To pronounce this name differently

[babynameconfusion]

DH and I like the name Felicia. But we would pronounce it 'Fuh-liss-ee-a'
rather than like Feleesha. What would you think if you saw a baby with this name? Would people always pronounce it wrong?

Could you change it to your spelling? It might look a bit odd but there would be no mistaking how it should be pronounced.

I would think it was pronounced Fell-ee-sha

Fe Lee see ah but only because it's my Nana's name.

It just depends if you will be annoyed/she will be annoyed when people say it differently

You would be landing your child with years and years of correcting people.

I think she'd get both pronunciations throughout her lifetime. How much does that matter to you? I have a surname that if people see it they mispronounce it and if people hear it they misspell it. As I like my name it doesn't bother me.

As long as you don't mind correcting people I think it's fine. My daughters called Evelyn and we pronounce it Ev-Lyn not Eve-Lyn and we just correct people if they say it the other way, I always figure if the people who matter know how it's pronounced it doesn't really matter

Oh, and I just am in the habit of saying "[my name] spelled, and then I emphasise the letters people usually get wrong.

It's Anais all over again.

In my accent, if I wasn't taking care to enunciate clearly, I can see how Felicia could be perceived as Fu-lee-sha.

Don't give your child a name you are going to deliberately mispronounce.

You'd be the ones pronouncing it wrong and complaining about it when people got it right.

Pick another name. Call your next cat Felicia.

Don't do it. People will use the correct pronounciation mispronounce her name for all her life.
Either use the common pronounciation or give her a different name.
I have a name that has one common pronounciation in my home country, but can be pronounced at least 4 ways in English. I have a favourite pronounciation and try to stear people that way.
It's annoying even though I have chosen this nonproblem by moving to London. I would find it even more annoying if my parents had chosen to land me with that problem.

As much as I hate creative spellings, maybe there is a case for spelling it Felissia if you definitely want that pronunciation. I think most people would pronounce it fel-ee-sha (I can only hear it in an aussie accent in my head, from priscilla, Queen of the desert!)

I think names like Felicia, Alicia and Marcia can legitimately be pronounced Felisha, Alisha, Marsha or Feli-see-a, Ali-see-a, Mar-see-a. I have a feeling it might be a difference between American and English pronunciation? Or maybe the 'sha' pronunciation is more modern? I think the actress Alicia Silverstone is an Ali-see-a and I have a great aunt Marcia who is Mar-see-a.

It's just going to put her on the back foot for the rest of her life. Constantly having to correct people she meets.

I know someone who practiced yelling a potential child's name across the park to see if she felt a bit daft. Perhaps you could make a hair appointment or go to a job interview and when they say 'take a seat Helen' you can say 'it's pronounced Hullen'.

I don't mind correcting people, but I don't want future DD to hate me for it! I just can't grasp the felleesha pronunciation.

I know one Felicia and she pronounces it the way you like. She only had to introduce herself once for us all to get it.

Erm, I thought it was only pronounced Fe-liss-ia anyway. I know someone who has that as a middle name and that is how she pronounces it.

I was once on a bus with a mother and son were talking ( as in the not called her 'mum'). The son was called Yves which the mother chose to pronounce I-veSS (as in St. Ives finished with a sharp s-sound at the end).
I felt sorry for the boy. I can just imagine the mother at parents evening.
Teacher: I was really pleased with Yves' progress...
Mother: I-veSS
Teacher: I'm sorry?
Mother: I-veSS. My son is called I-veSS.
Teacher: So sorry. Yes, Yves.... I mean I-veSS.. .

Don't do it.

What about felicity if you like the felissi sound?

I'd hate you for it.

You can't go using a name and choosing your own random pronunciation for it and not expect your child to be properly pissed off with you. There are millions of names, choose one you actually like the sound of.

Felicity is closer to the sound you want, is just as pretty, and eliminates the confusion?

NannyR I like Felicity but one of DH's friends daughters has that name so it's a no from DH

And yes. You're sitting there tossing names about between yourselves, and yes, you're naming your child, but at the end of the day, what is more or less an academic exercise for you is going to be something your daughter has to live with for the rest of her life (or until she turns eighteen and scrapes together the money for a name change). Don't do it.

I don't mind correcting people. But your child will have a lifetime of it, both correcting people and having them assume she's a little bit thick in not knowing how to pronounce her own name.
Pick a name you're happy to pronounce correctly, fgs!