For anyone who considered Aurelia

[Prettylittlelady]

So I’m currently stressing over finding a girls name. Aurelia is a name I have always thought was beautiful - I prefer the Aur Ray lia pronunciation. My worry is that it’ll be misspelled and mispronounced.
As a teacher I’ve never encountered a little Aurelia and that appeals to me. But I don’t know if I’m brave enough.

My question is, if you considered Aurelia and went for it - are you pleased? If you didn’t go for it, what were your other names and what did you settle on instead?

I love the name, I would pronounce it Aur ree lia, so others may do too. I really liked the name but DH didn't so it didn't make it on the list, but I think it's very classy.

I like it OP, I had two DS’ so I didn’t need a girls name. Does make me think of the film Love Actually, only time I have ever heard the name.

I'm not quite the person you want to answer but I'll respond anyway - I'm considering Aurelia for this baby. Love the same pronunciation as you. I'm a secondary teacher and have never heard it either. It is definitely up at the top of my list. Can't think of any reasons why not!!! Go for it!

A friend has an Aurelia. Everyone pronounces it exactly as you've written. I had no idea that there were alternative pronunciations!

As a Reception teacher, I know of two Aurelias, both born in the last 12 months. Hadn’t come across it except in books before. Beautiful.

It’s quite a common name in my area. Aleays pronounced Orr-ee-lia here. Nickname of the one I know is Rellie.

@GatoFofo can I ask what area that is and how many you know? x

I know two babies named Aurelia. Both are aur-ee-lee-a.

I have an Aurelia and absolutely no regrets!
We accepted that it may be pronounced wrong, and don’t stress over it. A lot of people mistake it for Amelia if you’re talking over the phone. We pronounce it Aur-ee-lia not Au-rel-ia and have a very outing nickname I won’t share. The only downside is you can never find anything off the shelf with her name on it, although once got a bracelet of a market in France. Go for it, everyone loves it.

I'd instinctively pronounce it Aur-ee-lia unless there was an accent on the 'e'. It's pretty, though a little bit on the frilly side for me, it's certainly not an 'out there' name.

Thank you for all of these replies - I’m starting to lean towards using it.
I guess once the preferred way of saying it has been explained then people should just remember? I don’t want her to have a lifetime of ‘no that’s not how you say it’

I would definitely pronounce it as rhyming with Amelia. Au-ree-lia.

DD's oldest friend (mid teens) is called this, pronounced Au-ray-leah, nickname Au (as in ouch) but we're abroad so you are fairly unlikely to encounter the au (ou) pronunciation I'd guess. When something has several legitimate pronunciations you can't really label other pronunciations "wrong" though, especially if they're "the" pronunciation in another country/ language/ accent.

I didn't realise that my own DD's name had two pronunciations until she started preschool, but I can hardly claim people who use the other one are "pronouncing it wrong" because it turns out there are two widely used pronunciations.

I think she will have a lifetime of saying "No, that's not how you say it." With all the new people she meets. Each class, each job, each application, phone call to utilities, regsiter at drs etc. It is one of "those" names.

But yes once people locally/in her class know then they wont keep asking.

What is your honest opinion on the name “Victoria Jovielle”? ( we live in Canada so a french middle name would work)
& can be shortened to Victoria Jo. I want to include the name Jo for sentimental reasons & am open to ideas. I also like the idea of combining a pretty name with Jo or Joy in any combination (as in Jo Ella or Mary Jo etc.).
Would love some more name ideas. Any other suggestions you might care to share would be appreciated. Thanks.

Love Aurelia
It's not common at all but it's mainstream enough now that I can't see pronunciation being an issue in 10 years time

@Prettylittlelady id just be prepared for different pronunciations, there are several accepted ones from oww-reelia to orellia and everything in between, in my neck of the woods I would default to orellia but I’d only need corrected once if that wasn’t someone’s intended pronunciation for their particular child! When you introduce her people will adopt the pronunciation you use, you might just find people using other pronunciations when reading the name with no guidance I.e doctors waiting room. It’s not necessarily a massive problem to educate people But I’d just acknowledge that it will definitely happen at some point down the line, as long as you’re happy with that, go for it xx

The Aurelia I know has the ray- pronunciation.

I’ve seen on MN that there are different ways to pronounce but I don’t think it’s the end of the world. They’ve not that that different and I don’t think would bother me that much. Not like other names that some people pronounce completely differently (Louis for example or Lucia).

Thank you for all the responses - lots to think about but really starting to lean towards using this name. Like some of you have said, the pronunciation will be a slight issue but people remember the first time and I think I can live with it because I love the name. I didn’t think I would be brave enough but to me it’s just so beautiful.
My other options were Sienna and Grace. Her middle name will be Evelyn or perhaps just Eve if it flows better with Aurelia.

My 10 year old DD has a good friend Aurelia who has the nickname Rory. Sweet name.

Where I come from (EU), it is well known but not common girls name pronounced Au-rel -ia just like the love interest of Colin Firth in Love Actually.
Love it!