Aurelia/ Amalia/ Amelia?

[chiarazuri]

We have still not decided on the perfect name and it's proving to be quite a challenge to decide!
We want a name that is

1. easy to pronounce
2. fits in with an arab background
3. Classic, timeless and sophisticated
4. Sounds pretty and strong I would really love to hear honest opinions! Surname is pretty straightforward and easy to pronounce.

Shortlist:
Aurelia (I am aware of the jellyfish/ areola connection, is this an issue? Also would it seem out of place as a name for an arab baby?)

Amalia (I know this may be confused with Amelia but what do you think of the sound of this name? Does it come across well?)

Amelia (slightly put off by the medical limb abnormality association, but still like it as it works well in both cultures)

Eliana
Aliana (an arabic name, I love the arabic meaning but I don't want this to be perceived as a "made up" name ?)

Sara - lovely but boring to my ears
Any other suggestions?

Amalia sounds lovely.

Sara or Aurelia. Or one of these...? www.momjunction.com/baby-names/arabic/girl/#gref

Amelia is nice but there are so many of them right now. Amalia will create constant spelling/pronunciation issues.

How about Alana? I would perceive this as being less 'made up' than Aliana or Eliana.

Alana has never really grown on me. I love the sound of Amalia and Aurelia but the pronunciation issues are slightly off putting.. I don't know if it's still worth going for one of these, regardless of that? What would you think of the person if you saw the name Aurelia or Amalia on paper?

Amelia would be great but very wary of finalising this one as it is very popular.

I know an Aurelia, she's lovely and everyone always compliments her name.

I love Aurelia and Eliana, they are both lovely names. Sara for me too is boring, and Amelia isn’t my favourite, although people will know how to pronounce that one! I am not a fan of Amalia, it seems like a messed up version of Amelia. I do know an Amalia tho and no one seems to have trouble saying her name. Good luck! x

Oh- just thought of a name you might like: Aurora. It’s very similar to Aurelia but more heard of and I think easier to pronounce. Xx

I like Aurelia. How about Emilia if you're not sure on Amelia?

Anaya
Aisha
Zara
Melissa
Aliyah
Saira
Nadia
Eliana
Safiya
Leila
Maya
Yasmin
Samira

Love Amalia! Long 'a' in the middle is so classy, prefer it to the 'ee' sounds in the other too

Thank you for all the suggestions!! I have just found out there is a princess in the Netherlands called Amalia, so it must be quite an established name over there but doesn't seem to be as well known here, which is a shame because I would hate for people to think that it's made up.. Aurelia is a classic well known name in the UK so I may just go for that one even though I prefer Amalia

Amalia is the "original" name - not made up at all (it's Germanic, from a word-element meaning 'work']. Amelia is a variant form:
www.behindthename.com/name/amalia
www.behindthename.com/name/amelia

Emilia - as suggested by previous poster - is not made up, either, though it has a different origin (ancient Roman family name).

Flora, thanks for sharing! That is very reassuring!
Still haven't decided... please keep the honest opinions coming !!

Amalia or Aliana. I really don't like the sound of Amelia, it just doesn't flow for me. Also it's a bit over used over here. Amalia is probably my favourite of those.

Sabrina is very elegant and is both an Anglo-welsh name and an Arabic name. It has a lovely Arab meaning but I can't remember what if is just now!

I love Amalia I don’t think it sounds made up at all - Amelia is a lovely classic but very popular (depends if you mind).
Never been a fan of Aurelia as I get confused by the pronounciation (probably just me)
Eliana is sweet - names you might like too:

Elinor / Eleanor / Eleanora

Emilia
Emmeline
Isadora

Amalia doesn’t look made up at all - isn’t it the original? It looks pretty & easy to pronounce

I like Amalia or Aliana

Amalia or Aliana here too.

Amalia seems more 'arabic' - both are well known and easy to say and spell. Neither are made up.

Thank you for all your opinions, it's really helpful! How would you pronounce Amalia?
I love Aliana but I'm worried that it will seem made up to people who don't know the arabic meaning... I want to refrain from using names that might be judged as being unsophisticated
I also like the sound of Emilia from the suggestions above!

Will the baby's surname help avoid your worry of it looking made up, OP? Amalia Smith runs a small risk of that but Amalia with an Arabic surname should avoid any confusion.

Not that it matters, it's a lovely name.

Heyha it is a subtly arabic sounding surname but it is not very obvious, so I guess Amalia could work with it.
It's between Amalia and Aurelia for us, love both names but really struggling to pick one! Choosing a middle name with Aurelia will be harder than choosing one for Amalia I think

I like Aurelia and Aurelie but they sound atrocious in most British accents and also a lot like ‘oral’ which won’t go down well with teenagers...

I like Amelia, just a little common nowadays.

Amalia is nice.

I would pronounce Amalia as Ah-mah-lee-ah.
I would first think it was a typo for Amelia but would only need to be corrected once as it's a lovely sounding name

Aurelia is nice and fine for an Arab baby.

I have another suggestion which is a friend's name:- Amela, she's Bosnian so I assume it's a Bosnian name. A bit different from Amelia.

Why would care if Aliana sounds made up? My sister's name is Liana - I think it's Greek Cypriot but no one or not many people have queried whether it's made up AFAIK - we don't share same mum though.