Nickname or alternative name to Aurelie

[sunrise55]

Hello,

Actually my demand doesn't concern a baby name, but I admit I have the feeling to be like a desperate mum looking for a compromise... I moved in uk recently and I feel very uncomfortable with my name Aurelie. Since the beggining, when I say Aurelie (pronounced as Aw-rel-ee or O-rel-ee) I have the feeling to say "oh really". So when I introduce myself I have always the feeling it is understood as "Hi my name is oh really nice to meet you". Then I discovered also the trouble of "Orally" pronunciation

Anyway, at each time I feel people here in uk does not understand it and I hate this barrier... I would like to make them and me comfortable...

So I thought of course about Aurelia, but the "oh really" and "areola" trouble is still here. Plus my friends (not british, in uk since 10 years) never heard about it

I am now lost between changing my name for another one close in term of pronunciation or a nickname.

• if Aurelie is pronounced for you as Aw-ree-lee-uh, I thought about Arielle, which seems similar in the pronounciation and more easier to understand( actually I already tried it and it seemed fine for people in front of me), but to read? And my friends told me it was totally different from my name (but my friends absolutely don't understand how I feel
• if nickname... it is strange, but I have more difficulties to appropriate it to me. I am used to be called by a name in 3 syllabs starting with A and ending with something light. I have for the moment: Ellie, Laurie, Aurie/Aury, Rory, Ray,Raylee, Riley

Do you have other ideas? What's your feeling about my issue? Many thanks if you can help or just give me your feeling!

Going by a nickname sounds like the best solution. Maybe Aura?

Thanks for your suggestion. Aura makes me think to an aura am I wrong? Actually, I have a question, because I am not used to end my name ended by an -ie for an -a. Is it common in english?

I have seen this afternoon for example on this forum Rey and it seems to me more natural than Ray, because my name doesn't have -ra somewhere. I mean, will people think "oh ok, Rey is the nickname of Aurelie, that's logic" or would they think it is totally different? I am not used to that because in French nicknames work totally differently (usually we use existing syllabs of the name).

I like the nickname relly but might be in the minority!

First of all I have to say that your name is beautiful and it would be a real shame to change it! But I totally understand how you feel because I'm English living abroad and I often have to repeat my name- or say it with a foreign accent! But there is no way I would rename myself. Do you think that people who are really interested in you would get used to your name? After all it's not that difficult to pronounce. Of your suggestions I like Laurie or Laura but I prefer your real name.

Actually my name is fine in french, but in english I automatically think about "oh really" or when others say in a discussion"oh really?"or "already". I am still thinking "no, my name sounds just like that...". Everybody says I am parano, perhaps will you convince me to keep it

Lellie?

This very morning I was talking to an Englishwoman who proudly told me her new granddaughter's name is Aurelia. I think you should use that, or Aurelie. It's hard enough living in a new country without having to answer to a new name, and yours is so beautiful.

Please keep your real name! I used to be self conscious about my name but because it's foreign and unique in the country I live in it makes me feel special! Lots of people have said it's a lovely name. You also have a beautiful name which you should be proud of. It's part of your identity! I'm sure people will get used to it.

Orla? Easy enough to say but kind of contains your name

Keep your beautiful name! Don't feel you have to let it go! Why not just say 'Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Aurelie!' rather than the other way around, saves it sounding like 'really' then following into the greeting :-)

Ottilie ?

Keep your name. Its beautiful.

Use a nickname and give it 5 years. Aurelia / Aurelie will be much more common, and people will start being a lot more used to it. Trust me!

Aurelie is a beautiful name. I have a friend named Aurelie (who is also French and, seemingly like you, speaks excellent English with a French accent), I have never made the connections that you are making on hearing her say her name. Perhaps your accents are from different regions, but I doubt that many English speakers would consistently make the same link as you are making. Aurelie is a name that flows delightfully, it would be a shame to lose it.

That being said, if you are set on making a change, Coralie is a name that is very similar in sound to yours (although slightly harsher imo), so may be easy for your ear to recognise as being used to mean you. Or Lee / Leigh would be a natural nn as the suffix sound of your original name.

Rae?

I love your name, it's stunning! I had no problem pronouncing it when i saw it written down, but i understand your concern about saying it outloud (although personally i wouldn't worry about it, friends and people you know well will come to know it properly)

Although if you insist you could try...
au-rell-ie (longer pronounciation of the 'rell' in the middle)
Aurella (same pronounciation, but ending in 'a' rather than 'ie' might make it sound less like 'oh really')
Aurelia (Becoming mroe of a popular name in the UK so would probably have less issues, but it's only adding the 'a' on the end)
Ellie and Rey both work well as a nickname too :)

Wow thanks for all your answers, I am very very glad to read all your feelings about this name

Regarding to your answers, I think thus to try again with my name for the moment and eventually transform into Aurelia or one of the nicknames you suggested me if I see it is really difficult for others. And will definitely start introducting myself with "Hi nice to meet you" FIRST

But how do you pronounce it exactely in english? Perhaps my pronunciation is not correct and that's why nobody understand. I saw lots of posts about Aurelia and Aurelie pronunciations here, but it is still uncertain to me.

CourtJester suggested: au-rell-ie (longer pronounciation of the 'rell' in the middle). I'm not sure to well understand, do you have an example of another word with the same pronunciation? Do you mean insisting on the RELL in the middle (=strong LL) or more to make longer the -e as: rEEEEl ? As AureLLie or AurEEEElie ?

Au= as AUstralia? or more as AUdrey?
Rell= -e as RELevelent ? (so, not a -ee like in feel or really)
ie= a long -ee as in feel? or a short as in verY ?

I think also perhaps my -l pronunciation was too plane (in French everything is super plane haha), I am improving that.

Sorry for these questions... and thanks in advance

In my opinion just pronounce it the french way. I really don't think you need to over analyse it! What do your friends think?

The vowels aren't really a problem, but I have a French daughter in law living in England with an r in her name. She has modified the French r into an English one, as she found that any confusion was caused by the r.

You're right, I am too focusing about that... I will train my english pronunciation, the issue is very probably there. Thanks a lot!

ILoveGreekCats, my friends don't absolutely understand my problem and I think this is probably because my pronunciation (and my stress (I'm looking for a job)).

I speak French badly and agree that changing the French r to an English r should solve your problem, and perhaps shortening the first sound to make it more natural. Aurélie is a beautiful name, and you should not feel you have to change it, but it will make life easier if you announce it with a pronunciation that English speakers can copy.
My suggestion (feel free to ignore) would be to pronounce it or-RAY-lee, changing the 'au' to 'or' as in door/more and stressing the middle syllable to avoid sounding like 'orally'. It would then rhyme with 'or Hayley'. Or persevere with your normal pronunciation. Some Brits will have come across it, I'm sure!

I don't speak French but maybe as Footless said it's the pronunciation of the 'r' that is causing confusion. The language in the country where I live also has a lot of emphasis on the 'r'. When I say my name I have to overemphasise the 'r' sound. Don't give up and whatever you do please don't change your name! Good luck in finding a job! !

If you're not keen on Ray/Rae as a nn, how about Lee,? It's cool and unfussy and easy to remember, everything you need in a nn.

Aurelie is a lovely name.

Aurelia was picked as our girls name (but we are having a boy!) nickname was going to be raley - prounounced ray lee

I love the nickname Rory however I'm with the 'keep your name' crowd.

The people who matter will learn to say it. It's a beautiful name.