Help me choose how to spell our babies name!

[Bexchap]

So we are set on the baby girl name Elaya/Elaia pronounced E Lay a, however stuck on how to spell it, her nickname will probably be Laya/Laia

[xyzzyx]

Aleia or Eleia IMO

[PoemBeatrice]

I'm not seeing -ay- sound in Elaya or Elaia. I would pronounce both with -lie- sound, kind of like Maya.
I guess since Elaya is "new" name, I would go with Elaya over Elaia because I can't see -lay- in Elaia.

Alternatively, Elaea is possibility, kind of like some of those Greek names (Nausicaa (which is *-cay-a) or Astraea which follows your pronunciation).

[TabithaTittlemouse]

@AlternativelyWired

'E lay 'er. No chance of bullying at high school there at all.

This

[jammyrose]

I’d pronounce Elaia E-lye-a. What about Leia?

[Enko]

I have a name no one can spell and its honestly never bothered me. I dislike its unisex and Ive not met many with unisex names who likes this but that also gets shut down here

Personally I prefer Elaia and beautiful name good choice no matter what spelling you chose

[jackstini]

All of them I would have the first syllable as 'eh' rather than 'ee' - which were you going for?


Think Eleia is the best spelling

[CloseYourEyesAndSee]

Everything you have suggested would make me want to pronounce it el eye a not el lay a.
it's also a bit of a nothing blah name tbh.

[Frazzled2207]

Elaiya is horrid sorry. A total unnecessary extra vowel.
Eleia
Elaya
Elaia
in that order

[Bexchap]

@Bexchap

So we are set on the baby girl name Elaya/Elaia pronounced E Lay a, however stuck on how to spell it, her nickname will probably be Laya/Laia

We are now thinking of the spelling Elaiya, thoughts on this?

[cottagegardenflower]

First spelling is a bit chavvy, second much nicer.

[MissPocket]

I'd probably go with Elaya if I wanted the e lay a pronunciation.

[Dearmariacountmein]

Elaya as it’s the most phonetic to read.

Although I wouldn’t worry too much about having to spell names. It’s always touted here when wanting to give your child a name that has many spellings.

I have a name that has consistently been in the top 50 if not 2 names in most English speaking countries for the past 30 years. Apart from a variation in some Slavic countries the spelling is consistent. More often than not I have to spell it out. My middle name has two common variations - again nearly always have to spell it and my last name is the most common spelling of a very common name - again still have to spell it more often than not.

[FairyCakeWings]

@AlternativelyWired

'E lay 'er. No chance of bullying at high school there at all.

This is what I thought.

Aside from that, it’s a name that’s going to be said wrong or spelled wrong sometimes, I don’t think there is a spelling that will guarantee it never happens.

[Diverseopinions]

On a linked thought, I wonder if Elaine is due a revival?

To digress, I think, if I liked Elaia, I would probably try to go with Helena, pronounced Hel-ain-a, since names with many pretty sounds but not many other connotations of history or literature are less dense in connotations, and less versatile in letting the named person use name to embellish their sense of identity.

Elaia or Elaya is very, very pretty. It sounds like the name of the famous singer who died tragically young, Aliyah(?) which is also very pretty and maybe would be easier for people to get right.

[Diverseopinions]

I think CloseYourEyesAndSee is right.

There is the pronouncing right and the writing it correctly to consider, but Leia is pretty and unusual, but not a tongue twister.

[CloseYourEyesAndSee]

I would go for Leia
it's what you want to call her and everyone will pronounce it how you want because of Star Wars. You can see from this thread that people will always get the 'wrong' pronunciation of alaya however you spell it so do your DD a favour and make it simple.

[Frazzled2207]

Eleia as pp noted
other spellings really could be more confusing

[AlternativelyWired]

'E lay 'er. No chance of bullying at high school there at all.

[Rainbowbaby13]

I think Elaya is more likely to get pronounced the way you want

[DemBonesDemBones]

@SlatsandFlaps same here, but nice not to have the same name as everyone else.

[Mumofgirls2017]

I prefer Elaia

[Pineapplepine]

Is it meant to be eh or ee at start?

i also think Eleia might be best option for pronouncing it eh lay ah but she’ll be spelling out her name forevermore.

[ODFOx]

I'm going to throw Eleia into the mix as Leia is well known a pronunciation.

[PumpkinsandKittens]

I Like E lay a but El eye a, is awful sounds like saying a liar, which kids will tease I imagine 😕

[Kite22]

I'm with SlatsandFlaps