Oliva or Olivella

Neither - please consider the child and all the explanations until she is of age to change her name.

Olivia is OK although I'm not personally a fan. Olivella is awful. Both sound like margarine. One sounds like you merged olive and Ella to make up a name.

Yes sorry, I misread it as Olivia too, and echo the margarine comments.

If people reading a baby names thread misread Oliva as Olivia, then there’s not much hope… also how is it pronounced… like Oliver?

Agree with others Olivella sounds like a margarine.

If you call her oliva everyone will assume its a typo and she will spend her life with people saying "oh is it supposed to be olivia?"

Olivia is popular because it's beautiful and classical (Shakespearean as well so it's unlikely to date as badly as some trendy names do imo). Olive isnt my taste but I can see how it might have a kind of retro/vintage cool to some.

Oliva will be constantly confused with Oliver and Olivella sounds a bit comical imo. If Olivia is really too popular for you (and bear in mind in some areas it will be less popular than others) then there must be other less popular Latinate choices that would honour your Spanish heritage - Lucia, Claudia, Aurelia, Julia, Carmen, Marina, Alicia, Valeria, Helena/Elena, Ines, Octavia, Maria, Cecilia, Valentina?

I don't like either. She will spend her whole life correcting wrong spellings.

Olivia is a lovely classic name that has stood the test of time. Stick with that.

Not useful if you want a Spanish name, but if you just want something traditional but less usual, the name Olivera (Oh-lih-VEH-rah) has a long history in South Slavic countries and languages (Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovene). Also gives the option of Vera as a diminutive as well as the usual Oli/Liv(vie)/Vivi choices.

How about olive?

Just have Olivia. It's a lovely name. I taught for over 20 years and met 1. And outside of work, I know 1. My niece.
She gets Liv, Livvy, Livia and Olive !

Both names are municipalities in different Spanish regions - are you from either of them?

Neither work very well in the UK for the reasons already given.

I know your problem is that Olivia is really popular, but I think this will also be a problem with Oliva as it sounds so similar.

It’s like when people say oh Isabelle is so popular so we went for Isabel. It’s still practically the same name and will blend in with all the similar popular names.

Having said that, Olivia is a beautiful name. If you like that just go for that rather than Oliva/Olivella, which aren’t as nice and will be mistaken constantly for Olivia.

I agree that olivella sounds like olive oil spread. Oliva just looks like a misspelling of Oliver or Olivia.

Just go for Olive or Olivia. Anything else just sounds silly.

Olivella definitely sounds like a brand name for a "I can't believe it's not butter" product.
Oliva will be misread and changed to Olivia I think.

Livia, aviva? Similar ring?

Not olivella - which absolutely sounds like either an olive oil derivative or some sort of power tool. Correction, I’m thinking of Olivetti - the typewriter.

TO my English ears, neither, for all the reasons given above.

If Oliva is spoken, everyone will ask her why she is called Oliver.
If Oliva is written down, everyone will think i is a typo and insert an extra 'i'.
I'm just not keen on Olivella but can't put my finger on why.

This is working on a child growing up in UK / English speaking country, which of course you might not be.

Obviously there are loads of names that sound 'foreign' to English ears, and we all soon get used to them, but the issue here is the similarity to what you have already acknowledged are common English names in Olivia and Oliver, so I think that is what people will 'hear'.

Sorry OP, neither. Poor lass will end up being called Olivia, and having her named misspelled and mispronounced for most of her life. Olivella sounds like something you used on toast.I agree with a PP, Livia is the better option, if you were looking for something with the same root?

Of those two, Olivella is okay, though not that keen on it.

Another alternative is Olivine (used in my Mestizo family, though I'm very aware some names work fine in Spanish in some areas better than others).

Neither. Don’t name your wain something that will cause any or even one of the following to happen…..

1. ‘how do you spell that?’
2. ‘Is that a forrin name?”
3. ‘Pardon, what’s your name?’
4. It being spelled incorrectly on every letter/card etc for years.
5. ‘Oh I thought you said Olivia’

Livia is a better option

Are these even real names or did you make them up?

No and no. Olivia or choose something else, otherwise people will misspell or mishear.

They are both dreadful , maybe they work in Spain with the accent etc but over here they both sound fairly ugly and your child will spend her life correcting people .

Neither sorry (FWIW I don’t like Olive or Olivia either so may not be the best judge)

Oliva will be constantly assumed to be Olivia or Oliver either misread/misheard or people assume you wanted a “unique” spelling for the sake of it

As PP said Olivella sounds like some kind of olive oil product

😐 Erm neither

How about Octavia, Odette, or Orla

Olivella ? No No and thrice No