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Original poster

Nela

34 replies

theeuropean · 29/09/2018 15:38

Thoughts on this name for a girl?

The name has cultural significance for us (Czech) but not entirely sure if it translates well to English/the UK?

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PeonyTruffle · 30/09/2018 17:03

Her heart is bright, she's Nella the princess knight
(If you know, you know)

Sorry OP, I just think of the annoying kids tv character

ektomarie · 30/09/2018 16:49

Ha, I seriously was thinking the OP was taking the piss as I had never heard that name among Czech speaking friends. It’s lovely that even in a set calendar of 365 girls’ names you can still find an unusual name you never hear. Grin

theeruopean · 30/09/2018 15:15

@ektomarie 2nd February apparently!

ektomarie · 30/09/2018 14:05

I had no idea Nela had a nameday! I wouldn’t change the spelling to the anglicised “Nella”. Like nella the princess knight Hmm

theeruopean · 30/09/2018 14:00

On reflection, if we did go for the name, I think we'll leave the spelling as is and just correct people if they mispronounce. DD1 has a Czech name which different people interpret the pronunciation differently but generally just need to be corrected once then everything is fine.

Thanks all for the feedback and děkuji @JosephineHass Smile

ladycarlotta · 30/09/2018 13:30

People will learn to pronounce it properly when they know her - eg now I know a few 'Paula's who pronounce their name 'Paola', I would comfortably pronounce it either way even though it was unusual for me the first time I can across it. But if you are concerned about someone getting it right the first time they read it off a register or something, then Nella is a safer bet.

I think it's lovely, by the way. It should work over quite a few northern/western European countries, which is good.

Laac · 30/09/2018 13:30

If it has cultural significance for you I think that's lovely, I like it.

Itsear · 30/09/2018 13:13

It is nice but I assumed it was pronounced Nee-la at first. Agree that spelling it Nella will solve that problem

JosephineHass · 30/09/2018 08:29

Nelinka je krásné a neobvyklé jméno.;)

Yellowsunredroses · 30/09/2018 08:22

I would spell it nella

Onceicaughtafish · 30/09/2018 08:19

As said previously there is a children's cartoon called nella the Princess Knight. I think it is a pretty name, and if it has links to your heritage that's good too.

theeruopean · 30/09/2018 08:14

Thanks for all your feedback! I'll talk to my parents about adding an extra L. Would feel like I'm going 'against' the name but also don't want DD potentially going through life with people mispronouncing her name.

AnduinsGirl · 29/09/2018 23:08

I teach a Nella, I love the name! I think the extra "l" takes away any doubt over pronunciation.

Faster · 29/09/2018 23:07

I really like the pronunciation but the spelling is off to my English brain as explained by PP’s above.
I think it’s a really pretty name, it works across all ages.

DramaAlpaca · 29/09/2018 23:04

I like it.

Rhodes2015again · 29/09/2018 22:03

I love it, it’s very cute!

Ameliarose16 · 29/09/2018 21:53

So cute

ViserionTheDragon · 29/09/2018 21:26

I like it! Agree that if spelt with a double 'l'it would be more likely to be pronounced the way you intended it to be pronounced....

eurochick · 29/09/2018 21:18

Neela is a fairly well-known Indian name. I thought it was an anglicised misspelling of this until I saw the posts about Czech heritage. I think a lot of people will probably pronounce it nee-lah.

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 29/09/2018 21:04

I like it but would instinctively pronounce it as “Neela”. I really like Antonella and that would give her a lot more choice when older as to shortenings. (She could be Annie, Anna, Ella, Nell, Ant or Toni!)

RavenWings · 29/09/2018 21:02

It's ok, but only ok. I'm not keen on anything Ell related (sounding like Ella etc) as it's overdone. But if you are not loving it I'd say to keep looking.

chipsandgin · 29/09/2018 21:00

I would assume that the shortening of Antonella would be Nella?

So as you are asking in terms of how it works in English - usually in British English (i.e not American) the 'l' is doubled up when a word is more than one syllable -so using the spelling 'Nela' wouldn't scan/work as well as 'Nella' - or be as easily understood in terms of how to pronounce it.

Lovely name though OP!

SlowlyShrinking · 29/09/2018 20:52

I really like it actually!

Original poster
theeuropean · 29/09/2018 20:35

Thanks @Goneback2school. DD1 has a Czech name so we are trying to keep the theme going.

OP posts:
Goneback2school · 29/09/2018 19:26

Ds has a friend called Nela, they are both 5. It's a cute name and it suits her. Parents are Czech.

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