How would you pronounce Selah?

[Flutterflybutterby]

A biblical word, the meaning of which is not certain but it's thought to be a musical instruction meaning "to pause; reflect on God". It is quite a well-known name in American Christian communities (I know 4 baby Selahs!) but I assume fairly rare in the UK.

My question is, how would you pronounce this name? The Selahs I know pronounce it differently. Also, do you know any baby Selahs? If so, how do they say the name?

Lastly, do you like it? What sort of middle name do you think goes with it? Two of the Selahs I know have long, classic middle names (think Catherine, Elizabeth type names) and the other two short, snappy, one syllable, cool middle names. What would you choose?

I'd go with something in between Seller and Sailor.

Seh-LAA

It's a nice musical name. But plenty of opportunity for people to pronounce it on a multitude of ways (think: having 10 different teachers at secondary all saying it differently each year).

I would pronounce it "Say-La". I like it. Is there a family name you could use as a middle name?

Sell-ah. Why do so many of you add an ‘r’ sound where there is no ‘r’!

@user1471522343

Sell-ah. Why do so many of you add an ‘r’ sound where there is no ‘r’!

Pronunciation/accents I guess??

I said I'd pronounce it 'cellar', but when I say the word cellar it ends in an 'a' sounds, not an r. Sella.

Yes. Like Stella but without the 't'. I still say more of an 'ahhhhh' though and with the accent in second syllable sell-AHHH

@user1471522343

Sell-ah. Why do so many of you add an ‘r’ sound where there is no ‘r’!

it's not necessarily pronounced, it just shapes the vowel sound before.

See lah. Similar to Shelia

I would ask how to pronounce it, as I don't actually know - but if I were hazarding a guess I would pronounce it "Seller"