Adele/Adela

[rockyryder]

Please could I have some opinions on these two names?

I am a little put off Adele by the popularity of the singer of the same name.

Adela seems surprisingly unused. I can't quite make up my mind whether it is beautiful of a little harsh.

What do you think?

[thedoodlebug]

I really like Adelaide. I would be put off Adele, but Adela sounds lovely. You could go with Adelaide and Adela for short? Or Addie?

[Tapwater]

Adela is lovely, but when I was teaching EM Forster's A Passage to India (heroine called Adela), lots of students, bizarrely, stumbled over the pronunciation - lots of 'Adele' with a confused-sounding 'a' on the end.

Whereas I would say 'ADDLE-a' with the emphasis on the first syllable, and the 'e' barely pronounced...?

[rockyryder]

I really like Adelaide but DH has never been keen.

I would pronounce Adela: Ah-DEL-ah (emphasis on the second syllable).

[Heels99]

I like Adele it is very pretty and classic . Wouldn't know how to pronounce adela. Adelaide also nice.
Good choices!

[Sophronia]

I pronounce it AD-el-a with the emphasis on the first syllable.

[rockyryder]

Hmm, that's interesting. I need to check the pronunciation!

[Falconwolf101]

Adele: Nah, this is too much like the singer
Adela: Hmm-Hmm, pronounced or spelt Adeyla would be quite nice.

[Persipan]

I think Adela would probably come out as Ah-DAY-la with many people, whether or not you want it to...

[thanksamillion]

My dd is Adelina which is a good alternative. People always comment on what a pretty name it is.

[Tapwater]

I've only heard it pronounced AD-ella by English-speakers, OP, but there are certainly other language versions pronounced A-DAY-la.

But you might find you get Adeela, Adayla etc.

[NadiaWadia]

Always thought it was a-DELL-a?

[NadiaWadia]

Oh well, turns out I am wrong. Just looked it up on howjsay.com and it is indeed ADD-ela. Who would have thunk? Never met anyone actually called that, only seen it written down!

[stormyboots]

Adelheid pronounced Ardelhide, it where the name Heidi comes from and it's the German version of Adelaide.

[RL20]

I actually love the name Della. I have a cousin Della and have never come across the name anywhere else.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Absolutely love Adela.

[rockyryder]

remus- can I ask how you would pronounce Adela please as you seem to be familiar with this name?

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I taught a lovely one many, many years ago and it has always stayed with me as being so beautiful. A (as in apple) Della.

[HenriettaTurkey]

RL 20 - like Della Street? (Perry Mason's secretary.)

Definitely a cool name.

[RL20]

HenrietteTurkey - I actually have no idea! Just know that I love the name, and have honestly not heard it anywhere else! Strange really as it's so similar to Adele

[rockyryder]

Yes, that's how I thought it was pronounced or v similar, remus. Thanks.

[Naoko]

I'm a medievalist and I love Adela because it makes me think of Adela of Blois. Which is sufficiently obscure no one else who hears it will, but if anyone does it's not a bad association, she was quite a woman :)

[rockyryder]

Naoko- I did know that William the Conqueror had a daughter named Adela. I didn't know anything about her though!

[lbab1702]

My daughter is an Adela. I love the name but she does get all sorts of pronounciations of it, which she never corrects. I'm not sure she likes the name much because of this, but she is 14 so typical awkward teenager.