Ada or Aida (or even Ayda)

[Baz13]

One of the girls name on our list is Ada. I have and Ada on my family tree and DH has an Aida on his. Which do you prefer?

My DH thought they were pronounced the same but I pronounce them differently, Ada- a-duh and Aida -eye-ee-duh.

However when I have spoken to friends and family about this name, they all assumed Ada was adda like the snake as they were pronouncing the A phonetically like A for Apple, and thought it needed an i for the name to be pronounced Ay-duh, like HaiL PaiL SNaiL... I think Ayda looks a little bit made up.

I think we prefer the name pronounced Ay-duh not adda. Would we forever be saying like Ava but with a D?
Which spelling would you choose of the 3.

I hope I have explained this well :)

[madmotherof2]

I prefer Ada

[mydogeatsnutstoo]

Ada and I would pronounce it Ayda. I like it, was on our list if ds 2 was a girl.

Aida, while I can see the appeal, is maybe a bit pretentious sounding and I would worry about the child possibly being tone deaf and having to carry off an operatic name but maybe that is just me!

[oldlaundbooth]

Ada's best.

[mrsschu]

I know an 8 month old Ada, spelt that way. Never seen any other spellings. Ayda looks awful/youneeq. I would also pronounce Aida like the opera rather than Ada.

[Floggingmolly]

Spell it Ada, for God's sake.

[AuntieStella]

Ada (which I would read as ay-da)

Aida looks like a scribble for Aïda, which is ay-ee-da (like the opera)

I've never come across and Ada pronounced add-a. And like you OP I don't like the spelling Ayda (and wouldn't be sure if it was ay-da or eye-da).

[redhat]

Aida is not pronounced the same way as Ada. If you want to call her Ada pronounce it Ada and spell it Ada.

[Baz13]

I just wondered whether any one else thought it was pronounced differently as I never thought it would have been. Ada is the preferred spelling for me, I suppose if people pronounced it wrong I would have to say like Ava but with a D, sure my friends and family would get used to it. It is a short and sweet name after all ;)

[Sophronia]

Definitely Ada, prn. AY-da

[Cuppaand2biscuits]

I know an Ayda and it suits her very much. I like the spelling.

[redhat]

I guess it depends on your age but certainly it was a common grandparent age name for people of my age. I would imagine that anyone who didn't know how to pronounce it is very young. Its not exactly an unusual name.

[DontKillMyVibe]

I prefer Ada and would pronounce it Ay-da. Would never occur to me to pronounce it Adda.

[wispaxmas]

I know someone with an Ayda, but i admit I thought it was made up. I like Ada and definitely agree with you on the pronunciation of Aida. Verdi, anyone?

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Ada.

[thebiscuitindustry]

Ada, pronounced Ay-da.

Not Aida which I'd pronounce Ay-ee-da.

[NadiaWadia]

Ada is pronounced Ay-da. You'd have to be a bit thick to think it was 'adda'. You'd only say that if there was a double 'd'. It's not exactly an unknown name, like pps said.

And I agree about Aida being 'eye-ee-da', because of the opera.

This reminds me of the thread where the OP's friend was going to name her baby Ava, but had only seen it written down I presume, so she was calling her 'Avver'. Ava-Beau, I think it was, so she said it to rhyme with 'have-a-go'. Luckily under the OP's persuasion she eventually changed it to something completely different!

[KatieT12]

My favourite is Ayda - it obviously shows you how to pronounce it.

[Sofiria]

Ayda looks made up, and Aida has three syllables, so definitely Ada for the ay-da pronunciation.

[MrsCaecilius]

I know an Ida, and if you want it pronounced Ay-da that might be an option?

[VagueIdeas]

I have an Ada and no one has called her Adda, ever.

[IsEatBedThyme]

Ada pronounced ayda. I knew an Adah once.

[Floggingmolly]

Ada. You don't need to be "shown how to pronounce it" by spelling it phonetically . How hard can it be?

[BlueEnvelope]

Ada, which is lovely - the people you've spoken to are just being thick about the pronunciation, which is obvious and will be entirely evident to the majority of the world. No one says Adda, any more than they say Avva for Ava.

Aida is Eye-EE-da to me, and one of Verdi's odder operas.

[SpidersFromMars]

Ada - pronounced Ay-da, like Lovelace.

[Impatientwino]

Ahhh my lovely lovely gran was called Ada and I always said I would use it if I had a girl! I have two boys! It's pronounced Ayda but I would spell it Ada definitely