Finley/ Finlay?

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Which do you prefer? Would you pronounce them differently?

Middle name would be George or Frederick.

We opted for Finley because we thought people would be less likely to spell it Finlay. We were wrong But when I see Finlay, I always want to pronounce the -ay.

Finley George is cute.

Finley is my preferred spelling

I also like Finley George. I think Finley Frederick is a bit of a mouthful but he won't have to say it often.

Both pronounced the same but the more popular spelling depends on where you live. Here in Scotland, Finlay is the more common spelling but I believe it’s the other way round in England.

I love Finley, pronounced how it's spelt.
Not sure if you've ever watched CBeebies but theres a programme on there with a little boy called 'Finlay' and I dont know why but it irritates the shit out of me when the presenter says his name, lol. I dont mean to cause any offence to Finlays out there btw 🙈

I definitely prefer Finley. We have considered George Finley!

We know a Finley pronounced Fin-Lee and a Finlay pronounced Fin-lay. The Finlay gets annoyed when people pronounce it Fin-lee and vice versa so it's just something to bear in mind. When we chose names we were careful to make sure there wouldn't be confusion like that as it's so annoying having to correct people all the time!

Does your surname start with S?

DS is 'lay. We just liked it written that way, 'ley might have been easier for spelling but I have a name that needs to be spelt most of the time and its no problem. We pronounce them the same way.

My phone always changes him for finkay though

I agree with it depends where you live I have a Finlay thats most common spelling in Scotland but most common English spelling is Finley and he wants personalised pencils etc as that you get a holiday places its Finley that's on all that stuff. 😂

@KirstenBlest no, begins with a H

I prefer the look of Finlay but understand the confusion that might come with the -lay!

I'm totally confused by the difference!

I'd pronounce both the same.

I know lots of Finlay's btw but I've no idea of they're all spelled the same.

Finlay is originally a Gaelic name meaning 'fair-haired warrior[.
The original Gaelic spelling is Fionnlagh.
That is pronounced 'Finlay', not 'Finley'. Really, it's more like 'Fyonn-lach'.

Here it is in Gaelic:
www.duolingo.com/dictionary/Scottish%20Gaelic/fionnlagh/3b5db37b57263a4450da83fff5f532e3

Frederick's lovely, so classic. Finlay/Finley isn't my taste, but of the two spellings I'd definitely use Finley if you are in E & W - it's a lot more popular if you look at the statistics, so will be the default spelling. I would pronounce Finlay with more of a "lay" sound though, if that matters?

Ds is Finlay, I'm Scottish and pronounce it Finly no emphasis on the lay. Wouldn't ever spell it Finley personally.

@confusednortherner i pronounce it the same and haven't heard it said any other way despite living between opposite ends of the country so it can't even be a regional thing!