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! :-)

But Leila is pronounced Lay-la.

Every Leila I've met is called 'lay-lah'.

What about Leala? Or Lealah?

The Lilla knew rhymed with Pillar.

Honestly just use Lila. I'm not European but I pronounce it Leela, possibly because of an Italian friend I have.

I also know an (American) Leela, I agree this is the most obvious spelling but to be honest I find it unattractive to look at.

Leahla and Leala are both said Lee-ah-la, and besides they look made up. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Leila is Lay-la, always to me.

You’ll have to write Leela. Possibly Lela.
Lila maybe.

I think Leela is the only way to guarantee the pronounciation you want. Pretty name. I do like Lila/Lyla though.

Leighla is fine for the pronunciation you want (Leela). No one will think you . Leigh is a perfectly acceptable spelling for Lee. No one can't spell, FGS.

There's nothing wrong with unique spellings providing you can make out what the name is.

Because that's how it's pronounced. It's Layla. Lei like the flowers, like Leilani.

Lila isn't Leela.
Leila isn't Leela
Leahla isn't Leela.
Leighla is the right sound but is hideous.

But tbh I'd just pick something else as Leela isn't a nice name anyway

Not quite what you asked for OP, but there is a name from classical mythology, Leda, (the mother of Helen of Troy) which has a standard spelling and in English has only one pronunciation as far as I know, LEE-DUH. Similar enough to LEE-LUH?

Leahla would be pronounced with 3 syllables like “lee-ah-luh”.

Leela doesn’t look right to me. I’d go with Leila.

Whatever you choose I think she’ll have a lifetime of telling people how to pronounce and spell her name though.

Looks weird and typical of the fad for atypical spellings. I would say Leila is pronounced as you want

I would pronounce Lila as Leela.

I'd pronounce Lilah as Lie-La.

I think you go with Leila and accept that occasionally you will need to correct pronunciation (not a big deal lots of kids with names like Keira, Alicia, Ayesha, etc have multiple pronunciations) or go with Leela which is unlikely to be mispronounced.

The other options are not any more obvious but do look made up or mis-spelled.

You have two options:
Spell it Leela, which everyone will pronounce correctly but doesn't look as pretty.
Or use whichever of the alternative spellings you like best and accept that you will have to pronounce it for people, which isn't really a big deal. I think Lila is the nicest visually.

I like Leyla spelling.

Lots of people in the UK with names pronounced differently to how UK spelling would be said - I would pick something you like the look of and not worry too much.

But Leela will be pronounced Leh-la outside the UK.

What about Leala?

Leela is the spelling you want.

Lila will be pronounced ‘lie- la’
Leila is the Arabic Lay-La name

Turns out Leela is a name (just googled, as I'd never heard of it). That's the pronunciation you're looking for, so I'd just go for Leela.

Sorry I’m just coming back. Liel is an Israeli name for both boys and girls pronounced I think more lee-ell so slightly longer but adding an A to the end would give the pronunciation you are looking for.

Leighla has been around since the early 1800s as a name but May usually doing more like Layla. To me it says Leigh -La clearly though.

of course on here people think both are mis-spellings

You'd be entirely wrong then/

No, it won't. At least not everywhere. It's not like "everywhere that isn't UK" share a language/accent etc.

Yup and Leila is pronounced Layla

leighla might work, but it’s a jumble of letters

i knew a Lelia once, lovely girl, it was always pronounced Leelia

I think her mum wanted leela as a name too!

If you want pronunciation Leela, then the only possible spelling is Leela. All the others are confusing and ambiguous.

I like Lilla pronounced as lill-a as its spelt. An alternative to Lila with the lyla pronunciation.

What about Lela?