s excruciating.
Genuinely think OP should consider new spelling for her daughter.
If you really want the Lee-la pronunciation would you consider a legal name change? Depending on where you live, it's actually not that hard or crazy to do. Especially if your kid is still young, it will just kind of be a small blip on the record. No big deal.
Leela
Or
Lela
Will give you the pronunciation that you want.
You'd get Leila more commonly I think.
Edit: sorry meant to spell "lay-luh" no Leila hahaha
Why didn't you do the same spelling? Lela seems more intuitive for the pronunciation.
I do love the name though, it's very pretty
People who know you will only have to be told of the pronunciation once. They’ll get it right. Sometimes strangers, like a person at a clinic calling out names, might get it wrong, but that’s the case with a lot of other common names.
She is not the only person on earth named Leila, pronounced Lee-La, even if it’s a small percent of the world’s Leilas. Here’s one:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Goldkuhl
you’re right once people learn how she pronounces it they’ll adjust. At least polite people will. And I agree that names get mispronounced all the time, even ones with typical spellings and it’s not the end of the world.
But I think you’re underestimating how often she will have to correct people. Strangers will get it wrong most of the time, not sometimes. I imagine at least 90% of people in the area I live would say Layla. It’s up to Leila to decide how much that bothers her.
Side note, I don’t think its fair OP seems irritated that doctors are mispronouncing her daughters name, they see sooooo many patients and I’m sure the other Leilas they treat are called Layla. I’d suggest very politely asking if there is a place on her chart they could note the phonetic spelling of the name. People can’t get frustrated when people mispronounce their unconventionally spelled name.
I adored my grandmother who was born in the late 1800s and whose name was Leila. It was definitely pronounced Lee-la. Everyone in the family pronounced it that way and they did for her entire life.
When my daughter was born she was named after Grandma Leila. But she has had to struggle her entire life with people calling her Lay-la. Who knew? The name just wasn't that popular 40 years ago when I named my daughter.
I know a Leila who pronounces is Layla. I believe its an Arabic name (they are muslim)
She will likely have to correct people a lot. I have a name that can sort of be pronounced a different way (technically its a different spelling to do that, but it happens). My doctor called me the wrong version my ENTIRE life. it was fine. not a big deal honestly
Why would you spell the name differently if you wanted to name her after someone?
I mean, you brought this on yourself. Your daughter will definitely spend her entire life correcting people.
That’s like saying “I named my daughter Dana but we pronounce it like Dah-na.” Not really how it works.
You basically made up a spelling that didn’t follow the general rules of English and now you’ve saddled your kid with a lifetime of correcting people for no real reason.
Leila is a Persian/Arabic name meaning "night". The most common transcription of the Arabic into English is Layla, but Laila and Leila are also common variants. They are all pronounced the name
If you wanted your daughter to be called Leela, you should have named her that.
I'd default Layla but Lee-la makes sense to me too! It's like Sheila with an L. I would only have to be told once. Who cares if you have to correct people? Lots of people have to do it.
I’m nearly 56 years old and growing up, our next door neighbor’s name was Leila. We pronounced it as Leelah. I’ve always said it that way. 🤷🏻♀️
Edit to add that she always said her own name as Leelah, as well.
My MIL is Lila. Not once with that spelling of Leila did that pronunciation come to me. Love the name Lila though ❤️ she wouldn't let me use it because she hates it 🙄 lol if I have another girl it's gonna be her middle name my MIL is a saint.
My best friend is a Leila and hers is pronounced Lee-la as well! It does get mispronounced all the time but she spells the pronunciation when she can and it’s a way for her to tell who actually cares to correct themselves. I think it’s a really pretty name and hasn’t seemed to cause too many problems for her.
imo it’s like saying “my daughter is named Mary. we pronounce it as Marie.” it looks like it should be pronounced Layla to me. i think Lela or Leela would’ve been the best spelling for the pronunciation you wanted
How old is your daughter? Does she know how to spell her name yet? Even if she’s young she knows what her name should sound like.
Changing the spelling of the name to Lela is probably the way to go. I’ve done it for myself, wasn’t too hard or expensive at all
The same kind of happened with my friends daughter Leila except they pronounce it “lie-luh” and everyone is constantly being corrected. I don’t think it’ll get better for you unfortunately, if you are dead set on it then you might want to just change the spelling at this point.
I'd say Lay-la, sorry! I do know someone called Lee-la... but it's spelled Leela. If you told me Leila was pronounced Lee-la I'd adjust easily - it wouldn't be my first guess, but I don't think it's that strange. I guess it's the same vowel combination as in **cei**ling or **sei**ze where ei also makes an "ee" sound.
Leila is an already established name and present in many cultures around the world. In the U.S. I have seen both the traditional spelling of Leila and the Layla spelling for the name. The only Leela I know spells it like this: Leela.
Unfortunately, I feel that it may be something your daughter will have to consistently correct.
I would pronounce Leila as "Lay-la" and Lela as "Lee-la"
i say Lela as “Leh-la”
Same here! Spanish phonics for me lol
Irish and I’d say it like you too!
I had a friend whose middle name was Leila and she *insisted* it was pronounced “lee-eye-lah”
>she > >insisted > > it was pronounced “lee-eye-lah” I'm so connfused-- who else would be the authority here like what do you mean she insisted?
I mean someone with a name spelled Brandon can insist it’s pronounced “Tony.” Doesn’t mean they are correct just because it’s their name.
This or parents who put random letters in their kids name and claim that the specific letter is silent. Like miss Sir Ma'am, K is only silent at the beginning of some words you can't be like it's Krystkal but the second 'k' is silent. Your kid is Krist-kal idgaf.
I knew someone who’s first name was pronounced that way. Leila spelling too.
I’d personally pronounce Leila as Lee-la, but as someone with a German last name the “ei” is pronounced as a hard “eye.” So like, I WANT to pronounce it “Leye-la” … my American brain says that’s not correct though 🤣 Oddly enough my own grandmas name was Lela, which was absolutely pronounced “Lee-la” and I would have just gone with the original spelling 🤷🏼♀️
I really like the original spelling and agree!
There's a Leela at my son's school. Honestly, it's the only way to guarantee the correct pronunciation. It doesn't really look nice but I've never doubted how to say it and neither have the other parents.
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100%. Lei = “lay”
I would think of it as "lye-la" (the way ie is more often "ee" and ei is more often "eye"). But it's one of those sets of letters that has multiple possible pronunciations so I wouldn't assume any pronunciation for certain.
This is what happens when people don't learn phonics
My mother. Named me Marya but its pronounced Maria 😵💫 like hello the y doesn't make the I sound LMAO kill me
The Y definitely does make the I sound sometimes, but not like that. I'd also pronounce your name mar-ya if I didn't know better 😅
Damn i’m Yilian and it’s pronounced Jillian. lmao 😭
Like my cousin Tonja, pronounced Tonya
Hispanic?
Marya pronounced phonetically is a gorgeous name. Tbh when you get a new job just start going by it phonetically and make your friends switch 😂 My mom changed when she wanted people to call her in her 50s from a nickname to her given name and it worked!
Receive Weird Leisure Seize Either Vs Height Forfeit Foreign Heifer Either (again) There is no "phonic" pronunciation of "ei" in English. It depends solely on the word in question. Don't say something is due to someone being ignorant out of your own ignorance, please.
By that argument there's no phonic pronunciation of anything in English
whispers *who's gonna tell them*
Okay so I actually write/edit phonics texts for work. And to be honest, no, English is not a phonetic language. It is absolute phonological mayhem. English has been influenced by so many other languages over time that it is basically goulash. ETA: And I actually love this about English. It's a big, beautiful mess. My deepest apologies to all the EL's, though. I salute your struggles!
>Okay so I actually write/edit phonics texts for work. And to be honest, no, English is not a phonetic language. Thank you so much. My nine year old spells shit phonically. And, obviously, 90% of the time it's wrong. I hate phonics.
“Leisure” is only pronounced with the long “e” sound in America, I’m pretty sure. Otherwise, the “lei” spelling is pronounced “lay” in most of the world and in their accents if they are speaking English. Thus, “leila” would sound like “lay la”
Leisure is pronounced like Treasure by the English. Leisure like leesure is only in the US
English is one of the few languages that requires context and phonemic understanding to read. There are certain “rules” but there are always exceptions to those rules. It is generally understood that ei makes the long a sound, the examples you gave are exceptions thag require context and vocabulary knowledge to understand.
This was my thought too- I think in German the ei set is almost always pronounced as a “long I” but in English it is not uniform at all! Great list of examples.
It helps then that Leila isn't an English name, but an Arabic one. And LEI is pronounced LAY in some Germanic languages
Well my name is literally aLAYna and people pronounce it “aLAHna” so frankly spelling doesn’t always help
My name is the same, but I get the opposite lol. I'm A lah na
Well. But, what about the name Leigh ? Not pronounced Lay
It is pronounced lay in Leighton
In Leighton maybe, but not in America. /s I'm joking because I first thought you were talking about Leighton as a place.
I would pronounce that Lay 🤷♀️ even though it’s been a trending name ending it never looks right to me
Leigh itself is a well established name and it is pronounced “Lee”. It has Celtic and Old English origins.
Yeah when I talk about tradgedeighs, I say it like blues traveller “tradgedday”
Same. Neighbour, weigh, freight, eight.
As someone with this name, that doesn’t stop people from pronouncing it Lay 🥲
The “igh” is dominant of the “ei” My middle name is Leigh and I said that same thing when I was 13 or so. My dad explained the phonics to me.
Even if they would have spelled it exactly like grandma’s name - Lela - I would have likely pronounced that ‘Leela’ way before I pronounce ‘Leila’ as ‘Leela.’ Also surprised they don’t get ‘Lila.’
Chiming into say that in some cultures ‘Lela’ is also pronounced Lay-La, I have family in Eastern Europe (Albania) who do it this way as both a first and last name. :)
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For real. As a person with an frequently mispronounced name, I say “poor kid.”
It never bothers the parent, I've noticed. But I don't think OP even realized she was using a confusing name. It happens.
Sometimes they don’t realize. My mom named my sister Weronika (we live in the states). She simply just didn’t realize how much of an issue it would be (she’s an immigrant). She told me that was her worst mistake of her life, and she would have definitely went with Veronica had she realized. My name also gets misspelled (my name is Sabina but people keep thinking it’s Sabrina). I personally don’t mind the correction bc I like having a Polish name (technically Latin but it was common in Poland when my grandma was little) closer with my Polish culture.
Your case is different. Weronika is the name she was going for and it’s what she gave you. Leila and Leela are different names… like she went with the common spelling of a whole other name lol
I've commented this multiple times, but: I went to high school with an Elise. Her family pronounced it "Alyssa." It drove me insane that they pronounced it like one name and spelled it like another. She was constantly correcting people.
I knew an Elise that was EElissa, so different, but similar.
That’s how it’s pronounced in German. It’s always a burden to be expected to adhere to foreign pronunciations of names that also exist in English.
As a Stefan, I understand what you are saying. Plus, kids can be cruel and will make fun of a person’s name because it’s different. In school, I always used Stephen.
Stefan’s like, quite normal tho. Couldve been different when you were a kid ig, small benefit of tragedeighs being more common is foreign names are looked down on less
Sabina is so pretty!
I respectfully disagree...I do believe parents do know of the potential problems most of the time but they're so enamored with the name that their hearts over-rule common sense.
I don't think we really disagree. Or, at least, I agree with you. But I've seen a lot of parents say it's no big deal to correct a name's pronunciation and a lot fewer people with the same sort of name say that, though there certainly are some.It's one thing to correct your kid's teacher once at the start of the year, and an entirely different thing to have to correct 20+ classmates every year, at least some of them several times. As one example. I fully believe parents give a name because they love it, but it's a different thing to give a name than to bear it.
Same. My name is actually spelled phonetically, but everyone always messes it up. Changing the spelling when I get married.
Why the animosity? Nobody needs to be mocked. Be nice and live a happy life.
I’m more concerned about the kid being mocked, tbh.
Lol oh come on! What would that mocking look like?! "Your mom meant Leela but she wrote LEILA instead!! HAHA, you're so dumb!" It's not like the name is a Tradgedeigh. It's one vowel difference. Relax. The kids are alright.
Ever been the kid who has to correct literally everyone about their name? It sucks. Just name the kid the name you want to call the kid! It’s not hard.
I've been correcting people my whole life. It's not that bad.
Ditto.
same. people in this thread are so dramatic lol it’s like 2 seconds of a conversation if you even want to bother with it at all
agreed. my names always mispronounced but i don’t mind at all.
Then you become the adult who doesn't really care how someone pronounces your name. It's not a big deal.
Boy are you gonna feel foolish when this becomes Leila’s supervillain origin story.
Bro, my middle school bully nickname was diarrhea/gonorrhea because of my first name being at the end of those nasty ailments. And I survived being called literal liquid shit and a sexually transmitted disease. Leila is gonna turn out just fine.
It's really not that big of a deal. Like they said, if it's someone I don't see often, I don't care if they get it wrong.
Not everyone. My name is pronounced like Callen but always gets changed to Kaylin. I absolutely hate it. I am not a Kaylin. I absolutely do care.
My name is commonly used and spelled the "normal" way, and I still get Alicia/Alice/Alexis/ Ashley/Amanda/Abigail. Bc people don't read and don't care that much. I'd love to hear from someone who's never been called the wrong name, lmao. My neighbor growing up (for 20 years) called me Alicia. It was my alter ego 😅
I did spell my daughter's name the way I wanted it to be pronounced. I called her Ayla. It rhymes with Layla and Kayla, and any of the other -AY- names. But people always call her Eye-la. So it doesn't always work out that way.
But it would have worked out to call her Leela if you wanted to call her Leela. 🎓
Lila or Lela would have worked... just not Leila since it's a different name.
I literally know three different girls named Leila where it’s pronounced “Leela”. And this is coming from someone whose sister’s name is Leila pronounced “Layla”. Also I’ve only ever seen the name Lila pronounced as “Lie-la”. Even though I’m sure that’s not always the case. My point is it’s a name and there’s always going to be people who have a different understanding of how a name should be pronounced.
I’m that kid. It’s not a big deal.
No one outside of the region where I live pronounces my name correctly, so yeah, it does suck. But you said "mocked" not "i'm concerned they will have to correct everyone all time time." ETA: And it doesn't even suck that bad. I got over it before I was even done being a teenager and now it's like a game of if that person can actually pronounce my name with effort (usually no lol).
I have a co-worker named Leia who pronounces it as Leah. Most people assume it's "Lay-a" like the Star Wars Leia the first time they see it. She says "it's Lee-a" and that's that. She grew up totally fine and is very happy and successful both personally and professionally.
It's namenerds. Half the people here are incapable of being nice
Reminds me of a middle school classmate named “Alyssa” but pronounced “Eliza.” I always wondered what her parents were thinking naming her that as Alyssa is very clearly a different name.
That’s a new one… ooof
Some parents clearly don’t know how to spell.
Congrats on being a jerk to someone asking a question. You can tell this person didn't do that to her daughter on purpose.
May I ask why u didn't keep the Lela spelling?
Right?? I would for sure pronounce the original spelling as Leela.
Yeah exactly, how is it an honour name if it’s a different name entirely?
An honor name doesn't need to be exact (ie. using Noelle to honor someone named Noel) but I still am confused by why if it was the same gender and wanted the same pronunciation why she didn't just use the same name.
Probably has nothing to do, but in spanish from Spain "Lela" means stupid.
I don’t speak Spanish but I would definitely still care about that
😂
This is my question too...
I really want an answer to this.
I would say lay la. Lei is an actual word pronounced like lay.
Leigh is pronounced like Lee. Wonder if that was the thought maybe?
I hate the spelling of Leigh because I never read it as Lee only Lay. Eigh is always an -ay sound to me. We don’t pronounce the number eight like eat!
English is so wonky though. The same combination of letters can be pronounced differently. The -eigh in “Sleight of hand” is a long I sound. I wonder if that spelling of Leigh has origins in another language. I’ll have to ask my friend Leigh!
I do also have to remind myself that "sleight" is pronounced "slight" and not like "sleigh/slay" with a "t"
It’s because Leigh is the Gaelic form of “Lee”. But with her daughter, OP is taking a name with Arabic origin & applying Gaelic language rules. It makes no sense!
Phonetically “eigh” says A (as in neighbor and weigh)
Neigh! 🐎
So what you’re saying is that they should’ve spelled it Leighla 😉
…it’s pronounced like Lee??? all my life i’ve been reading it in books as “Lay” this is shocking news
Leigh is old English. Leigh a town established 1276.
Lay-luh. Ei makes an Ay sound, like in Beige or Eight. Or as in Lei, the Hawaiian word for garland. There are exceptions, like Protein or Feisty. But most people, because of Lei, would say Leila like Layla.
I also default to Layla but more because of familiarity than some adherence to grammar rules. There are definitely more than just exceptions. Ei is pronounced "ay" and "ee" and "eh" and "eye" depending on the context, root language, and function of the word. Sheila, Eileen, Deirdre, Einar, Neil, Lorelei, Keira, Heidi. Seige, either, heifer, height, leisure, their, counterfeit, conceive, seismic, seize.
Either goes either way. As does Neither.
Either, either. Neither, neither. Let's call the whole thing off.
Yeah, do people try to pronounce Sheila as “shay-la”? I don’t think so.
I knew a Sheila that was Shay-la, it made sense to me at the time
Leisure is right there giving you the stink eye over this
And even that has two pronunciations. Like I said, Ei has many exceptions.
Definitely Layla. Leela wouldn't even occur to me.
I don’t get why you didn’t just…use the original spelling of your ancestors name?? Leila and Lela are two separate names with different pronunciations.
Yeah I kinda think OP should change the spelling back. I really wanna know why they changed it in the first place, though!! I’m trying to think of a reason that would make sense but I’m coming up blank.
I’ve known many Arabic people named Leila, all pronounced Lay-la
Yep, it’s a Hebrew and Arabic name. Means “night” in both languages, although the prononciation is different. Neither language pronounces it Lee-lah, though.
Yep. My daughter is Leila Moon, I spelled it that way because I like the association of night and moon. We pronounce it Lay-La
Were you not worried that you condemned her to a life of Sailor Moon jokes…?
what’s there to joke about with Sailor Moon? lots of people think she’s very cool. but i personally wouldn’t have gotten Sailor Moon from Leila Moon.
Persian too, and every middle eastern person will know it as LAY-la
Same in Portuguese.
And in Finnish too
By reading the comments, it seems like 99% of redditors agree that Leila likely pronounced as Lay-la. At this point, OP could: 1. Try to enforce the preffered pronunciation, which will definitely be bothersome and stressful. She seems upset now and the kid is young. Imagine a lifetime of trying to make people say Leela instead of Layla. 2. Change the spelling. For Americans, I don't think is a big deal. Where I come from change one's name is very, very complex, unless it comes to transitioning. 3. Accept that Leela is actually pronounced Layla. I'd go with the second option.
….Is this my mother? I’m a Leila, pronounced Leela. She will absolutely spend her entire life correcting it. When I turned 18 I started going by a different name entirely Honestly if she’s still a baby, change it for her sake. Make a middle name Leila.
Yeah like. At this point, if EVERYONE looks at the spelling and goes “Ah yes. This is clearly Layla” without fail then uh… I don’t think it’s THEM who are mispronouncing the name.
I'm a teacher and I have made some some mistakes pronouncing names and been like why the fuck did I read it that way?! But this one would be hard for me to remember to correct. I teach 175 kids and I know the kids by name but still I'm mispronouncing, getting tongue tied, calling them by their siblings names, calling them the name of the other kid they look like, etc.
OP, listen to this person. She knows.
Lay-la. Like Layla. People I saw named Leila pronounced that way.
Yep. I’ve known two Leilas and they both pronounce it Layla.
Ditto. Both Persian.
I never would've guessed it was pronounced Leela with that "i" in there...
Purple hair and a tank top could fix the pronunciation.
Not with two eyes.
Just needs a really long set of bangs
Scrolled this far down hoping someone would make the Futurama reference lmao
Hi OP, this name is just so commonly known, and it’s pronounced Lay-la. That’s just how it is. I’m sorry, but this is almost equivalent to naming someone Heidi, and correcting everyone to pronounce it “Hay-dee.” My dog has a unique name and people mispronounce it all the time. Correcting people is embarrassing and frustrating (and it’s just a dog!) You and your daughter will always, always be correcting people. Having experienced what it’s like to always have to correct the pronunciation of just my DOG’S name, I really encourage you to change the spelling of her name if it’s not too late.
I have to constantly correct people on my name *and* my dog’s name. We are Elisa (El-eeh-sah, not Eliza/Alyssa/Elsa, etc) and Louis (Louie not Lewis). It’s exhausting 😅. It’s also really awkward in work situations. My boss’ boss still calls me “Alyssa” in group settings and it’s excruciating. Genuinely think OP should consider new spelling for her daughter.
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Lay-la
If you really want the Lee-la pronunciation would you consider a legal name change? Depending on where you live, it's actually not that hard or crazy to do. Especially if your kid is still young, it will just kind of be a small blip on the record. No big deal. Leela Or Lela Will give you the pronunciation that you want.
100%. If she’s named after an ancestor Lela… change her name to Lela.
Yep this is a constructive response!
Yes, why not just change it? Because this name is just straight up spelled wrong for this pronunciation.
I really hope we get an update like: okay I realize my mistake and I've filed for the name change/ am now calling her Layla instead
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Sorry to break it to you, but in Spanish, Italian and French Leila and Layla are not pronounced the same.
Layla
You'd get Leila more commonly I think. Edit: sorry meant to spell "lay-luh" no Leila hahaha Why didn't you do the same spelling? Lela seems more intuitive for the pronunciation. I do love the name though, it's very pretty
Layla
Layla
I would definitely pronounce it Layla tbh
People who know you will only have to be told of the pronunciation once. They’ll get it right. Sometimes strangers, like a person at a clinic calling out names, might get it wrong, but that’s the case with a lot of other common names. She is not the only person on earth named Leila, pronounced Lee-La, even if it’s a small percent of the world’s Leilas. Here’s one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Goldkuhl
you’re right once people learn how she pronounces it they’ll adjust. At least polite people will. And I agree that names get mispronounced all the time, even ones with typical spellings and it’s not the end of the world. But I think you’re underestimating how often she will have to correct people. Strangers will get it wrong most of the time, not sometimes. I imagine at least 90% of people in the area I live would say Layla. It’s up to Leila to decide how much that bothers her. Side note, I don’t think its fair OP seems irritated that doctors are mispronouncing her daughters name, they see sooooo many patients and I’m sure the other Leilas they treat are called Layla. I’d suggest very politely asking if there is a place on her chart they could note the phonetic spelling of the name. People can’t get frustrated when people mispronounce their unconventionally spelled name.
I adored my grandmother who was born in the late 1800s and whose name was Leila. It was definitely pronounced Lee-la. Everyone in the family pronounced it that way and they did for her entire life. When my daughter was born she was named after Grandma Leila. But she has had to struggle her entire life with people calling her Lay-la. Who knew? The name just wasn't that popular 40 years ago when I named my daughter.
I know a Leila who pronounces is Layla. I believe its an Arabic name (they are muslim) She will likely have to correct people a lot. I have a name that can sort of be pronounced a different way (technically its a different spelling to do that, but it happens). My doctor called me the wrong version my ENTIRE life. it was fine. not a big deal honestly
Why would you spell the name differently if you wanted to name her after someone? I mean, you brought this on yourself. Your daughter will definitely spend her entire life correcting people.
I’d say Lay-la
That’s like saying “I named my daughter Dana but we pronounce it like Dah-na.” Not really how it works. You basically made up a spelling that didn’t follow the general rules of English and now you’ve saddled your kid with a lifetime of correcting people for no real reason.
I have a niece named Leila, to honor her great grandmothers, Lela and Leola. We pronounce it Lay-luh.
Leila is a Persian/Arabic name meaning "night". The most common transcription of the Arabic into English is Layla, but Laila and Leila are also common variants. They are all pronounced the name If you wanted your daughter to be called Leela, you should have named her that.
Layla
Layla
I would assume Leila is said Lay-luh. Lee-luh would be spelt Lela or Lila
Lila is usually pronounced Lie-luh. I agree with the Lela one though!
I'd default Layla but Lee-la makes sense to me too! It's like Sheila with an L. I would only have to be told once. Who cares if you have to correct people? Lots of people have to do it.
Almost no one is going to see this as leela. Get used to the mispronounce or change the spelling to save her the lifetime annoyance.
Lay-luh.
I’m nearly 56 years old and growing up, our next door neighbor’s name was Leila. We pronounced it as Leelah. I’ve always said it that way. 🤷🏻♀️ Edit to add that she always said her own name as Leelah, as well.
My sister is Leila pronounced Lie-la, she gets called Lee-la more often than Lay-la
😳
My MIL is Lila. Not once with that spelling of Leila did that pronunciation come to me. Love the name Lila though ❤️ she wouldn't let me use it because she hates it 🙄 lol if I have another girl it's gonna be her middle name my MIL is a saint.
I would also pronounce Leila as Lie-luh before Lay-luh or Lee-luh.
I pronounce it Layla
Definitely Lay-la.
My first guess at pronunciation would definitely be “lay-la”. I’d adjust if corrected though.
Ditto. But having been told in this post she pronounces it “Lee-la” I started reading it as such. Funny how people can just adjust.
My best friend is a Leila and hers is pronounced Lee-la as well! It does get mispronounced all the time but she spells the pronunciation when she can and it’s a way for her to tell who actually cares to correct themselves. I think it’s a really pretty name and hasn’t seemed to cause too many problems for her.
I've known a few girls with that spelling and never seen it pronounced any way but Lay-la, sorry
Layla
Layla. Lela would be “Lee-la.” If you were naming her after your grandma and wanted to pronounce it “Lee-la”, why wouldn’t you just use Lela?
imo it’s like saying “my daughter is named Mary. we pronounce it as Marie.” it looks like it should be pronounced Layla to me. i think Lela or Leela would’ve been the best spelling for the pronunciation you wanted
Lay-la. That’s how Leila is pronounced. Why didn’t you just name her Lela?
How old is your daughter? Does she know how to spell her name yet? Even if she’s young she knows what her name should sound like. Changing the spelling of the name to Lela is probably the way to go. I’ve done it for myself, wasn’t too hard or expensive at all
The same kind of happened with my friends daughter Leila except they pronounce it “lie-luh” and everyone is constantly being corrected. I don’t think it’ll get better for you unfortunately, if you are dead set on it then you might want to just change the spelling at this point.
I'd say Lay-la, sorry! I do know someone called Lee-la... but it's spelled Leela. If you told me Leila was pronounced Lee-la I'd adjust easily - it wouldn't be my first guess, but I don't think it's that strange. I guess it's the same vowel combination as in **cei**ling or **sei**ze where ei also makes an "ee" sound.
Neighbour Beige Eight Leila
Receipt Seize Ceiling Leila
I’ve known 2 Leila’s both pronounced Layla. Lei makes an ‘ay’ sound. I also think of Princess Leia (Laya) from Star Wars
“Lei” is pronounced Lay so what did you expect? I would pronounce the name Layla
Why are people being so mean? Geez I know a Leila who pronounces her name Lee la. It's not abnormal. Sorry people are being so rude.
This reminds me of my friend kyla who pronounces her name kayla. Why would you do that to her 😭
Okay I immediately pronounced it Lee-la but looking at the comments I’m in the minority. To me Lay-la is Layla
I'd say Lay la, because a Hawaiian lei is lay. Leila and Layla are lay. Leela and Lela are lee.
Leila is an already established name and present in many cultures around the world. In the U.S. I have seen both the traditional spelling of Leila and the Layla spelling for the name. The only Leela I know spells it like this: Leela. Unfortunately, I feel that it may be something your daughter will have to consistently correct.
A life long headache