Maia or Maya

My theory is maybe the wrong/new pronunciation as May-a came about because of the popularity of 'May' in the UK at the moment? (popular specially as a middle name, along with Rose and Grace of course!)

Maybe some people assumed it was just a fancy lengthening of 'May', not realising the name 'Maya' rhyming with 'fire' was already around?

Maya, Maia and Maja are all pretty and genuine spellings of the name. All of these are pronounced My-ah and have been around for centuries in other countries. The May-ah pronunciation seems to have been made up recently by people in this country who didn't realise the correct pronunciation and used the name anyway, a bit like pronouncing 'Lucy' as Lucky, for example.

Mya is also a modern invention as far as I know and it looks visually off to me. I am not Welsh but pretty sure that the Welsh name which is similar would be Mair. Any Welsh speakers?

I would pronounce Maya or Maia, as My-er. I don't think you need to bother with Mya. It looks somehow incomplete to me. Mia is a completely different name that I would pronounce as Mee-ah.

Maya is more usually pronounced to rhyme with 'fire' as in American author Maya Angelou, the Central/South American civilisation, the Indian name, etc . Also a popular American name.

The 'May-a' thing seems to be quite recent and exclusively British. I don't know if it began as a mistake, maybe?

My name is Maia pronounced May-a.

For me, Maya is pronounced May-a and Maia is pronounced My-a.

I would assume Maya was pronounced My-ah. Lovely name and multi-cultural, as others have said.

I Stand corrected on Mya Nando

Not Mya!!

I have a Maya (pronounced My-ah) and as other posters have said, I am forever correcting spelling and pronunciation.

Maya is a correct spelling not a silly made up spelling - it is spelt differently around the world eg Maja, Maya Angelou etc

I also like the Maia spelling but always thought that was pronounced May-a

Mya

When I was pregnant with our first child, my husband was really keen on the name Maia for a girl, and thought it should be pronounced "Mayer" but when we talked to other people they all said it should be pronounced "Mya" which left us very confused. To be honest, I thought that if no one was sure about the name's pronounciation then we should probably avoid using it and go with second choice (Florence). As it happens, my bump turned into DS1 so we never had to make a decision about a girl's name. Personally, I think I would have regretted using the name. depends if you are happy for ehr to ahve to keep explaining the pronounciation as she grows up....

Maia. I pronouce it as My-a. Maya I'd be tempted to pronounce May-a

Both are lovely and I would automatically pronounce both as My-a.
I do know know one Maya pronounced May-a though.
Go with whichever spelling you prefer.

Love the spelling Maia but if I saw this spelling I would pn it May - ah.

Likewise, I would also pn Maya as May - ah.

I would pn Mya as My - ah.

And obviously Mia as Mee - ah.

We have a Maia - but be prepared for noone to be able to spell it and lots of cards addressed to Miai.......

I like the Maia way of spelling it. Lovely name.

Mya is a genuine spelling of the name- I think it is the Welsh variation though. As previously stated the name is lovely x

Mya is a genuine spelling of the name- I think it is the Welsh variation though. As previously stated the name is lovely x

I've always thought Maya and Maia were pronounced the same way. This new fangled May-a pronunciation is most strange.

Mia is Mee-ah.

OhBuggerandArse - it's not as simple as saying one spelling is the correct one. I've found that many cultures have the name Maya, and it has many spellings and many meanings. For example, we chose as because it's a popular Israeli name (though oddly not of Hebrew origin) and DH is Israeli.

I chose to spell it Maya because of the mesoamerican civilisation. I figured people would recognise the word and pronunciation. But you'd be amazed at the number of blank faces I get when I say "Maya, you know, like the ancient south Aamerican people?"

Sighs.....

I would pronounce

Maia as My-a
Maya as May-a
and
Mia as Mee-a

Of the above I definitely prefer Maia.

I think people will read Maya or Maia as May-a.

If you want to be sure people will read it as Myer, then you will have to spell it MYA or MYER.

As AnnieLob said her daughter gets called Meeya, Mayer or Myer despite it being spelt Maya. I don't mind the name so much but would be put off by having to constantly correct people..

Sorry

Maia is the correct spelling of the name. Maya ia the mesoamerican civilisation. Any of those makey-uppy respellings are just naff. I don't think you need to worry about the opinions of people who are easily confused by spellings.

Love Maia, bit agree, she will forever have to tell people how to pronounce it. What's wrong with Mia if that's how you want to say it, then people won't get it wrong?

Anyway I think both Maya and Maia are lovely names...