Turkish name (girl) - does this "work"?

[littleElif]

hiya,

I have a little girl due and we plan to give her a Turkish name (I am Turkish).

I quite like Nilay.

Pronounciation is Nee-lie (lie as in lie down). just wondered how this names sounds to English mums? does it sound like a girl's name or does it sound rather male? Easy or difficult to pronounce? I just don't want a name that requires too much explanation all the time....

Thanks!

It sounds a nice name and would be easy to pronounce although you might find people say Nee-lay quite a lot.

Sounds nice & girly not masculine. Everyone will pronounce it Nee-lay from the spelling.

Can you alter the spelling to Nilai which would get around the Nee-lay problem? But you might get Nigh-lay/Nigh-lie.

I think it's a pretty name and very unusual but you probably will need to explain it a couple of times to people as it's not particularly 'logical' for English speakers.

I love Emine. (EM en aye) which I believe is Turkish. I also think you should just have the name you love and sod the spellers and mis pronouncers!

I have a fairly unusual name and happily answer to Sarah or Clara at work LOL

it sounds like a girls name i think not a boy
its pretty
you could just tell them its like the waybuloo name deelei but with an n (i dont kno how thats spelt but people with dc may be famiiar with the sound of that name?)
tbh with 'foreign' names even if you think that you picked an easy one, if people are not familiar with it then you do sometimes have 2 repeat it alot and help people out with how to say it. i thought my dc names are easy, but people dont find them that easy. so just be prepared for it but still go for the name you like

i love it spelt as Nilai.

It's beautiful, but I'm afraid I would have pn it Nee - lay.

Nilai I would pn as Nee - lie

Lovely name.

I know two little Turkish girls called Ezra and Thalia. I have no idea whether these are Turkish names or not, but I've always thought they're very pretty

thanx girls - sounds reassuring (though I will probably stick to Nilay and explain the pronounciation ;-)

thanx girls - sounds reassuring (though I will probably stick to Nilay and explain the pronounciation ;-)

I really like Emine. Melis is also a lovely Turkish name.

I think it would be fine - shame to change the spelling if it supposed to be Nilay in Turkish

Btw I love Elif but from your username I guess you already have one?

thanks - I like Elif as well (my mum did a good job here :-))

Merhaba Elif My SIL is also expecting a girl and looking for a Turkish name. They are considering Oya, Irem, Selin, Seren, Alara, Derin, Mey, Serra, and Ayla. If you search baby names topic for my posts, you will find other Turkish names I have suggested in the past. Tebrikler & kolay gelsin.

My dgd is Turkish and is called Serra her friends are Dilay,Selin,Dilara,Dilek.Her mum is Ozgul and her aunt is Hatice[Hattie-jay]which I like.I also know Senay[Shenn-eye] and Ozen.

I love it. Yes people will have trouble pronouncing but your little one will soon get used to correcting people and they'll only get it wrong once! (Said from experience!!!!!).

Love Elif too. If only I had an excuse to use!

That is my middle name! Yay.

I do like Alara and Ayla is our first choice if we have a little girl although I love Defne with a passion.

It's a lovely name but agree with the pn issues but people will learn, I really love Alara but it's possibly not pronounced the way I think!!

My DDs friend at school was Turkish and her name was Ruya but pronounced Ria.

See I wouldnt pronounce it Ria as it is pronounced exactly how it is written in Turkish.

I think the name sounds very pretty and definitely a girl's name. She and you will have to get used to spelling it out and telling people how to say it but they will get used to it quickly. Lovely name. x

Ruya is definitely NOT pronounced Ria.

That "u" is actually a "ü" with two dots ("umlaut"), and is pronounced as in "Für Elise", similar to the u in "urticaria". And accent is on the second syllable - i.e. RüYA rather than RUya.