Kala

[SelfIdentifiedTable]

Thinking of Kala Anadahlia for soon to arrive DD. I think it's pretty and unique, but a friend said it may be too much? What do you think?

Bingo! Lots of people who pretend not to understand non-rhotic accents. 🙄

There’s no R or Y. Why do people think it’s Karla or Kayla? It’s Kala

Every time! To most of England, Karla sounds the same as Kah-la, due to how they pronounce (or don't pronounce) the letter r. So when they spell it Karla, they probably mean Kah-la.

To people querying why others might think it's Kayla, how do you pronounce "halo" which also has no Y?

Too rhyme with Gala! Not Garla I'm confused. I pronounce them both the same!

Is it 'Kar-la' 'Kal-la' or 'Kay-la' ???

Is it Nah la?

I know a Kala and a Cala, pronounced Kayla in both cases. It’s fine to have a name that isn’t spelt phonetically, and also I think it’s good that her first name would be short, so it isn’t going to be a huge faff spelling it out to people. As a child, the Kala I know used to say to new people, “Hi I’m Kala, spelt k-a-l-a”. I on the other hand have a long first name that people don’t know how to spell. It takes ages to spell out and is a pain sometimes.

How would you be pronouncing Kala, OP?

Anadahlia is a bit long but if you like it just go for it. Middle names aren’t used too much anyway, usually!

Meant to add, if it’s Kahla (or also, though to a lesser extent, Karla) Anadahlia it’s a little too rhymey and long-sounding for my taste.

Oh, unless Anadahlia is pronounced “Anadaylia” in which case it’s the “Kayla” pronunciation which is more rhymey!

Anyway, having contributed little of use here, I’ll bow out wishing you all the best in the latter stages of your pregnancy and with your daughter, who I am sure will suit whichever name/pronunciation you choose for her

There’s no R or Y. Why do people think it’s Karla or Kayla?
Because the letter a makes more than 1 sound phonetically.

@explodingkitten I think that may because many other languages have more rigid rules about how certain patterns of letters are pronounced. For instance, I speak semi-fluent French, but even if I don't know what a word is, if I see it written down in front of me I can almost always pronounce it perfectly, because there are rules. English unfortunately doesn't have these, so we have to guess - which makes unusual names tricky.