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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Aelia or Clelia - baby girl

53 replies

Doggylove · 12/02/2023 21:32

Which one do you prefer for a baby girl?

And which do you think would work better in the UK?

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Enko · 13/02/2023 16:50

Doggylove · 13/02/2023 10:18

We are not originally from the Uk, hence the pronunciation issues.

Also, these names are not British, they are latin/Roman, meaning that originally they are pronounced differently.

People in the Uk try to anglicise them which is normal.

However, e.g. the grandma can’t say Clay-Lia and at nursery to be Clee-Lia. It will be confusing for the poor kid…

The name pronunciation is not issued. Children quickly learn names can be said differently. I do get your concern there. I was keen to have names pronounced the same in English and Danish. Our sons name however is said differently. He likes both ways

2crossedout1 · 13/02/2023 15:17

I really like Clelia. Not so keen on Aelia.

ChildrenOfTheQuorn · 13/02/2023 15:14

Neither trip off the tongue nicely.

Viviennemary · 13/02/2023 13:27

Don't like either of them and never heard of them before.

drpet49 · 13/02/2023 13:24

DillDanding · 12/02/2023 21:48

They are both awful and sound anatomical.

This

daretodenim · 13/02/2023 13:22

OP I've got kids with grandparents from different cultures (living in different countries, not in the U.K.) so I get why you're talking about the name being able to be pronounced by them. The thing is these two names are not going to work well in the U.K. If you're here permanently, so the U.K. is home for the child, then it's worth looking at names that they're not going to have to spend forever spelling out.

If you don't mind about that, or mispronunciation - which it seems you actually do, as you've posted here - then go ahead and use whichever name you feel like.

And if you're planning on moving back to your home country (meaning the U.K. is only a temporary home for the child), then it doesn't matter.

For us we looked for names that would work in both cultures and languages and went from there. But that's only one way of doing it. 😉

MiltonRoad · 13/02/2023 12:21

What about Cleonie or Celia?

BeginningToLookALotLike · 13/02/2023 12:17

Is there any reason why one of these names can't be a middle name instead? Then Granny etc will still be able to call her by that name.

PatriciaHolm · 13/02/2023 12:13

I think she'll end up nicknamed Ella either way!

MapleLeafMe · 13/02/2023 12:13

Both sound medical.

what about Eilidh and Cecilia?

CallieQ · 13/02/2023 12:11

Neither

Original poster
Doggylove · 13/02/2023 12:07

Unfortunately the way we would like the names to be spelt is the way they are pronounced in our home country. It may not be phonetically correct or aligned to British pronunciation but it is what it is.

And also we have to pick one the names and we can’t divert to Celia as there is a strong family reason that we have to pick one of the two and also Celia (despite beautiful) sounds foreign in our home country.

It’s messy I know!

OP posts:
ShillyShallySherbet · 13/02/2023 11:08

RandomCatGenerator · 12/02/2023 21:52

Why not combine them to get the very beautiful name, Celia?

Agree with this. Sorry OP not keen on either name and would need to be told how to pronounce/spell them and then would still struggle to remember them.

WetBandits · 13/02/2023 11:00

If you like that pronunciation though, how about Aurelia? It’s quite similar to how you want to pronounce Aelia but doesn’t have the clunky ‘ah-eh’ sound.

WetBandits · 13/02/2023 10:59

Doggylove · 13/02/2023 10:18

We are not originally from the Uk, hence the pronunciation issues.

Also, these names are not British, they are latin/Roman, meaning that originally they are pronounced differently.

People in the Uk try to anglicise them which is normal.

However, e.g. the grandma can’t say Clay-Lia and at nursery to be Clee-Lia. It will be confusing for the poor kid…

But even your intended pronunciation doesn’t follow Latin?

‘Ae’ would be ‘eye’ or ‘ee’, not ‘ah-eh’ 🤷🏼‍♀️

Original poster
Doggylove · 13/02/2023 10:18

We are not originally from the Uk, hence the pronunciation issues.

Also, these names are not British, they are latin/Roman, meaning that originally they are pronounced differently.

People in the Uk try to anglicise them which is normal.

However, e.g. the grandma can’t say Clay-Lia and at nursery to be Clee-Lia. It will be confusing for the poor kid…

OP posts:
BeginningToLookALotLike · 13/02/2023 10:08

I thought Aelia would be pronounced Ee-lee-ah as in Aesop?

WetBandits · 13/02/2023 10:04

Clelia is horrible.

Your pronunciation of Aelia doesn’t make any sense either; you want to pronounce it Ah-eh-lia? ‘Ae’ makes an ‘ay’ sound, not ‘ah-eh’ so she’ll have a lifetime of correcting people.

Original poster
Doggylove · 13/02/2023 09:15

Thanks all.

Aelia I would like it spelt like:
A(like apple)-Eh(like elephant)-lia(like the ending of Amelia).

Based on what you all said I think Clelia has more chances to be spelt as Clay-Lia than Aelia as I want it.

However, I also think that Aelia is prettier.

The medical comments made me smile, never thought of that!

OP posts:
Reindear · 13/02/2023 08:52

Aelia but I’d say it ay- Leah ay as in hay which is prob wrong. Do you line Aurelia? It’s more well known and less likely to get pronounced wrong

SoupDragon · 13/02/2023 07:57

Doggylove · 12/02/2023 21:39

Thanks both!

Clelia should be pronounced as Clay-lia

Aelia should be pronounced as A-eh-lia (although I know this is challenging to be pronounced this way in the Uk due to the “ae” …)

On this basis, any preference please?

Based on this, both are going to be mispronounced. Clelia less so maybe but it does look like Celia so people are likely to go with Clee-lia rather than Clay-lia.

I prefer Aelia but I would always want to pronounce it incorrectly as A lia. I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce it from what you typed but I'm not sure I like how I think it is said.

hryllilegur · 13/02/2023 07:56

Tbh, I think they’d just blend into the background of all the many, many popular frilly, many vowelled girls names ending in ‘ia’ or ‘a’ in the UK.

I’m not sure why anyone thinks Aelia or Clelia will sound at all remarkable next to all the Amelias and Olivias and Aurelian out there.

Shalumf · 13/02/2023 07:46

They sound like illnesses or weeds, sorry

Headstones250 · 13/02/2023 07:45

I don't think either work that well in English. Sorry.

I would pronounce them Ay Lee Uh and Clay Lee Uh if that helps, so in some ways Clelia might be better option in England - but it looks very ugly written down to me, like something medical. Aelia is prettier but you say I'm pronouncing wrong?

That said, it does depend a bit where you live - if London, where there are all sorts of names from different cultures, and no one will bat an eyelid at something hard to pronounce, then it might be ok.

GoldDuster · 13/02/2023 07:28

Think you'll get

Ee-lee-yer and Clee-lee-yer

As pronunciation, and they both sound a bit feminine hygiene but can appreciate they've got beautiful roots, maybe they don't translate quite as well as others

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