Is Leila too popular?

[Rebelwithallthecause]

Husbands top choice

I quite like Nina. Leila is lovely but it needs to be pronounced Lee-la and would hate for people to mispronounce it Lay-la

Dd is 7 in her class she has a Layla, Lola, Leela and Lyla. All very similar sounding names.

I wouldn’t use it. Too much room for error. Nobody knows how to pronounce it or spell it, don’t inflict this on your dd.
I assume your dh has an ordinary, easy to say easy to spell name.

I used to know a Leila who pronounced it Leela.

Some people did try and pronounce it as Layla though.

I think your DH may find it frustrating if Leila is constantly being pronounced Layla and he needs to consider how much that will bother him.

I have crossed Alicia (a liss ee a) off my list as 'Aleesha' will drive me potty and I also know an Alicia who hated it being pronounced Aleesha.

I'd pronounce it Layla too. And spell it this way if I heard the name.

My niece is Leila pronounced Leela.
She's the only one I know.
I know more Laila's

I agree about Alicia too. I really like Al- i-see-ah but don’t like Al-ee-sha. Too much room to error.

Laila is another option and is pronounced Lie-la, which I think is nicer than Leila (Lay-la)

I know two Laila's, both pronounced Lay-la!

I don’t think it’s too popular (I only know one teenage Leila), but - like the majority - would instinctively pronounce it Lay-la.

Maybe call her Leela? That’s a name in itself.

Nina is a great name also.

All names get mispronounced, misheard and misspelt.
OP I love the name it has a real lilting quality.

I have a used to be unusual name that is four letters it's really simple to spell I still get people adding in a y or an n or mishearing and calling me different. My son is 3 letters and still has people either mishearing or adding letters

If you want it pronounced lee-la, spell it Leela. Leila is far too ambiguous.

I would choose Nina, there are lots of Leila, Lyla, Lola type names at the moment.

RHOBHfan yes my Laila is pronounced Layla. I don't understand anyone saying it any other way, but that's because we've always said it one way, obviously!

@Notgoingonholiday

I would point out that you will be condemning your child to a lifetime of not being able to find personalised key rings and door name plates in gift shops...go for it if you can stand the moaning....16 years on

Not a problem these days! It’s extremely easy and cheap to get things personalised

I’m a Leila (Lee-lah) and would just like to say it’s the best name ever!
I’m 40 so older than most :)
I love the way I can write my name and the pen doesn’t need to leave the paper, (can’t recall the official name for this) but it gives me great satisfaction

Yes people mispronounce, but it really doesn’t bother me.

If the person is growing up in the UK, then Lee-la is the correct pronunciation for Leila, although many countries overseas use lay-la.

Oh it’s also the name of a flower and colour in French and in Japanese means happy! (So I’ve been told!)

Love Leila - I would pronounce it Lee-lah - and I have a niece Nina.

Other options are Sheila, Keira, Delilah, Meena, Eliza, Eloisa or Lisa if you like ee-a sounding names.

Not popular where I live. I do know an Amelia and a Laila (Lay la).

DoTheMaccaroni yeah of course you can get things personalised easily, that's not the point....kids love finding their name on things when they're out somewhere.

I don't know any Leila's, or any other variation of the name.

If it were spelled like this Leilah I would say Lee-la, but for Leila I would say Lay-la, but I don't know why.

Leila is pronounced Lay-la but Lila can be pronounced both Lee-la or Lyla.
You could just spell it Leela?

Personally I love Nina and Leila when pronounce Lay-la.

@Rebelwithallthecause Hello! I've named changed for this as my name is Leila, pronounced Lee-la. I've had 34 years of being called Layla and it makes me skin crawl! I've gone so far as changing my spelling to Leela at work now to make sure it's pronounced the correct way. Everyone says they love my name, but I'm unsure if that's because they're just saying that to make up for that they've just mispronounced it. I want to change it by deed poll to Leela but I don't want to upset my parents. My husband thinks I'm ridiculous to do this but he's not had a lifetime of being called the wrong name...I feel like I want to tell you to go for it, as I do like the look of leila to Leela but it just throws too many ppl. I blame Princess Leia, confusing everyone 😂

Hi @LuluBellaBlue fellow leila! I knew about the French for purple but didn't know about Japanese for happy, that's nice! We're a rare breed to have this name in the 34+ category. I thought I was the only one 😂 I'm used to the mispronunciation of course and just laugh and say it's lee-la but I wish I didn't have to. And the pen thing is lovely isn't it! I curl my L at the start for my signature and I just love it!

Someone I know in Australia has a Leila pn Leela but every time they come to the UK everyone pronounces it Layla.
I think you'd have to spell it Leela here if you wanted that pronunciation.

@Notgoingonholiday

DoTheMaccaroni yeah of course you can get things personalised easily, that's not the point....kids love finding their name on things when they're out somewhere.

I have an unusual name and one that would never be on any key ring, etc, and I didn’t care particularly. MUCH, MUCH prefer having my unusual name than the convenience of one that can be found on a tourist shop mug!

@itsjakeandamy I'm Australian and only know Leila to be pronounced Lay-la so she might be a rare case.

I have a friend called Leila and she says it as Leela.
I don't like Layla

I wouldn't use it as there are so many similar names popular right now - Lily, Lila, Isla, Leah, Lena, Luna, Lola...