How would you pronounce Dahlia?

[Whatsinagirlsname]

I love this as a girl's name, but in pronunciation I prefer "Dar Lee uh" to "Day Lee uh". Do you think this would cause too much confusion?

It's cam-ee-liah.

What about Daria instead?

"dahlia is named after Swedish botanist Anders Dahl."

Yes! Dah-lee-a ... as the flower, day-lee-a is just wrong!

If Dah isn’t Dar then what is it?

Dar and dah only sound the same in some English, Welsh, Australian, S African? accents. In other Engish accents like some West country and Lancastrian accents as well as most Irish, Scottish and American accents, dar is pronounced dar (with the r sound) and dah is pronounced da (no r sound).

Some accents are rhotic and some are non rhotic.

cf. Lorna - in Scottish and welsh accents it sounds like LoRRna.
In other accents it sounds like Lawna

Day-lee-er

I was just going to say what Fatkins did & she's explained it well.

As an example, when I say 'dar' in my non-rhotic English accent it sounds like 'dah'.

When DH says 'dar' in his rhotic Irish accent it sounds like 'darrr'.

@Laniakea but that’s just not how the flower is pronounced (even a horticulturist has piped up to confirm it’s day. Not liking the logic of English language is one thing but you can’t just decide it’s wrong because it’s illogical.

How do you pronounce ‘Thought’ or ‘Two’ ?

February
Wednesday
Colonel
Asthma

All weird words

All you actually need is 10 seconds with a dictionary. Or Google.

Sorry, but if I met a Dahlia (pronounced Dah-lee-uh) then my first thought would be, "Poor kid, her parents named her Dahlia but didn't know how to pronounce it."

Like the flower-daylia .

Day-Lee-Ah

This thread is a fabulous example of why this name should not be given to a person.

Day-lee-a. Like the flower, and the brilliant Jeeves and Wooster.

I'd spell Dah-lee-a/Dal-ya as Dalia (a lovely Arabic name)

Yes! Dah-lee-a ... as the flower, day-lee-a is just wrong!

But it isn't wrong. The English pronunciation of the flower is day-lee-a, regardless of the name Dahl. You might argue that the pronunciation adopted in English should have been dah-lee-a. But it wasn't and isn't.

I think of the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short -so Dah-lee-a. Didn't actually know the flower wasn't pronounced that way in Britain. I've only ever heard it in reference to Ms Short.

I would say Dale Yee Ah
My Mum says Deal Ya

Day-lee-a

Dahl yah

Day-lia

Day-lia (as in Aunt Dahlia) - UK

Dah-lia - American

The Black Dahlia connection would be enough to put me off.

I'd pronounce a person's name Dar-lia and the flower Day-lia.

Dah lee uh always

I'm Scottish and wouldn't say either of your options. I would pronounce it Dah-Lee-Uh

If Dah isn’t Dar then what is it?

I think people think Dah as in ah, a sighing sound, and Dar like a pirate,
Argh me hearties.