Nela

[theeuropean]

Thoughts on this name for a girl?

The name has cultural significance for us (Czech) but not entirely sure if it translates well to English/the UK?

Nee-la or Nell-a?

I was also going to ask how it is pronounced!

I think just Nell-a

I think pronounced Nell-a it's quite cute. Not my taste but prefer it to Nellie which I've heard a few times!

First time I've heard it and I really like it

The is a children's programme called Nella the Princess Knight at the moment that popular enough to have merchandise. It's the same pronunciation as the name you have choosen. It should be people with young children will be familiar with it but may end up spelling it with the double L.

I'm not a fan - neutral towards the name, but the single 'L' looks wrong to me in English. Nell, maybe?

Short for Antonela

Ok so a bit of a mixed bag.

Yes correct @OneFootintheRave ! Short for Antonella but we would choose Nela on the birth certificate.

@EssentialHummus We can't use Nell as good friends of ours have a DD with this name.

It's the only name DH really likes. I'm indifferent about it which is a shame because I really want to LOVE a name.

Ds has a friend called Nela, they are both 5. It's a cute name and it suits her. Parents are Czech.

Thanks @Goneback2school. DD1 has a Czech name so we are trying to keep the theme going.

I really like it actually!

I would assume that the shortening of Antonella would be Nella?

So as you are asking in terms of how it works in English - usually in British English (i.e not American) the 'l' is doubled up when a word is more than one syllable -so using the spelling 'Nela' wouldn't scan/work as well as 'Nella' - or be as easily understood in terms of how to pronounce it.

Lovely name though OP!

It's ok, but only ok. I'm not keen on anything Ell related (sounding like Ella etc) as it's overdone. But if you are not loving it I'd say to keep looking.

I like it but would instinctively pronounce it as “Neela”. I really like Antonella and that would give her a lot more choice when older as to shortenings. (She could be Annie, Anna, Ella, Nell, Ant or Toni!)

Neela is a fairly well-known Indian name. I thought it was an anglicised misspelling of this until I saw the posts about Czech heritage. I think a lot of people will probably pronounce it nee-lah.

I like it! Agree that if spelt with a double 'l'it would be more likely to be pronounced the way you intended it to be pronounced....

So cute

I love it, it’s very cute!

I like it.

I really like the pronunciation but the spelling is off to my English brain as explained by PP’s above.
I think it’s a really pretty name, it works across all ages.

I teach a Nella, I love the name! I think the extra "l" takes away any doubt over pronunciation.

Thanks for all your feedback! I'll talk to my parents about adding an extra L. Would feel like I'm going 'against' the name but also don't want DD potentially going through life with people mispronouncing her name.

As said previously there is a children's cartoon called nella the Princess Knight. I think it is a pretty name, and if it has links to your heritage that's good too.

I would spell it nella