LEELA sound. PLEASE can you help?

[Eleonorex]

We love the name Leela, but because I am European I would have written it as Lila, that unfortunately in English / American seems to be mostly pronounced as Lyla (sound that we don’t want to use).

I am not sure if I like the Leela spelling, and I was wondering if I can then write this name as Leahla. However, when I put Leahla in youtube to listen to the pronounciation, it gives me Lyla!!! Why on earth? How would you pronounce the name Leahla?

Also, assuming I can use the spelling Leahla to pronounce the name as Leela, which spelling to you prefer to see written down: LEELA or LEAHLA? Or would you simply use LILA and correct people? Lila James or Lila Iké for example are both pronounced Leela.

If I use the spelling Lilla (I saw it in another post as a suggestion), the sound would be different from Leela, I think? As English is not my first language I don’t hear the difference too much, but my husband (he is English) does and he says it would shorten the ee sound a lot, making the name sound less sweet.
Would you give me some advice? How easier would it be if one vowel = one sound! IoI
THANK YOU! :-)

Leahla is definitely Le ah la. Unless you use Leela you will always have to correct so you might just have to pick the one you like best and be prepared to correct.

Try telling many Arabic and Spanish speaking Leilas that they’re wrong! It’s v common. One of those names that has two perfectly good options for pronunciation.

Also agree Leila is the best option if Leela isn't one. You'll still get lye la and Layla but some would get it right or at least it's unclear so people may ask

Spell it Leela. People know it from Futurama.

Leala would be Lee ah la: I guess Leighla would work but it looks very odd imo. I don't like it

I would just spell it Lila.

Much nicer than any of the alternative spellings. Just tell people “Her name is Lila”.

Look, you could go for any spelling but it will look like you’ve made it up unless you choose one that’s a recognised standard spelling. That’s really just Leila (which can be pronounced both Lee-la and Lay-la), or Lila (Lie-la or Lee-la), or keep it simple and choose Leela.

If you don’t like the spelling Leela, the alternative spellings you’re thinking of are 10x worse in my opinion.

Go with Lila, pronounce it Leela, as it would be said in your country of origin, and it’ll be fine, I promise. Most people say a name because they know someone. Mispronunciation by a stranger isn’t a big deal.

I think your best bet is to go with either Leila or Lila. Both open to being mispronounced, but most people will remember once told. Choose the mispronunciation that will annoy you the least out of Layla or Lyla and go with that spelling.

while ‘Leela’ as a pronunciation of a name is used in the UK it has no standardised spelling. Honestly I think you have a few options

go for Leela, the spelling looks slightly odd but the pronunciation is unambiguous

go for Lila and expect to correct a fair amount and explain it’s the X country pronunciation but people will get it soon enough (this would be my preferred option)

go for Leila which has often been mispronounced as Leela so some people would get it right anyway and the others wouldn’t think it too odd

opt for another accepted spelling of Lee and add ‘la’ so Leighla or Leala but these are more subject to mispronunciations than Leela and look odd.

I have one DC whose name has an i in it which gives 2 pronunciations, like Lila. It’s honestly not a big deal - some people on first reading it choose the wrong sound, using the ‘igh’ (Ligh-la) not the ‘ee’ sound (Lee-la). When little, I’d correct. Older now, they correct people. It’s a momentary passing thing. No one gets it persistently wrong once corrected.

Every Leila I've known has pronounced it Lay-la.

I'd just go for Leela.

Liela is horrid as Lie is not a good nn.

Leala, doesn't look as nice, and makes me think of dairylea,

I like both Leila and Lila, I would pronounce them layla when I first read them but it is clear to see that it can be Leela, saying that Leela looks very pretty in my handwriting.

I think the only way you'll guarantee people calling her Lee-la straight away is to spell it like that. All the others seem to be open to interpretation!

I know a Leila pronounced ly-luh and one pronounced lay-luh. I also know a Lyra pronounced lear-uh (rhymes with hear) and a couple whose names are pronounced ly-ruh.

If you want the lee-luh pronunciation but a straightforward spelling, I'd go for Lila and just introduce your baby with the European pronunciation. People will follow your lead just as they do with names such as Laura with the lau bit pronounced law or low (to rhyme with how/cow), or Claudia pronounced with a claw or clou (like cloud) sound.

I'd pronounce Leila as Layla despite it being similar to Sheila, which I pronounce Sheela. So I think Leela is foolproof.

If you like the name and won't get offended if anyone makes a mistake:

Spell it as you wish and pronounce it as you wish, especially if it's a genuine spelling/pronunciation even if not the uk more common version.

Anyone important to you will know how to say/write it once you've told them. Regular teachers at school will do the same.

Yes, there will be mistakes and some correction needed, but that happens all the time in schools. Lots of names with different spellings and lots of names spelt the same but with lots of pronunciations. Just be happy and prepared to correct people and move on. DD's name is spelt the less common way and it has genuinely never been an issue for us/her.

If it is going to bother you having to spell/pronounce it for people, chose a different name.

I'd go for Lila and resign myself to correcting people on the first time.

Will she have an obviously Eastern European surname? If so, that'll give more of a cue to people that it might not be pronounced in the most obvious anglophone way.

Lela? I would immediately think it was Lee-La

I have a Leila which is pronounced Lay-la. Leila is the correct spelling in my culture. She gets called Leela quite a bit, mostly by English people. She has even been told she spells her name wrong 🙄

I would go with the spelling of your choosing but you will need to be prepared to correct people and teach your daughter to correct also. My daughter ignores anyone who insists on calling her Leela after she’s told them more than once how her name is pronounced.

I would pronounce Leila as "L-ay-l-a" and Lila as "L-igh-l-a".

I think Leela is perfectly fine. I taught one a few years ago (think one of her parents - or maybe just one grandparent - was German) - that class had three girls in a row in the register who were Leela, Lily and Leila!

All of the other spellings just look made up.

I'd say Leila. I've known 2 and both are pronounced correctly.

Lela

I know a 'leela', spelled lela

Leila = Layla
Lila = either Leela or Lyla
Lilla = either Lilla or Leela (I have a friend with a Milla, which is pron. Meela)

If you're going to live in the UK and you don't want to have to constantly correct people, I'd go with Leela as a spelling, as it's unambiguous.

Leela is best for pronunciation

Lila looks prettiest and I would pronounce it Leela

leahla is like le-ah- La so not good

Leila I would say Layla

leighla doesn’t look nice

i would stick with Lila. People would say Lia, Mia, tia etc with the ee sound so I think it would work. To me lyla is l-eye- La not Lila