How do you pronounce this name?

[PollyPostItNote]

It's a girl's name, Laiba. Is it Lye-ba or Lay-ba? I really don't want to get the pronunciation wrong and there's not the opportunity for me to ask in advance.

How unfortunate..it's like calling a Kid Dick or Fanny..both innocent names

Seriously? Laiba is a perfectly normal name in Indian /Pakistani (and possibly other) cultures and is not uncommon in the UK. Get over yourself.

We really shouldn’t pick holes in a name because of its similarity to a totally different word.

It’s pretty insensitive.

As the owner of a hard to pronounce name, I’m happy of the first thing they say after hello, is asking about pronunciation. And I tend to say my name frequently to give them a hand.

Reminds me of the time, 40+ years ago, when I was a loans officer at a bank. A young woman came in to ask about a loan. "I have an unusual name," she said, "I'll spell it for you... K - U - H - N - T"

"And how is that pronounced?" I asked carefully.

"Koont"

Well no obviously not like that. Don't be silly now.

No it's not.

It's a perfectly OK name to call a baby if, like most people in the world, you're not from an English-speaking background.

Yes ask. It's polite

I had a student from Pakistan in my class a couple of years back with the same name, pronounced like Lie-bah (and lovely she was too).

Only if you want to. It's a perfectly normal name.

Lie-bah is a gorgeous name. Once we get used to seeing it, we’ll get over ourselves!

I think it’s lovely.

It's Lie bah normally.

We know one, a young girl from a Muslim family, and it's Lye-ba. Nice kid.

I know a Lahieba which is pronounced Lie-bah, which I'm assuming is just a different spelling of the name.

Thanks everyone, and for posting the pronunciation video. It does seem as though Arabic and speakers from India and Pakistan pronounce it Lye-ba and a few of you on here who know Laibas have suggested that as well. I think I'll go with that pronunciation and then ask politely whether I've said it correctly.