Everyone is getting my baby's name wrong

I also read it as ‘Emilia’, but I absolutely love ‘Emila’.

I would just keep correcting people. They’ll get it eventually.

Spoke to a Polish work colleague who confirmed Emila is a very old name from where the west coast of Poland meets Belarus and Ukraine. It is not often used now and you are more likely to find Emilia than Emila.

You give your child an unusual name that the majority of people have never heard of, and you're then surprised that people can't pronounce it? Are you also surprised when day turns to night?

Every name must have been made up at some point, of course, and names will become more or less popular over time. I don’t condemn a name because it is new, and less common, which is what I feel @Digdongdoo is doing - hence my comments to her.

I did not intend to offend her - if I have, then I apologise - and hopefully we can agree to disagree.

What’s ‘made up’? My name is Emilia and I was called Emila for most of my childhood, but I don’t know a single person whose actual name was Emila - the full name has always been Emilia. It might be an actual name in other countries, but I’ve seen someone saying it’s a full name in Polish - it’s not.

Yes, I did, @Digdongdoo - she said it is a known shortening, which makes it a known name in my book. It’s like Elinor and Ellie - Ellie is a known shortening of Elinor, but can also be used as a name in its own right.

@trainboundfornowhere said ”I looked into it and it has come back as a feminine form of Emil used in Poland and a Kashubian (region in Poland) form of Emilia.” - sounds logical to me.

Just correct people OP, people pronounce my son's non English family name wrong sometimes.

It did bother me (I didn't expect anyone to pronounce it correctly intuitively but when I've kept deliberately saying it correctly and they're still saying it wrong, it is irritating) but it's absolutely beautiful - it helped me going to baby groups and seeing how many new people were able to pronounce it correctly no problem!

Did you even read what that poster said?

No, no , no, @Lelumpolelum - it is utterly made up. @Digdongdoo says so, so it must be thus. Bless her heart.

Emilia is a common Polish name, and Emila is a shortened version of that (or a nickname - like Ellie for Eleanor). It’s common for girls named Emilia to be called Emila when they’re young. There’s also another, less common nickname Emilka, but essentially they’re all shortened versions of the same name - Emilia.

Gosh yes. 3 results, one of them a stage name. Proof if ever there was.

How about wikipedia, @Digdongdoo?

It’s pretty and better than being a boring Olivia for example which has been done a million times over

Well there's your problem. Your vanity and vulnerability to the social contagion of the 'unique names' trend ( you sheep!) made you pick a 'unique' name that no-one knows how to pronounce. You don't really get to now moan that people can't pronounce it - sorry!

You don't seem to grasp how these name websites work. Flowery AI generated descriptions do not make it a "real" name.

Ancestry also says it is a real name, with Latin origins, @Digdongdoo - maybe you will consider them a reliable source.

It's deed poll.

It is unusual but it’s a gorgeous name and if people can’t be bothered to say it properly once corrected that’s their laziness.
It’s not a made up look how crazy I am name.

Teach your Dd to be proud of her beautiful name.

I’m sure she probably will end up being an Emmy or Mila at school unfortunately!

"The Bump" merely counts how many American babies have a particular name. It doesn't make it a real name. A small number of Americans made it up before OP did. There's no evidence that it is a polish name either from what I can tell, search engines don't seem to think it is a real name anywhere in the world.

I totally agree with this! There are so many different nationalities, variations of names, diminutives of names and vast pronunciations of names I don’t know how people get by unless they only know classic English names. I’m not a teacher but my line of work requires interaction with hundreds of different people and it’s really not hard to remember how people pronounce their names!

According to The Bump it is a real name, with its origins in Latin - the female form of Emil, @Digdongdoo - and a poster early in the thread said it is a Polish name.

Consistent correction needed I think for people who mispronounce, it’s laziness unfortunately - I read your post (properly) the first time and thought “oh em-ee-la, that’s a nice name”. I assume the reason you called her this is because it’s a lovely name and a bit different, not outlandish just unique! So I vote to absolutely not change it to make it easier for other people. If your daughter gets fed up repeating it when she’s older she can select a nickname, please don’t change it because other people are lazy readers, just a quick polite correction when it’s mispronounced should do the trick

Even "Google" assumes it's a typo...

Is it though?

What a vicious and nasty comment, @Hedgehogbrown.

It isn’t a made-up name, @Mousey11 - it’s Polish - the female version of the name Emil.