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Baby names

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

Original poster

Which of the 4 names?

41 replies

SundaySunallday · 26/04/2026 09:40

We narrowed down our name options to 4 for our DD1 due in May!

We are both Greeks living in the UK in a quite big city with airport etc. think of London but slightly smaller.

The names are:

  1. Lily
  2. Aliki
  3. Klelia
  4. Aelia

Concerns are: Lily is safe place but not very greek and too common, Aliki is probably ok, Klelia is probably ok but we want it Kleh rather than Klee. Aelia is a beautiful distinctive greek name derived from Helios the god of sun but I am unsure about mispronunciation issues in the UK and how well it will be perceived here.

Please help as I am lost in doing circles in my mind!

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NamingNoNames · 26/04/2026 12:30

out of the two I would choose Aelia if I lived in Greece but in the Uk I am not convinced.
Use it, or use the name you like best.
It will get mispronounced but that's par for the course with most names unless you use Lily or Sophia. Smile Even they get misspelt.

BertieBotts · 26/04/2026 12:28

Aliki will constantly be corrected to or misread as Alkali I bet, even just by spellcheckers, even though it's not a name. And I can't tell if your Ah-Li-Ki is the way I'd say Ah-lee-kee (which does sound like leaky) or a short i as in "pig" which sounds a bit like "Licky"

I really like Aelia and I don't think it sounds like alien or is hard to spell/pronounce. It's sufficiently different to other names that people will ask the spelling anyway, even if they mistake it for Aaliyah or similar - that name in particular has about 3000 different spellings so people will ask rather than guess.

I think you can also get away with having a less commonly known name when it's from an obvious cultural heritage. Not that it's not OK to choose a less commonly known name, but people will think of it as being cultural rather than pretentious.

Needtosoundoffandbreathe · 26/04/2026 12:19

The majority of people, e.g. kids at school, etc will learn your child's name from hearing it and will soon learn to pronounce it correctly. There will always be someone who will struggle to pronounce it correctly when written down. The polite ones will ask how it should be pronounced.

Go with what you like and that has meaning for you. I have a name which you'll have heard and I have the standard spelling. Increasingly people seem to be unable to spell it correctly. I often shorten it which causes others fewer problems and I don't mind.

MovedlikeHarlowinMonteCarlo · 26/04/2026 12:12

Alicia and Aelia are both lovely names.

Original poster
SundaySunallday · 26/04/2026 12:10

Aliki doesn’t sound like “a leaky” . It’s more like Ah-Li-ki.

Aelia on the other hand I am worried if it will get teased like alien? or not?

out of the two I would choose Aelia if I lived in Greece but in the Uk I am not convinced.

please help!

OP posts:
MudRitual · 26/04/2026 11:22

I like Klelia, and you can train people to pronounce it correctly. My name is from my home country, but I spent many years in the UK.

Reader19 · 26/04/2026 11:19

I thought of Klelia and Aelia as Roman names so would have assumed them to be pronounced 'clee-lia' and 'eye-lia'. I think you'd have to be prepared to help people with pronunciation.

ToadRage · 26/04/2026 11:02

I like Aliki and Aelia but no clue if i'm pronouncing then correctly. As for Greek names I have always liked Phaedra for a girl and Nikos for a boy.

Yiayoula · 26/04/2026 10:39

@SundaySunallday - no worries, completely understand about the “family reasons “ around choices of names !
Shame to ditch your first choice, but both Aelia and Aliki are beautiful.
Wishing you all the very best xx

Original poster
SundaySunallday · 26/04/2026 10:03

Aelia is pronounced ah-eh-Lia because this is how phonetics work in Greece. I am sure Brits can’t do that as it’s doesn’t follow any British phonetic rule. I am convinced that it will be ay-Lia in the Uk or subject to constant pronounciation issues.

it’s not the end of the world but I don’t know if I should take the name off the list because of that despite I love it and it would be very elegant and nice in a greek setting.

Aliki is much more straightforward pronounciation-wise.

sorry, we are not considering any other random names because of family reasons. There are many beautiful greek names out there but out of the menu I am afraid!

OP posts:
Yiayoula · 26/04/2026 09:56

Agree that people will learn from how you say the name Aelia, also like Aliki.
Have you considered Anastasia, pronounced in the Greek way ? One of my favourites.

AnotherName2025 · 26/04/2026 09:56

How should Aelia be pronounced?

people can learn to say a name correctly if the sounds exist in their language, but it's very difficult , if not impossible. when they don't.

does Aliki sound like 'a leaky'. I can see that being a problem in the U.K. if it does.

Notellinganyone · 26/04/2026 09:52

Fellow Greek here. Of your choices I like Aliki the most. More of a fan of classical names: Io, Daphne, Athena or Hero.

DiscoBeat · 26/04/2026 09:50

user1492757084 · 26/04/2026 09:47

Aelia. People will listen and learn how to say it to your liking.

I also like Aliki.

Do you like Katherine?

Or Katerina as Greek?

DiscoBeat · 26/04/2026 09:49

I would definitely choose a Greek name! Of the list I would choose in order of preference:
Aliki
Aelia
Klelia
Lily

user1492757084 · 26/04/2026 09:47

Aelia. People will listen and learn how to say it to your liking.

I also like Aliki.

Do you like Katherine?

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