Thoughts on this name

[Tabithasdancing]

Willa.

Anyone know anyone with this name? Has it incited any name based teasing (Willy?) Or if you don’t know one, do you think it would? It’s quite similar to Willow which is popular, but it’s obviously only one letter off.

Have seen quite a lot of MN posters saying that it would do among young children at school.

Any comments or opinions would be appreciated!

Willa or won'ta always springs to mind.

I've always loved it because of the author Willa Cather, I don't know anyone in real life though.

I would shorten it to will . I don’t know if it is even meant to be a boy or girls name ?

I don't like it, sorry! Can't quite put my finger on the reason why though. I really like willow.

I think it is a beautiful name. But (and this might be a big but), while I was born in the UK, I've now lived in the US for many years. It is a far more know name here - plus "willy" isn't anything to do with a penis here). I think of the author Willa Cather and "My Antonia. And, I don't think children tease each other over names the way they did when I was growing up in the 1980s.

I think it partially depends on your local accent - where we live now the -y of willy is more of an -eh sound than an -ee sound. So Willa would sound more like Willy than it might other places

A colleague of my husband has a little girl called Willa, about 6yo. No teasing (as pp said, don’t think it happens in school as much as when we were young)

Thanks everyone, the local accent comment is useful, where we are there is a clear distinction between the “ee” and “ah” sounds. It’s good to hear that name based teasing has lessened, maybe kids are a bit nicer these days!?

I’m not too keen, it’s a bit too close to Willy to me.

I know a lovely little girl named Willa. It really suits her. I have to admit I personally wouldn’t use it because it’s so close to Willy… same as William which is actually one of my favourite boys names! I know it’s a little silly, but I just wouldn’t use it.

i like the general vibe of it but It’s a no from me.

Thank you. Do you know if she’s ever encountered problems?

No problems at all! She’s a lovely little girl and is very popular.

Thanks, is this related to your local accent?

I immediately thought of Willis from Different Strokes.

There's a lovely little children's book series with the main character called Willa. I like it 👍
https://www.penguin.com.au/brand/willa-and-woof

It's gorgeous. I love it. 💝

Probably - I think around here it might get misheard as Willy or Willow.

I personally don’t love the name, but I don’t see anything wrong with it - it’s just not to my taste!

I agree with a PP regarding teasing, I think children are teased much less regarding their names in schools due to so many more unique names being used. You’re likely to get a more harsh critique on MN!

I don’t see it sounding too close to “willy” but again that could be a local accent thing, because we do pronounce the “ee” ending.

Thanks very much everyone. I love the name so I’m not too fussed if it’s not to others taste, it’s more the association and the potential for bullying which concerns me!

I don’t like it all, it’s just a nothingy name.

I know a Willa (short for Wilhemina) - she's a lovely person and I think it's a lovely nsme.

It's not to my personal taste but I wouldn't worry too much about teasing. I agree with PP that mocking people's names seems less common nowadays - I would guess it's probably just because there are so many more names out there, whether that's because of a greater number of names from different cultures, more people opting for unusual or uncommon names or of course simply because many names have 'unique'/alternative spellings now too. I was teased a bit over my name at school (I'm 39) and it doesn't even have anything really mockable about it or any negative associations - it was just unusual enough to stand out in a class full of Jennifers/ Rebeccas/ Louises/ Vickys etc!

My teen niece has a male schoolfriend called 'BJ' (his actual full name is of Indian origin and extremely long/hard to pronounce so his parents decided on the shortening to make things easier for him at school, not realising what that means in the UK!) and apparently he's never really had any jokes made at his expense which I'll admit surprised me! Apparently laughing at names just isn't something that really happens, at least not to the extent that it becomes a problem or actual bullying as opposed to a one off joke.

My first thought was the cartoon series Willo the Wasp although I suspect not many kids these days would be familiar with that 😅

I like it