Hanna or Lea

[Annaeve]

Which name do you like more? (They're equivalents of Hannah and Leah, different spelling due to my origin). I'm lost cause I really like Lea right now but for years I had thought I'd call my daughter Hanna so it feels like I'm betraying the name haha.

They're both lovely, but Hanna is my favourite.

Ignore the rude spelling comments. English spellings aren't compulsory in the UK. Lots of people here come from different cultures and reflect this in their children's names. I know a Rúben and a Wiktoria for example.

Also, there are four nations in the UK, not just England. There are lots of people with Scottish, Welsh and Irish names. The Cornish have some fabulous names too! Come to Wales and you'll find people called Tomos, Alys, Harri, Lili, Efa and Nansi rather than Thomas, Alice, Harry, Lily, Eva and Nancy.

My own name is Welsh (I've always lived in England). Trust me, Hanna and Lea are much more straightforward than my name, and most of the names on my list too It'll be fine, reflect your heritage OP.

Hanna(h).

I know a Hanna, in England too! She has previously explained the spelling as 'Hannah without the H', only to be presented with a Face of Confusion as the person she was explaining to went 'You mean Annah?'

My sister was called Leah for the first 4 days of her life, so I quite like that one too!

Neither

Lea can also be spelled Lia without sounding like Lee

I think most pronunciations only have to be explained once anyway. And if the spellings are from your culture, most people will understand. For example I have a friend Stefanie. It just looks and feels normal to me, because of her Polish heritage, even though the English spelling would be Stephanie. That’s just her name and how it’s spelled. Stephanie looks weird.
Go with what you love. Once it’s her name, it will be her name. Easy to overthink these things.

Why choose ? Call her Leanna or Léandra 😉

**Lea can also be spelled Lia without sounding like Lea

@Flitterwings
Yes! I discovered it a few days ago and now it's also on my list :D

@Malysh

Oh I do like Leandra

I'm guessing Lea is pronounced as Léa? Same as actress Léa Seydoux. I really do love that name however you can't really use the accent in an English speaking country to help with pronunciation, people will always spell it with an H at the end and they'll hardly pronounce it right on the first try. It is a beautiful name though. Simple but classy.

Hanna is lovely and there would be no confusion about pronunciation. No extra H required.
Leah doesn’t appeal as much but if you love it.........Also with Lea I am reminded of Dairylea and Meadowlea dairy products .... Lea is the old English word for meadow or grassy area.
Alternative spelling would be Lia

Now Leandra is gorgeous and not very common.

Dairylea hadn't thought about it!

Hanna is better.
Lea is more likely to be mispronounced.

I've been obsessing about the mispronounciation/misspelling issue but actually, I had to spell my maiden name for years and it wasnt a big deal. How often do you have to give your name to people and make sure its spelt correctly, or have strangers read your name out loud. Not that often.

Every time I give my surname I have to spell it out (well, unless I give it to Poles who don't need it spelling but always want to know why I am using the masculine rather than feminine form of it) and I have to spell the dc's first names out carefully every time, but it doesn't blight my life at all- or theirs. They are proud of their names and would rather put up with the slight inconvenience of correcting people's spelling than not have names that reflect their heritage.