Layla- What do you think?

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

I have a feeling this next baby is goingto be a girl. I already have an Ollie and I think the names go nicely together.

If I happen to have another boy though, what do you think of Alexander? We would call him Xander for short. Is that a bit poncy?

CoteDAzur - you obviously have very strong opinions on this subject - what about the names you selected for your child(ren). I am guessing you went for names from within your culture/ethnic origin?

We did. Having said that, our background is so diverse (DC have 3 nationalities) that we had a huge pool of names to choose from.

I really don't understand CoteDAzur's point at all. Aren't most British/English names derivative of some culture other than English. What about Joshua, Jacob, Rachel, Sarah, etc etc. Would you call your child those if they weren't Jewish?

I think Layla is lovely. I went to school with one who was blond and pale-skinned and we never once thought "hang on a second, you aren't Arabic or dark of complexion." We just took the name as it is - a pretty name.

Perfer Xander to Alexander,

Like Layla but the first thing I Hear is the song, REMINDS ME OF THE FILM 'goodfellas' as well! Pretty name though.

Sorry - didn't notice the shouty capitals before posting.

I have to say that 'Ollie and Layla' is really hard to say/write - and in my opinion don't go together at all.

There are so many names which have been adopted into Anglo culture now which have origins from all round the world.

It is ludicrous to suggest that we all just stick to one teeny, tiny pool of names and never deviate.

In any case, there was an Irish Saint Leila who I suspect would have been very far from dark-skinned, so is the OP allowed to use it now?

CoteDAzur - my eldest has a name that means 'dark eyes', but alas, his eyes are blue!
My youngest has a name that means 'Deer' or 'forest', but we live in the urban sprawl.

Should I rename them?

I agree - loads of names that have been adopted into our culture have their origins elsewhere - I'm a Rachel but not Jewish for a start!

Layla is lovely.

BTW My DD1 is Sarah Layla, which we chose because we needed a name that fit in arabic, english & french.

Cote, I actually don't think that many people pay attention to name meanings, if the name has a nice meaning, it's more of a happy coincidence really, not the detrmining factor. My daughter's name is Biblical and means 'house of figs'....silly meaning, but we really loved the name.

I like the name Layla, it's pretty. Not too sure about it with Oliver though, too many Ls for me. Lauren? Lisa?

I prefer it spelled Leila, but think it's a lovely name either way, and actually more of a grown up than a baby name. I have no problem with using names from other cultures. Love Xander as well!

Also, it's funny that we seem to get really hung up on the meaning of certain names, but not others.

I've seen a few threads about the name Layla / Laila / Leila where people get a bee in their bonnet about its meaning, but so many other name threads where a name's meaning isn't even given the time of day.

My name is Isobel, which basically means 'devoted / pledged to God' or 'God is my vow'.

Do we really think that all the little Isobels being named now are destined for the convent and a life of nunhood? Hardly.

chaya - If you went to Saudi Arabia and saw a little Arab boy named "Christopher" or even "Jane", you would go . Some Saudis there would doubtless "just take the name as it is, a pretty name".

Same thing here.

I like Layla and have a friend who is named Layla but my mother once said that she thought the name was tarty and why, she couldn't put her finger on it, but I still like it. Go for it...cool name!

my dds friend has a baby girl layla-jo i love it

layla is commonly used now by non muslim and non arabic people, i dont think it would come across weird - that name is integrated into society now. if you picked a rare arabic name then yes, people may find it confusing but not layla
i think its fine with ollie.
layla is a v nice name

Things I say on these baby name threads, I have never said to anyone on RL. Even to the strangest name /spelling, I have managed to nod politely and smile. However, if any of my friends name their baby girl "Layla-Jo" (not that they would) I wouldn't be able to stop myself.

I am albanian and I've read the book "a thousand splendid suns" by Khaled Hossein. In this book there is a girl named Laila, and the author who is Arab explains the meaning of Laila as "dark beauty". Me personaly I'm wishing with all my heart that when I'll give birth to my child she'd be a girl so I can name her Laila, couse me and my love have met several times late a night occasionally and at one of those accidentally "dates" we got together, that's why somehow i'm related to the meaning of Laila! I hope my Laila will be as mysterious as the night, that's what will make her beautiful ;)
Go for it! :)

I prefer the Leila spelling, I wanted to call both of my DDs Leila (not at the same time, obviously) but DH is guitar nut and couldn't get past the Clapton connection.

She will get sung and air-guitared at all her life though, there were 2 songs with my name in around when I was about 7-8 and it made my life a misery at the time, I still cringe when I (thankfully rarely) hear them now.

Absolutely love Layla - but very biased - my beautiful spirited 6yr old DGD is called Layla. It is such a lovely lyrical name to say and I have no problem with the Eric Clapton connection - I got her the double CD - original and unplugged versions and it is put away in its cellophane wrap for when she's older.
Was gutted though when a soap character came on the scene called Layla - I thought here we go - on every housing estate in a few years it will be 'Layla - your tea's ready' !
Same thing happened with 'Shannon' many years ago - used to be quite unusual and I was going to call my DD that as her grandparents are from Carrick on Shannon in Eire - then came Shannon on Home and Away ( I think )! so I passed.

PS - I thought it actually meant dark beauty - my DGD is very dark hair/eyes so suits her.

I'm with CoteDAzur on this, I want my childs name to reflect their heritage.

But do you not think that many names that are known as common British or English names have a Greek, Hebrew, Latin origin - Paul, John etc.