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.

Shailene

How about spelling it Shelagh?

You want to name your child in honour of your mother by avoiding using her name?
😂😂😂

Shola?

Or Cecelia?

Shelina (Shel-ee-na) just made that up
Shyla
Shiloh

As the OP pointed out, her mother didn't choose her own name, so it's really honoring the parents who chose it.

Shayla - means 'from the fairy place' (apparently)

Shea - means 'admirable'

Elisha as an anagram?

Just a pedantic geological note - Beryl doesn't have the same meaning as Margaret. The stone is related to emeralds (which are in the beryl 'family'). Margaret means 'pearl'.

Sheena
Shona

Yeah you're right @mathanxiety . I knew it was Pearl or Beryl, and picked the wrong one. XMIL wasn't really Beryl, I used it as an example.

OP As others have said, the Gaelic names Sine and Siona (both pron 'Sheena') would be very appropriate.
And also, as others have mentioned, 'Sileas' (= very approx Shee-lis) is usually equated with the English language/ancient Roman origin Julia, which is a pretty and very distinguished name. I also rather like Julie.
Sileas na Capach was an old-time and seriously imprtant female poet
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/sileas-na-ceapaich/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%ACleas_na_Ceapaich

Condolences on the death orfyour mother.

Many apologies for typos. Am trying to cook supper ...

Sheila is nice name, use it and don’t be put off. It’s quite a common name in the US so is not like there are few. Also wouldn’t worry about the Australian Sheila-women thing either that just comes from when people think about the name too much.
overthink it. Your baby will just be Sheila.

I went to school with a Sheileen.

According to my googling it means 'heavenly'. You could google other names with the same meaning?

Shelley is pretty
Ashley or Ashlei as an exact anagram of Sheila is also pretty.

Or Isla which is several of the letters from Sheila and a Celtic name in itself (I think)

Celia or Shiloh, or perhaps a first name of your choice with Sheila as her middle name