Love the name hate the spelling

[CiciLapin]

Baby girl due in 2 weeks and we are set on the name pronounced ARE-lee-yah.
Struggling with spelling although are leaning towards Arlia.
Aware it's probably a marmite name.
Other names we liked were Ophelia/Aurelia/Amelia/Delilah but for various reasons they aren't top.

Any thoughts on a better way or is ours okay? Not sure I like how it looks? (I have a name always mispronounced/spelt wrong and it's not been an issue so have no problem with that for her) just not sure Arlia is too literal a spelling. Other ways we've looked at are: Aalia, Ahlia. Aware it can be spelt Aaliyah/Aliya/ Aliyah but we don't like the y and h.

Also any ideas for middle names?
So far we like grace, we are aware it's very common but seeing as her first will be unusual though best to not be too "out there". Thought a one syllable middle name would be best as first is 3 but open to other options. Last name is one syllable.

Thoughts? (Please don't hate on the name too much, we took forever to agree )

@youvegottenminuteslynn

So the word I think will help here is gnarly.

You want (I think) the name to rhyme and have the same syllable emphasis as "gnarlier". As in more gnarly.

Is that right?

Yes this might be the best way to put it, although some will still over pronounce the r I think? Why I didn't think to explain like this I don't know so thank you.

@LizzieAnt

The Irish word Áille doesn't give the lee-yah part of the name the OP wants though, AuntDympna.

Would Allia work maybe?

I do like that spelling but to me reads the same as Alia or even Aleah.

@oviraptor21

I think Ahlia is the best option. It should get the right pronunciation with the majority of people and looks more natural somehow than Arlia. Arlia just doesn't look like a name - more like a company.

Yes my thoughts too about the R. I think because the Arla milk brand? I was trying to -unsuccessfully- convince myself it worked like in Arlo.

@elfran

This thread is fascinating and hilarious. I think you've got there in the end OP - don't use the R to denote a long A sound, you'll just confuse those with rhotic accents (me included).

As a pp said, just use Aalia or Ahlia. Both nudge the A sound longer than in Alia, but still look simple and a bit fresher than the original spellings, which I think is what you're after?

Yes I think we did get there in the end. I never thought I'd get so many responses about a name haha.

some will still over pronounce the r I think?

People with rhotic accents do not “over” pronounce the r! We just pronounce it, whereas non rhotic accents do not pronounce it at all.

I do like that spelling but to me reads the same as Alia or even Aleah.

Yes, sorry, thought of that as soon as I posted I was thinking of the sound in all or tall, but of course all in a word is often pronounced the same as al. Maybe you'd get fewer mistakes using the double l, but I'm not sure if all is exactly the sound you're looking for anyway.

@HaveringWavering

some will still over pronounce the r I think?

People with rhotic accents do not “over” pronounce the r! We just pronounce it, whereas non rhotic accents do not pronounce it at all.

Sorry to offend I simply meant over pronounce in the sense of not how I want it to be read. Like I said I don't fully know about rhotic etc so didn't want to use it incorrectly.

@LizzieAnt

I do like that spelling but to me reads the same as Alia or even Aleah.

Yes, sorry, thought of that as soon as I posted I was thinking of the sound in all or tall, but of course all in a word is often pronounced the same as al. Maybe you'd get fewer mistakes using the double l, but I'm not sure if all is exactly the sound you're looking for anyway.

I think a lot are in the same boat not knowing how I'd like it pronounced haha. I also realise I haven't conveyed it very well but think I have a pretty good idea from responses what works and what doesn't :)

That's good
I think people with different accents pronounce their vowels a bit differently anyway, so you'll never get 100% consensus here. As long as the spelling makes sense where you live and doesn't cause too much confusion elsewhere (as including an r might do) it'll be fine. It's very pretty.

Arlea is a a name I think? It’s a pretty obvious spelling.

Adela might be a nice alternative

I think you just want to avoid the single syllable cliche names - esp Grace, Rose and May - so something quite classic with 2 syllables perhaps -

Arlea Katherine
Arlea Evelyn
Arlea Frances etc

Actually, I have come to the conclusion OP, that I don't generally make the exact sound you want in my accent, so please ignore some of my earlier posts re spelling

Arlea is a name I think? It’s a pretty obvious spelling.

But if you have a rhotic accent as I do, Luredbyapomegranate, the r will be pronounced.

What about Mahalia (like Mahalia Jackson) shortened always to Alia?

Alia is part of the term 'inter alia', where it's pronounced Ay-lia

Surely that depends whether you're using the traditional English or reconstructed Classical system of Latin pronunciation?

@ClumpingBambooIsALie

Alia is part of the term 'inter alia', where it's pronounced Ay-lia

Surely that depends whether you're using the traditional English or reconstructed Classical system of Latin pronunciation?

Yikes! I've only ever heard it said as ay-lia anyway😅

I grew up on church Latin and I'd have gone ah-lia.

I find legal Latin confusing, too. Habeas corpus? I've heard it pronounced HAY-bee-us but when I've sung it it's been HA-bay-ass.

Good luck OP

A vote for Aalia. Looks pretty and striking, pretty clearly pronounced like Aaliyah but without the letters you don’t like, and no R to be pronounced in certain accents.

I would pronounce Arlia like you want, but my Canadian and Scottish friends definitely wouldn’t!

@SpaghettiNotCourgetti

I grew up on church Latin and I'd have gone ah-lia.

I find legal Latin confusing, too. Habeas corpus? I've heard it pronounced HAY-bee-us but when I've sung it it's been HA-bay-ass.

Yowch, ecclesiastical/Italianate Latin is a whole nother barrel of emus.

I did Latin at school and we were taught the reconstructed Classical that replaced traditional English pronunciation in classrooms about a century ago, but outside that field I obviously need to use traditional English (because people are gonna look at you funny if you say Classical "et ketera" or ecclesiastical "et chetera" rather than traditional "et setera").

It's all kinds of fascinating to me, but I suppose not that relevant to OP's question, except inasmuch as it relates to the impossibility of making sure everyone pronounces a thing how you want them to pronounce it

All this rhotic chat is reminding me of English friends who had a test phrase - girls with curls - to tease me about my wandering accent.

gehls with kehls - it's a fancypants English day
girrils wi kirrils - next stop, Doric

@ClumpingBambooIsALie 🤣