Is Dahlia a nice name?

[EncantoDaisies]

Hi all,

I found out I'm having a little girl today and we already named her before we knew and we've settled on Dahlia (Dah-Lia like the black Dahlia) Patricia Smith (not real last name but just as common).

But my DH is saying he like Dahlia-Rose but I think Dahlia is quite strong on its own but I'm not sure. I'm just questioning whether I actually think it's a nice name because originally I thought it was quite uncommon but not too unusual ..

What do you ladies (and men) think?

It will get misspelt as Darlia and Dhalia.

How can Dahlia get misspelled with an R ?

@pinklavenders , see the following:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/baby_names/3256644-Dalia-for-a-girl
I'm really liking the name Dalia for a girl but I want it pronounced dar-lia rather than like the flower day-lia (spelt dahlia).

www.mumsnet.com/talk/baby_names/4293694-Baby-girl-names
Harvey and Darlia

www.mumsnet.com/talk/gardening/4554712-what-are-these-black-things-on-my-daliahs
daliah

But Dar-lia isn't the same as Dah-lia or Day/lia.

Darlia and Dahlia sound exactly the same to me, and to large sections of the population. It depends whether you have a rhotic accent or not.

Dar Lia / Dah lia would be the same in my accent but not in my husband's.

That depends on whether or not your accent is rhotic. Where I live, they're the same. In the US and in other parts of the UK they're wildly different.

@pinklavenders , the examples show likely misspellings. I hadn't considered Dalia or Daliah

I don't know where you are but if you sound your Rs, dar and dah won't sound the same, but in many parts of the UK they will.

I would normally pronounce this name Day-lia, which is how everyone I know pronounces the flower. But someone I know has a little girl called Dahlia now and they pronounce it... well, it's like Dah-lia but almost bordering on Dall-ia (like dilly dally). I'm not sure if they even knew about the flower or just saw it written down and liked the look of it without having heard it said. I don't think I would use this name just because of the potential for people to pronounce it a lot of different ways.

To me the flower is Day lia and the name Dah lia. So long as you don’t mind correcting people and you think your DD won’t mind, then it’s a nice name. Patricia isn’t to my taste, not granny chic yet, but a perfectly acceptable middle name.

Dahlia is lovely, but be prepared to correct frequently for your preferred pronunciation.

Wooster fans will be familiar with Aunt Dahlia (pronounced Day-lia), and the flowers of course.