Is Emilia too similar to Olivia?

[Lemonade86]

Husband and I love the name Emilia but we are worried it is too similar to our friend’s DD name which is Olivia. Please can I get your thoughts? Would you go ahead and use Emilia?

I thought from the title you were going to say you already had a daughter called Olivia and could you use Emilia! My answer would have been ‘it’s fine’.

Of course you can/should use it.

Not in the slightest.

if they were going to be siblings I would say they are a bit samey in sound, but completely different names. As it’s a friend I’d say there’s no issue whatsoever

It's absolutely fine. I assumed you were going to say Olivia was your elder daughter's name, and even then I think it would have been OK, if a bit samey.

Completely fine, I don't see them as at all similar.

No too similar but can't bear the 'mealy' sound in the name. Such an ugly word.

@D0D0

I thought from the title you were going to say you already had a daughter called Olivia and could you use Emilia! My answer would have been ‘it’s fine’.

Of course you can/should use it.

Same here.

If you'd said Olivia and Olive or Emily and Emilia I might have hesitated (but still not have ruled it out for a name you really loved) but Olivia and Emilia is absolutely fine!

I think it's fine, it hardly matters that your friend's daughter has a name with the same sort of ending. If you had another daughter called Olivia, I'd think twice about it but not a friend - or a relative.

Emilia is a very nice name.

I looked up the meaning of 'Emilia', I always think it is important to know about that. I expect you already know but if you don't, here it is:

"The name Emilia is primarily a female name of Latin origin that means To Strive Or Excel Or Rival. Emilia originally comes from the name Aemilia. Common variations of the name include Amelia, Emelia, Emily, Amilya, Emiliana, and Amilia."

Quite a good meaning.

For siblings probably too close, for daughters of friends absolutely fine.

They're not that similar. Not a problem at all

Thank you all so much for your replies! Husband thinks it’s fine but I wanted to see what other people thought. We’ll definitely be using it as one of our top names

Not at all similar - they just happen to share the same number of syllables and -ia ending (the same as Aurelia, Octavia, Ophelia, Antonia, Cecilia etc) . The lovely Shakespearean Emilia is quite popular now though (and feels more so, due to soundalike Amelia) but if you don't mind that it's a great name imo.

Emilia is lovely but people tend to say it as Emeeeelia, which I don't like.

For sisters too close. For friends a absolutely fine