Eila

[samsam1986]

Hi everyone! My first post on the site - but I've been reading lots of very useful info for a while now.

So, my girlfriend & I are expecting our first child this Summer, and if it's a girl, we're thinking about calling her Eila (pronounced I-La, just like Isla). The reason behind it is that I wanted to honour my late grandmother who was called Eileen, and whilst Eila isn't necessarily an official shortened version of Eileen, the pronunciation is similar, and it's also a little bit quirky, a bit different.

I just wanted to get some other peoples opinions on the name, as we can't really ask friends & family as we'd like it to be a surprise.

Eilidh?

Ooh pps suggestion of Eilyn is beautiful!!!!

Eilyn is beautiful and a variant of Eileen, so may work for you.

Thank you, I've not been on that site before, some lovely name there I agree. On Eila:-

"[ 2 syll. ei-la, eil-a ] The baby girl name Eila is pronounced as -AY-Laa- †. Eila is derived from Old French origins. Eila is a variant form of the English, Irish, and Gaelic name Eileen.

Eila is unusual as a baby girl name. It is ranked outside of the top 1000. In 2016, among the family of girl names directly linked to Eila, Eileen was the most frequently used. "

She’ll be known at school as “Isla with an E” or “Isla with the weird spelling” so won’t get the advantages of having an unusual name.

I'm probably one of the few people here who does know an Eila, but we're in a country where 'ei' is automatically pronounced as 'I' not 'ay' so it's never been an issue.

I would pronounce it Eila on reading it but would spell it Isla if I heard it. This will be a pain for your DD hroughout her life.

I would pronounce it I-la

🙄at own stupidity.

Why don't you use Eileen?

It sounds like you're determined to use it, which is absolutely fine. It is a lovely name (albeit with a spelling that will cause issues). But why ask for opinions if you don't really want opinions? (It's not just you - I often wonder this on the baby names thread).

I’m just discussing people’s points/opinions Harriet, whilst trying to explain my thinking a little better than I did originally. We have a number of names on a shortlist. Appreciate your input.

I think it is a beautiful name & I wouldnt worry about how people think it should be spelt. There are many many names that can be spelt more than one way, Owen, Eoin or Eoghan or Clare or Claire as mentioned up thread. Just because Eila is not common does not mean it is any different - family & friends will know how to spell it & others will just ask. My dd has a slightly unusual name and yes we occasionally have to spell it but it hasn’t been difficult or a burden. I have a common enough name that can be spelt 2/3 ways & I don’t get annoyed if I have to correct someone’s spelling.
It is a lovey name with special meaning for you & I think you should go for it.

I think it's nice but the thread title looks like Ella to me.

Leena or Alina as alternatives.

Isla is so common that your DD would constantly be correcting people. No it's like Isla.....

Many many brits will pronounce it Ay-la which I think is quite pretty, but pronouncing it like Isla would be constantly annoying for her.

I like it. I don’t think it’s a big deal that people may misspell it. It’s no different to Katy (no-with a Y) or Hanna (no-without the H) or Clare (No-without the I) I doubt many of them have lost sleep over it. I have to spell out my first name and surname every time I tell someone new, it’s never bothered me.

It looks pretty written down, but I would wonder if you hadn't known how to spell Isla...

I think it's nice. I'd pronounce it Ay-la on first glance. I think the Ay-la pronunciation distinguishes it from Isla and.makes it a very different name, so I'd go for that.

I think it's really pretty and I love names and am pretty good with pronunciation so I read it as 'Isla'

It's only because of Isle/island that we can pronounce Isla but it's still a weird spelling right? 'Is-la'

So surely people that know your daughter will get used to the spelling very fast! When you think about it, Eila is more phonetically correct.

I really wouldn't worry about the pronunciation/misspellings.. Names like that are always a good ice breaker!

" So you will have the issues of having a common name-there could be several in class/work, known by Eila surname, or a descriptor, or nickname."

This. Pretty name in itself, but it's awkward to spell and there are a dozen common names starting with E with an L in there OR starting with an "eye" sound at the moment (Elsie, Ella, Ellie, Isla etc.).

I would use Eileen as a middle name.

I went to Iceland last year and stayed with a family via air bnb. We were talking with her about my DN who is called Isla and she couldn't believe that that was her name and how it was spelt. Turns out in Icelandic Isla means vomit. Weird thing is she had this (really cute) bulldog who, about 20 mins later, Isla'd all over the floor.

Hmm.. just google translated it.. maybe she was having me on.. I always have been gullible. Any Icelandic people on here that can shed some light?

Not Icelandic, but it could be slang...?

Yeah that's what I was thinking too @ConfusedLivingDoll. Sorry OP for derailing. Eila is pretty and whilst telling everyone 'it's pronounced X' will be tedious at first soon everyone she knows will know how it's said so having to explain it will become less often. I have an unusual name which is pronounced how it's spelt but people still say it wrong and I have to correct them if I can be arsed.

I think it does mean to vomit in Icelandic - æla is the word Google Translate comes up with, which must sound the same-ish as Isla.