opinion on this baby name (girl)

[kaeyede]

me and my partner are thinking of naming our baby Æli, prounounced ashley (from the ash tree), but of course the 'ae' will get confused for being said as 'ai'.

you could also say that the 'ai' could work as a decent translation from japanese since ai means love.

it's a bit unique, and different so we were hoping for advice on the name, would it be too different or does it sound cute ??

Ashley is a nice name. Not particularly unusual/uncommon, nothing wrong with that. If you want an unusual name, pick one, don’t pick a fairly common name and try to spell it differently! If you want to call her Ashley, call her Ashley.

@Dacadactyl yes, that probably is a reason since i was quite surprised myself that they even liked the random name that came to me in a dream, i’m okay with everyone being objective about the name and giving opinions until it starts becoming rude

so now we’re wondering if “ai-li” or however else we’d spell it sounds good or not

“ai-li” could be Eilidh then?

Why would you give your child the name that is someone. you have problems with?
There are lots of names in the world, random spellings don't make Ashley, Aili is not ashley🤷🏼‍♀️
Eilidh is Gaelic, pronounced aa-lay, if that's a sound you're going for.

It is the same name. Own it or scrap it. Do not make up something silly.

The Japanese name Ai is pronounced more like "eye" so you're not getting that with this name at all.

People will say it like ay-lee.

I like many old fashioned names and Æ is in many of them but pronounced "ay". I would say yes to Ælfgar or something because at least it's historical and sort of cool but not to Æli which is just a creative spelling of a common name.

There are lots of Ashleys and Ashleighs about so your little Æli won't stand out.

I think you will like:

Eilidh (Scottish ay-lee)
Aisling (Irish, ash-ling)
Ælfwynn (old Anglo-Saxon name that I found while googling names with Æ. It's cute and she has the option of Wynn).

Eilidh is Gaelic, pronounced aa-lay, if that's a sound you're going for.

Generally pronounced Ay-lee.

If you want to spell it differently from your husbands friend, just use Ashleigh or Ashlee.
If you want a similar but not the same name, Aisling or Ashlynn or something similar but with a normal spelling .

i like the name a lot, not the person.

but i really like eilidh a lot, thank you so much for this suggestion <3

@Dreikanter
I have an Eilidh pronounced aa-lay by Gaelic speaking grandparents, not many use the harsh sound of lee, the accent softens it to lay, none of the fellow Scottish Eilidh's use the aylee.

I’ve lived in the NE for a long time. Eilidh here is Ay-lee. It’s subtle, not full on -lee but always closer to -lee than -lay.

Ditto Ceitidh, which is not Kate-ay.

they lied

if you say your childs name as "Ashley" then they will still think their name is Ashley

Looks fucking stupid. Just call her Ashley or even Ashleigh!

Eilidh spelled like that is pronounced 'i - lee'..
If you put a fada on the e the pronunciation changes to 'ay - lee'..
It can't be pronounced 'ay - lay' with that spelling..

My husband is Scandinavian and his name has a special letter, unrecognised in the UK. I can't tell you in his many ways it complicates his life.
Also unless you are nordic it would be incredibly odd to use a name with æ in it.

Asher?

She will be Aeli on her medical records too.

Are you a billionaire? Yes? Go for it. No? Please don't.

If you like the name but not the friend then use it as a middle name. Choose a different first name. A real one.

Your friends were being polite and not wanting to risk your friendship, doesn't mean they aren't walking away thinking wtaf.

This was my first thought 🤣

Please don’t use this ridiculous spelling OP. Just use Ashley spelled Ashley - it’s a lovely name.

Stupid. Just so so stupid. Imagine seeing that on a passport or a CV. Or applying for a mortgage.

Just don't

As a teacher firstly... Awful.

As a mum secondly... Awful.

It sounds like Alien ( without the n) in my accent.

Just spell it Ashley / Ashleigh / Ashlee / Ashlea.

Ai-li ...

The Scottish Eilidh is pronounced Ai-li.

Or go with Eily, pronounced Eye-lee.

There's also Isla (eye-la).

And Eilish (as in Billie Eilish).

A word to the wise from someone with a hard to pronounce name - She will hate it. It will be a total pain in the arse for her on a daily basis. She will tire of telling everyone how to pronounce her name. She will change the spelling of it.