Anneliese or Amelia?

@caitlinrose , the receptionist at the GP's surgery sees all sorts of names, I doubt that she could give a flying fig how my name should be pronounced. Same does for dental surgery receptionist, pharmacist, hospital staff ...

But you know better than I do. Unless you have a tricky name yourself, you haven't a clue.

With the names you have given, I'd have to guess with Vijessna, (Vee-essna, Vigh-essmna - German, Dutch, something else?), Caoimhe (Keeva or Kweeva), Nicodemus (I know one - Nicko-deemus, but biblical name, so might be Nickodemmis or ...), Isobel (Isso-bell)

I'm an Aneliesa, Ann eh lee sa, yes people spell it wrong but I always get compliments

Anneliese - such a gorgeous Germanic name.

There are a gazillion Amelias, and I can't get past the 'mealy' sound in the middle.

I prefer Anneliese, but with that spelling I'd expect it to be pronounced the German way: Ann-uh-lee-suh

Then her colleagues are just plain rude.

I've worked with people from all kinds of countries with names ranging from Vijessna and Caoimhe to Nicodemus and Isobel and people managed to remember the name and spelling.

If you are surrounded by people who care and make an effort it won't matter. If you're not then even an Amelia can get Emilia, Amelie, Amy, Emily etc.

Anneliese, nicer and not ubiquitous.
I dont have a word of German and I can spell it.

I didn't deny your experience I simply said that kind and respectful people would bother to remember the spelling of a name that belonged to a person they care about or spend time with.

I've had a friend called Caoileann which just looked super confusing to me when I first met her but I made an effort to learn it.

My name is Caitlin which gets misspelt a lot but the people who care about me, who are kind, who consider other people's feelings learnt how to spell it.

I'm sorry that the people you spend time with aren't considerate enough to do this for you but they probably wouldn't bother with easier names then either. I have friends called easy names like Sofia who get Sophia all of the time but that has something to do with these people not trying and not with their name being difficult.

Amazing isn't it how people insist you only have to spell it out or correct the pronunciation once.

I have a tricky name and it gets mispronounced, the misspellings are incredible, and I get people correcting me. All the effing time.

@caitlinrose thanks for denying the lived experience of those who actually have the name.

Despite being in my late 40s there are people who have known me since birth who cannot spell or pronounce the name.

I soon got used at university to answering to any pronunciation and leaving people to spell it how they like.

However everyone comments it's a lovely name so there is that.

They won't, @caitlinrose. They really won't.
And many will struggle with how to say it.

I know an Annalise and she gets her name misspelt almost daily, and says her colleagues call her all sorts including Annalisa and Annalouise.

I know someone who misspells our surname despite having been a neighbour for about 50 years, and it's not an unusual name or spelling (think Deniss for Dennis - not the actual name, but something that style).

People will get used to the spelling.

A name posted in a thread is different from a name you meet someone with. I know people with more difficult names and more difficult spellings who don't have problems. Learning someone's name and spelling has a lot to do with kindness and respect and kind, respectful people will make an effort. The others don't really matter anyway.

This is just my opinion but I'd rather spell Anneliese out until the end of time than have a name as extremely popular as Amelia. She may not face spelling issues as much but she'll likely face "Amelia B.", "the short Amelia", "the brunette Amelia" etc. issues as she'll meet lots.

I also wouldn't care whether or not it's fashionable in Germany as it is pronounced differently here anyway and she'll live in the UK. Also, names come and go out of style and most names will ultimately have a comeback. Liliana is really out of style in Italy but still a stylish choice in many other countries.

I can personally guarantee you that 99% of Brits can't spell Annelise either.

@ItsAWoozyItsAWazzy , isn't that the German spelling and pronounced Annuh-Leezuh? I'd spell it Annalise in the UK

It's the standard spelling I know of.

Both are nice. Take the extra e out of Annelise though, it’s too difficult to spell.

Like PPs suggestion of Liesel, I went to Uni with a lovely one!

Anneliese is lovely. And I like Annie/Anna/Liese too as shortenings.

I've never liked Amelia - find it too long and a mouthful to say. I prefer the very similar Emilia as it can be shortened to Emmy. (But prefer Anneliese).

Amelia is prettier but both are too popular for my liking.

Annaliese, although I’m biased :)

Annaliese is beautiful name

The large number of wrong spellings on this thread shows that Anneliese is not a name that works in English. It's not a name that can be pronounced or spelled easily by English speakers. Btw in Germany it's a very unfashionable name!

Amelia is a much better option!

@caitlinrose , it's not common so people who meet her will remember her spelling**
No they won't. Look at the different ways it's been spelt on this thread when the spelling is in the title.

Anneliese is gorgeous. It's always on and off our list. What I dislike are the many spellings but then again it's not common so people who meet her will remember her spelling (it's not like you name her Ellah in a world full of Ellas).

Amelia is a bit boring. I also dislike the long meel-sound in it. And it might get confused with Emilia.

Definitely Anneliese.

Not keen on annaleise, not sure why, just sounds a bit fussy to me for some reason. Amelia is so lovely but so, so common now. I know countless little Amelias.

Anna or Amelie are very similar but lovely

I only know one Annalise she wasn’t a particularly nice person. Her mum always referred to her as my Annalise even though she was the only one in DD’s large school if not our small city.

Amelia Jane was a naughty girl in an Enid Blyton book I read when I was younger. Not a fan of that name either.

How about Amy, Amelie, Emily, Emilia, Aurellia (unsure if the spelling but the sweet Portuguese house keeper in the film Love Actually was called this) Anna or Abigail

*because