Emilia. Help.

[Tea1Sugar]

This is my dd2's name. She's nearly 8 months. I adore the name; the sound, the spelling, the fact it's not too popular. But it bloody drives me nuts when people write down Amelia. I know it's only a subtle difference in sound but I'm always correcting people. She gets Emmy for short. Is she too going to have a lifetime of correcting people or be annoyed with us for choosing it? Wwyd, change it to Amelia before she turns 1 or leave it?

But even if people pronounce Emilia as ee-melia and Amelia as uh-melia the difference is pretty tiny and probably wouldn't even be noticeable to other people.

Seeing as Amelia is so very popular it's inevitable that 90% of people will assume she's an A rather than an E. I don't know how annoying she might find this in future.

I'd leave it. I have an 11 year old Amelia and we have had cards/invitations etc where it's been spelt with an 'E' so it works both ways!

The difference between em and am is the same as hem and ham and they don't sound the same! Emilia is lovely.

Clearly hem and ham don't sound the same but the first syllable of Emilia/Amelia is often said very quickly with less emphasis than on the other three syllables hence why the two names sound practically identical.

I've only heard Emilia pronounced Eh-mil-yah and Amelia Ah-me-lee-ah.

If you heard Emilia/Amelia called out across a park I doubt anyone would be able to say with absolute certainty which name they'd heard.

But even if people pronounce Emilia as ee-melia and Amelia as uh-melia the difference is pretty tiny

But why would you pronounce Amelia as Uh-melia?

I'd pronounce Emilia with the emphasis on the E to sound like E as in Egg. and Amelia with the emphasis on the A as in Apple. Anything else just sounds lazy.

Don't change it! It's a lovely name, you chose it and soon she will be called Emmy by everyone.

Yes, she will have to spell her name for people who don't know her, but how annoying is that really if she has a beautiful name?

It's a bit like arguing people can't hear the difference between Sophie and Sophia.

Because that's how all the Amelias I've met pronounce their name. I must rush and tell them how lazy they are.

Completely different to Sophie v Sophia. That's a two syllable name v a three syllable name.

But as I explained upthread, people where I live pronounce Emilia as a three syllable name and Amelia as a four sysl able name.

If you say that happens where you live it must, I just can't see how.

Emilia is a gorgeous name op please don't change the name that you've chosen just to accommodate other people. Once she starts school or nursery the teachers and other children will get to know her name and how to spell it, I also really wouldn't worry about your dd having to correct people all the time, it happens to a lot of people and honestly I don't think it's a big deal. Only change her name if you really want to

As she gets older and starts mixing with people ftom a wider range of ages - ie beyond the last 2 or 3 years of Amelia being crazy popular - then she will become more distinctive.

"Leave it. Don't compromise if you love it. My DD has an unusual name and people always get it wrong, I don't mind, I did have a wobble for a bit when she was small, but I love the name so much I don't really mind spelling it and clearing up any pronunciation issues "

How does your dd feel about it?

I love Emilia, spelt just so. Please don't change it. It's a beautiful, classy name which knocks the socks off the spelling Amelia IMO

Thanks all. A mixed bag here but seems majority think we should leave it. If anything, if we change it to Amelia it makes no sense to keep calling her Emmy and she's been our little Emmy Bear since day 1. Sniff! I'm keeping it Emilia. And as someone mentioned, Emilia Fox and Emilia Clarks are great namesakes!

*Clarke

^wonderinf if mitchy and I have the same surname?^

Yes but Fox and Clarke werent born when Amelia was number one name.

In the five weeks dd2 was mistakenly misheard more times than not I decided I didn't want HER to keep correcting people.

If its a less common unusual name, let's say Anousha vs Anoushka thwn I think its different as people do look out for differences. People are so used to saying Amelia that the subtle difference is hard to make

Put it this way - Emmy as a nn is gorgeous. Ammy sounds like Hammy. Stick with Emilia.