Baby names that sound like / honour “Sheila”

[SaveSheila]

My beloved Mum passed away 2 years ago, and I’d like to honour her in naming my baby daughter.

the problem is, her Scottish dad named her Sheila and even though it is a beautiful sounding name, it’s unusable (it’s slang for “a woman” in Australia for anyone that doesn’t know, a bit like calling a girl “bird”).

does anyone have any ideas for names that sound a bit like Sheila (eg using the “Sh” and “la” sounds) or maybe other Scottish / Celtic names with similar resonance?

I’ve thought about “Celia” but I don’t really like that sibilant “see” sound.

Shirley

I went to school with a girl called Shelaine.

It was a combination of both Grandmothers names, Sheila and Elaine.

Prounced Sh laine

You’ve clearly never listened to the Archers!

Are you actually in Australia OP?

I have a very glamorous and sophisticated friend called Sheila in the UK, nobody has ever been concerned by the connection to the Australian expression.

Gaelic! Not garlic!

Leila pronounced Lee-lah rhymes with Sheila

i understand that the Scottish Sheila is the equivalent of Irish gaelic Sile. Also that Sile , translated from Irish into English is Julia- which is quite a pretty name and your daughters could be told its a translation if her nans name.

Sileas. I think it can be pronounced a number of ways but the girl I knew was pronounced shee-liss (Scotland)

Celia
Lila/ Leila
Ashley

I love Shiloh!

Leisha?
Sheila is a pretty sound. I'd use it. Look up some famous Sheilas.

The English for Shiela is Julia

Shelley ?

What about your mum’s middle name or maiden name? Could you incorporate one of those if you don’t want to use Sheila?

I agree with a pp that a name which happens to share some sounds or letters with Sheila doesn’t quite do the job, I think it needs to be one of her names really or it’s too tenuous.

If you want to ‘honour’ someone by using their name then you have to actually use the name otherwise it’s pointless and honouring no one . Why not just use Sheila as a middle name .

It's not really honouring your mother if you use a similar sounding name or a name with the same meaning.
XH's mother is Beryl which has the same meaning as Margaret, but calling a DC Sophia Margaret wouldn't have honoured his mum, it would have said 'we like you but not your name'.

Use Sheila as the middle name

We had same issue when my daughter was born was thinking of giving her my dh nans name as a middle name but wasn’t keen on Sheila . Some people came up with the idea of using the same letters in Shelia and seeing if it spells another name if that makes sense like Elisha which is a girls or boys name , Ashlie. Or other variants of the name Shayla , Leila ,Cilla or Zilla

Use Sheila as your daughter's middle name. Or use your mother's middle name, or her surname.
Or, if you don't like any of them, just choose whatever names you love. Giving your daughter a new different name doesn't mean you love your mum any less. Your mum was not just a name, she was a part of your life and that life and love carries on into your daughter with or without sharing a name.

You could do something else, like plant two trees next to each other to grow at the same time, one for your mum and one for your daughter.

Use Julia, it's the English version.

Thanks all for the input and ideas!

To answer some questions - we live in the UK but have close family in Australia and visit every year. So Sheila would be fine here but really wouldn’t be in baby’s second home.

I really like the idea of using Elisha as anagram and similar sounds, or having kindred names like Julia. Really thoughtful suggestions, thank you!

and thank you all for the suggestions of similar names, some are really beautiful.

But I see the point about using the name (eg as a middle name) if it’s to honour a name.

I will think more about it. To me, honouring my mum isn’t really about her name, it’s about remembering and cherishing her as a person. Her name is something she was given, not who she was. So I may go back to the drawing board and think about names that remind me of her character (loving, compassionate, resilient) or places and pastimes that she loved.

My mother didn't like her own name very much so we honoured her by naming our daughter after my mother's best friend.

Would the spelling Sheilagh be a step away from the Aussie slang?

It is an alternative spelling which I believe is more common in Ireland. Alternatively the original Irish name Sheila / Sheilagh derives from is Síle

Thanks TaigaSno, that’s really good advice. I wrote my last post before seeing it but I think it’s where I’m ending up x

My great aunt was always known as 'Sheila ' but her actual name was Cecilia.