Orla or Esme for baby girl?

[Londonmama85]

Which do you prefer?

(DH is Irish and he loves Orla. I think I prefer Esme)

I like both but would pick Orla purely because it's less common and I have encountered a few Esme's (pronounced Ez-May) who keep mistakenly being called "Ez-mee" which would annoy me.

I’m based in London - never heard Orla being mispronounced though.
Has your DH?

Oh my god just saw my autocorrect 😂

ORLA, I prefer Orla ☺️

I think you’ve identified a potential flaw.

Another vote for Orla 😁

Love Orla but agree with above posters, I personally don’t like the way it’s pronounced in English accents as Awla. It’s not really a mispronunciation but how it’s said in some accents.

Esme is nice but I’ve heard different pronunciations as well. Wouldn’t be my favourite name but nothing against it.

What about another Irish name that doesn’t have the accent issue? Maeve, Cathleen (love nn Kitty), Aisling, Niamh

Maybe it depends where you are. she'd absolutely be nicknamed Whorela or Oral at a secondary school here.

Orla

I love Orla but the fact that you can rearrange it to spell Oral would put me off. But I think I’d still chose it over Esme. Both are quite popular though if that’s an issue

Orla is so, so, so much better than Esme.

Orla.

Orla is beautiful

Orla because primary schools and nurseries are over saturated with Esmes.

Orla is beautiful. Esmee is ok, really dislike Esmay pronunciation.

I love Orla. You can also spell it Orlaith but that won’t help with pronounciation I guess!

Yes exactly @HellyPen , it's not a mispronunciation, just the way the letter R is spoken. I would have thought it would be Awla more than Orla in London tbh, which may not bother you but I'd flag to your DH in case it irritates him.

My DD's name ends in a sound that many people where we live pronounce differently to us. That doesn't bother me but for whatever reason Awla would, just different bugbears I guess.

You can also spell it Orfhlaith, which would definitely not help with the pronunciation Cailín

Orla is a great name OP. 😊

Both are ok, I think I prefer Esme just because Orla if glanced at can look like oral and I also hear the name said in the voice of Danielle Armstrong.

Orla, definitely. I'm not keen on Esme at all for various reasons.

Orla is lovely.

I don't hate Esme, but it's more common.

Orla
Would've been my first choice if I'd had a girl