Lucia - 3 questions!

[namechangedlola]

I love the name Lucia... but have 3 questions!

1. Neither me nor DH are Italian or have any Italian heritage. Does this make it weird to use this name for DD?

1. How would you pronounce it? I know the Italian is Loo-CHEE-a, which I love, but I also really love Loo-SEE-a. I really dislike Loosha, as in St Lucia / St Loosha!

1. We have a 2 year old niece already named Lucy. Is it just too close?

Way too close imo.

1. No, I think it's common enough in the UK to be ok
2. I like Loo-SEE-a
3. That's a tricky one. It is v similar!

I do worry it's way too close, friends are very polarised between the - "it's way too close", and the "it's a different name" camps.

Initially I only mentioned it in a kind of, well I love this name but I can't really use it, way, and was surprised some folk thought it wasn't that close.

Any other suggestions If we love Lucia?! Again, we have no Italian heritage so not exactly a pre-requisite, I just love the sound.

You can't have a Lucy and a Lucia i

@flamingyawn We wouldn't have a Lucy and a Lucia, they'd be cousins. Different schools, unlikely to spend loads of time together. I did think it was still too close, but a few people have said I was being silly not using it for that reason 🤷🏻‍♀️ I still think it's maybe too much.

How about Sophia as an alternative?

They are cousins and it's a different name. Not a problem. Lou-see-a is Spanish and Lou-chi-a is Italian.

1. Not weird!
2. I pronounce it LOO-sia as it’s the Portuguese pronunciation but would obviously pronounce it as I’m told - the one I know in the UK pronounces it Loo-SEE-a.
3. It’s basically the same name, like Sophie and Sophia. I think it’s fine for cousins to have the same/similar names but if you have a read here you will find some people get very offended, so I’d have a word with your sibling/in-law first

Hi sorry, I misread, thought you had a dd named Lucy, totally different if cousins...if I totally loved the name it wouldn't put me off, but if its just one of few that I liked I'd probably avoid as sounds similar.

I love Lucia. Its a very different name to Lucy.
Have you ever seen Mapp and Lucia? You'll find it on you tube.
Lucia is a strong and dynamic woman.
And I say Loo chea.

I’ve known two in my life both Loosha and very scathing of anyone who used one of the other pronunciations.

So for that reason I wouldn’t use it. Too much opportunity for confusion.

I’ve only know Loo-Chee-a s and one Loosha. Never heard of a Lucy-a

Louisa? Luisa?

I knew one years ago, I think she pronounced it Lucia, her family were partly Argentinian iirc. I think you can use it even with no Italian/Spanish links as its fairly common in the UK. It depends on much time Lucy and Lucia are likely to spend together, if you don't live in the same town I think its probably ok. Would it bother Lucy's parents if you chose a similar name? Other similar names could be...

Cara
Alessia
Louisa
Alma
Sophia
Olivia
Olive
Freya
Fabia
Leila
Lydia
Lara

Can you find a bit of Swedish heritage? We celebrate St Lucia (pronounced Santa Lou-see-ya) December 13th every year. It's not a super common name in Sweden but not in any way strange either.

Beautiful tradition though.

I think if you go for the Loo-CHEE-a pronunciation then it's different enough for a cousin name.

I love it.

I also love Francesca.

I was just going to mention St. Lucia as relating to Sweden also. My grandparents immigrated to Canada from Finland. They were Swedish-speaking Finns. My late Mother was born here, but was the "Lucia Queen" of the local community probably in the early 1940s. She used to tell stories of the crown, which was made out of a tin can apparently, really hurting her head and causing her to faint. It was obviously an honour however.

Lucia is a lovely name.

Of course you can have cousins with similar names. I'm very close to my cousin Mog..

Siblings would be a no though.

If you pronounce it correctly in Italian, Loocheea, and forget the spelling of Lucy and Lucia, they sound very different.

I used to live in Madrid and Lucia was always pronounced Loo-thee-a so that’s how I’d say it.

The only Lucia I know is Loo-see-a

It's fine for cousins.

I've taught a loo see a and a loo thee a

Gorgeous name, I would naturally pronounce it Loo-chee-a

Lucia in Spanish can be pronounced LuSeeA or Lutheeea depending on accent so that throws another pronunciation into the works. That said I know a lot of Spanglish people who have called their daughters Lucia and the pronunciation between the S sound and the TH sound is interchangeable.

I would say it as Loosha. If I knew she was italian, I'd say Lootch-ee-a.

Lucia is lovely I’d go with the Italian pronunciation of Lu-Chee-a.
It’s fine with a cousin named Lucy. Cousins often have similar names.