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Original poster

How would you pronounce Dahlia?

182 replies

Whatsinagirlsname · 23/06/2019 16:43

I love this as a girl's name, but in pronunciation I prefer "Dar Lee uh" to "Day Lee uh". Do you think this would cause too much confusion?

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DramaAlpaca · 23/06/2019 19:24

I was just going to say what Fatkins did & she's explained it well.

As an example, when I say 'dar' in my non-rhotic English accent it sounds like 'dah'.

When DH says 'dar' in his rhotic Irish accent it sounds like 'darrr'.

llangennith · 23/06/2019 19:23

Day-lee-er

MikeUniformMike · 23/06/2019 19:19

cf. Lorna - in Scottish and welsh accents it sounds like LoRRna.
In other accents it sounds like Lawna

Fatkins · 23/06/2019 19:16

If Dah isn’t Dar then what is it?

Dar and dah only sound the same in some English, Welsh, Australian, S African? accents. In other Engish accents like some West country and Lancastrian accents as well as most Irish, Scottish and American accents, dar is pronounced dar (with the r sound) and dah is pronounced da (no r sound).

Some accents are rhotic and some are non rhotic.

Laniakea · 23/06/2019 19:11

"dahlia is named after Swedish botanist Anders Dahl."

Yes! Dah-lee-a ... as the flower, day-lee-a is just wrong!

Geneticsbunny · 23/06/2019 19:11

What about Daria instead?

DramaAlpaca · 23/06/2019 19:09

It's cam-ee-liah.

FrancisCrawford · 23/06/2019 19:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FeminismandWomensFights · 23/06/2019 19:06

Confused it’s not Ca-mel-ia?
Don’t tell me it’s Cameeeelier?
Carmel-ia?

teyem · 23/06/2019 18:49

Day-Lee-Ya

BackforGood · 23/06/2019 18:35

I'd pronounce it day-lee-uh, because it's the name of a flower, and that is the English pronunciation of it.

Maryqueenofscots83 · 23/06/2019 18:27

Horticulturalist here. The proper pronunciation of this flower is:

Day-lee-a

Greenandcabbagelooking · 23/06/2019 18:21

Day-lee-a

ChihuahuaMummy1 · 23/06/2019 18:18

Dar lee ah

wizzler · 23/06/2019 18:17

Day Lee a

pp12 · 23/06/2019 18:14

Dee Ly a

NotNowNinja · 23/06/2019 18:12

I thought Black Dahlia too not a good association

MikeUniformMike · 23/06/2019 18:08

Camellia isn't pronounced Cam Ellia either.

GinoPlaysTheTango · 23/06/2019 17:58

And yes, the flower is named after someone called Dahl, but that doesn't mean that the word Dahlia is pronounced Dah-lee-uh in English. Sorry...

Bagadverts · 23/06/2019 17:58

Day-lee-a - the way I pronounce the flower.

AverageMummy · 23/06/2019 17:57

@Sakura7 @Letthemysterybe

Do you know the flower Dahlia (pronounced Day-lee-ah)?

I’m very curious whether people know the flower but would pronounce it differently for a name - or they just don’t know the flower so are guessing ?

littlepeaegg · 23/06/2019 17:57

Dar-lee-ar

But would remind me of the black dahlia too much!! As soon as I saw the name the horrid image came into my mind

MikeUniformMike · 23/06/2019 17:55

I'm not sure why the flower is pronounced Daylia. I guess it was names after someone called Dahl. Fuchsia is pronounced Fewsha even though Fuchs is prononced Foox.

FloatingthroughSpace · 23/06/2019 17:53

We know a little Dahlia. She says Darley-a

I would previously have said Daily-a.

GinoPlaysTheTango · 23/06/2019 17:52

Yes, Day-lee-uh is literally the pronunciation in the dictionary for the word Dahlia. So I'm guessing maybe a lot of people on this thread don't know the flower.

But then again, a lot of people do. So if you spell your child's name Dahlia then it's inevitable that there are going to be lots of people who pronounce it Day-lee-uh automatically.

Dalia might be a better option. Personally I wouldn't name your kid an actual English word with an 'official' pronunciation and then spend your life fighting against that pronunciation. It's just going to be frustrating.