Zara, Maya or Leila

[Esliea]

DH is Qatari, I am English. We are expecting our first baby girl, tbc on whether she will be raised mostly in Qatar or mostly in the UK.

We have narrowed down names to Zara, Maya and Leila.

We will be giving her an English middle name
(Either Elisabeth or Maria).

Which name is everyone's favourite? Any other ideas?

I like Zara best, DH really likes Maya and Leila.

I like Zara best too, followed by Leila.
Maya is OK but would be my last choice.

I like all 3 names

I can't say I like any of them, but I don't dislike them.

Zara seems very popular in the UK
Maya - it seems a bit current and might date. Least favourite
Leila - it's my favourite of the 3, but wouldn't it be 'Laila' (pron. Lyla) in Arabic? I don't like Layla.

Zara!

Zara would have been my choice if I had a DG! They are all pretty names but prefer Zara and it's not often used.

Leila, it's a lovely name

Leila

Babies called Zara in England & Wales since 1996
It seems very popular here. Probably as an alternative to Sarah/Saira, and the royal with the name.

With Leila, you'll get the Leela/Leyla/Lyla pronunciations (UK)

Maya - My-a/May-a

73rd and 631 babies doesn't seem that popular to me. Maya is 29th 1255 babies.

Zara is my favourite

@Esliea , I was trying to say I think I'm in a hotspot. It seems to have been used as a Sarah and Saira alternative.

Maya seems to fall into the Mia/May/Maya ... trend and Leila into the Lily/Lila/Lola/Lyra/Luna trend.

I'm delighted you have both my first name and middle name in there😁

Zara is lovely!

Zara if I had to choose one but all a bit dull, sorry.

Zara is the least problematic in terms of pronunciation and spelling. I have seen Zarah too, but at least everyone knows how to pronounce it. With the other two there are at least 2 different accepted spellings and pronunciations. It could be annoying for her to have to constantly correct people.

Zara. Maya is one of those names that feels overused as it’s so popular.

What pronunciation of Leila? Based on the small sample of my kids school wouldn’t it be Lyla in the Middle East?

Also would/could Zara be spelt Zahrah or Zahra? I probably like Zara the best and also the one with no variation in pronunciation!

I like them all. Leila is my personal favourite 🤩 But all 3 are good names.

Leila Elizabeth is a beautiful name

Not Leila !

Zara!

My experience is that it's very (very, very) popular in families with mixed Arab/ Pakistani/ white British heritage, but much less so outside that.

My DD is a Zara, but we've literally never come across another. But her cousins, in a far more Asian area, know tonnes of them.

My ex is Pakistani and we wanted an English sounding girls name but also something that was meaningful to his family. We had Zara, Maya, Ariana, Amber and Sophia. I came up with most of them and we waited until she was born to decide. He gave me the decision, and I chose Sophia. My second choice was Ariana. I love Maya and Zara too. X

There are lots of little maya / Maias and Leila/ Laylas. I think they will date as they are relatively new. Zara is less common but has been around longer - more of a timeless classic. Elegant too.

Thanks everyone. I really want to use Maria as the middle name (my middle name and my mums) is Zara Maria too A heavy?

Maya.