Lila Or Lina?

[Cheesegrapeswine]

Lila pronounced “Leela” but don’t like the Leela spelling. Lina pronounced Leena.
Thank you! :)
Any middle name suggestions?

I'm guessing you're a fan of "My Brilliant Friend"!
Both are nicknames; the Italians just love abbreviating names, then extending the nicknames so that the original name is all but lost. (Lila in MBF was Raffaella.) I'd go for Lila as it looks and sounds more elegant.

Middle name -- something longer for contrast?

Lila Melissa
Lila Veronica
Lila Romola
Lila Georgina
Lila Sylvia

I think I would guess Lila was pronounced Lye-la so I would go for Lina. You don't hear Lina as often too 🙂 both lovely names though.

Nobody will pronounce Lila as "Leela" in the UK. But I prefer it to Lina, which looks like someone just chopped a bit off the end of a longer name.

I'd pronounce Lila as Leela on my first attempt actually. Would probably go for Lila over Lina, Lina just makes me think of a line.

I'd probably use a longer name that didn't end in -a as a middle name.

Lila Genevieve
Lila Constance
Lila Katherine
Lila Sandrine
Lila Penelope

Etc etc

Lena is a fairly classic name, that is often pronounced "Lee - nah" in the UK (although may be pronounced "Lay - nah" occasionally here, or more commonly in other countries). Lina looks more like a nn to me and I'm not sure it will get you the pronunciation you want.

Lila will definitely usually be pronounced as "Ly - la" in the UK. I'd use the well known Leila spelling if you want "Lee - la" , although you may still occasionally have to correct people.

Lina if you spelt it Lena would be pronounced the way you want.

Lila - I think will drive you/her mad, as you’ll forever be correcting people.

I know a Lina (who is lovely!) and nobody ever pronounces it any other way than "Leena". I also love the name Lila but read it as Ly - la. I would never see it as Leela.

I would choose Lina.

@IamnotwhouthinkIam

Lena is a fairly classic name, that is often pronounced "Lee - nah" in the UK (although may be pronounced "Lay - nah" occasionally here, or more commonly in other countries). Lina looks more like a nn to me and I'm not sure it will get you the pronunciation you want.

Lila will definitely usually be pronounced as "Ly - la" in the UK. I'd use the well known Leila spelling if you want "Lee - la" , although you may still occasionally have to correct people.

Surely Leila = Layla, though? Just two ways to spell the Arabic name?

I don't know if there is a good spelling for the "Leela" pronunciation. "Leela" itself is the alien from Futurama.

Much prefer Lina, and would pronounce it as you wanted without prompting. Lila I would struggle with pronunciation. Lina (Lena) is a name in Scandinavia, but much less common in the UK.

Lina. I would pronounce Lila like Lie-la.

I know a Lila and a Lena.

Lee-la and Lee-na

Surely Leila = Layla, though? Just two ways to spell the Arabic name?

I think maybe it depends on area/country - I've known of a couple of Leila's pronounced Leela, and some "Laylas" spelt phonetically (like the Clapton song Layla). Maybe this is more common in the US and some parts of Europe though? (I haven't been to any Arabic countries or met a UK Leila/Layla). It's kind of like the Helena debate (eg. is it pronounced He - len- ah, He - leen- ah or He -lay -nah).

With your pronunciation of Lila I would choose Lina.
If you pronounced Lila the usual way I would choose that first.

Lina. Lovely!

I would pronounce Lena lee-na but Lina lie-na.
I would also pn Lila lie-la.

Lina is ok but is 100% better spelt Lena

Thank you for all your comments!
Would you spell Lila like Leela to get the right pronunciation or does Leela look strange?

Lina is lovely, much prefer it to Lila.

Leela and Leena are both quite common Indian names.

Much prefer Lina (prefer Lena spelling though) More unusual and has a more classic feel.

Leela looks odd/made up to me, sorry OP (probably because like a pp, it reminds me of the alien woman in Futurama). I think Lela looks a bit less strange though (but that's just my opinion!).