Baby name spelling (help)

[lemonnmeringuepie]

We are expecting in October, and have both a boys and girls name picked.

The girls name we love is Joely (pronounciation Jo-lee) feel free to say if you don't like it, but we do, and it has stuck!

The only thing we're struggling on is the spelling.

I LOVE Jolie - but reminds me of Angelina (who I can't say I'm a big fan of) - I think it's the most gorgeous spelling but from unbiased point of views, is it a bit stupid to use this spelling if we don't want the Angelina connotation, or does it not matter?

Or Joely - which I don't think looks as nice.

Opinions on spelling more than welcome, thank you!

Why not spell it Jo-Lee?

I would spell it Jolie. As a first name I wouldn't make a very strong connection to Angelina Jolie's surname.

Joely, pronounced Jo-e-ly.

Joely

Joley. (as in Jolene)

I am Jo and I hate it when my name is spelt with an ‘e’ - Joe

(so this could be why a previous poster thinks Joely looks masculine)

I pronounce them differently.

Joel-ee

Szho-lee

Jolie. Joely looks made up

No, Jolie is the made-up name. Using a well known sleb's surname as a first name is definitely going to have people judging you.

Jolie is the french word for pretty, and it was Miss Voight's middle name before she became Ms Jolie, so it's not really her surname.
It looks a bit hmmm as a first name.
The name Joely has been around longer.

Being called ‘Pretty’ is a bit embarrassing, so I wouldn’t use Jolie.
Also, with that spelling, I would assume it was pronounced Jolly or the french pronunciation, until I was corrected.

Joely is a cool name, I’d go for that

Joely is the feminine form of the biblical name Joel.

I considered Jolie for DD2 but scraped it in the end because I didn't know if people would pronounce it correctly. It never even occurred to me that people would think of Angelina Jolie!

Joely doesn't look right at all, is it made up?

I'd personally stick with Jolie

@Enidblyton1 has a good point. I would also assume Jolly/French pronunciation. All in all whichever way you pronounce it, it does seem tricky and doesn't roll off the tongue easily!

Jolie won't be pronounced as you want. You'll get Zhohlee (as in the French word for pretty) or perhaps Joh-LEE.
Joely is fine, as in Joely Richardson, the actress.

Jolie Laid

@Bibesia no, it's not the made up one actually. It's a French name and is actually Angelina Jolie's middle name, she just uses it as a sort of 'stage' name professionally.

I used to work with a girl with this name,she spelt hers Jollie.

But Jollie would be pronounced Jolly not Joely

Thanks for all of the input!

Hadn't realised Jolie was a French word and have no French connections so not quite sure about that spelling, although it does look nice!

Joely probably fits that bit better, but have plenty of time to keep thinking about it.

Thanks again!

mikeuniformmike she pronounces it jo-lee.

fearfultrill, that just makes it a name made up by Angeline Jolie's parents, or whoever they copied. It's not a name generally given to French baby girls, for instance.

lemon I don’t want to be rude but it’s always worth googling any name you are thinking of giving your child in case there is a meaning, connection, connotation or product that you don’t like.

I’m a bit surprised you got as far as writing an MN post about Jolie and didn’t know it was French tbh.

DD (14) has a friend called Jolie. I've literally never known anyone to pronounce it any way other than correctly (Jo-Lee). Nobody pronounces it in a fakey French accent. I personally like the spelling Joely too.

@mynameisnotmichaelcaine I was wondering about the sudden French accents to be honest! Thank you x

@Amazing I've never been to France, don't speak French, have no French friends and so wouldn't necessarily make the connection