Can’t decide between two names! Help?

[Peacfairy]

Since finding out that we’re expecting a girl, we have been calling her Ayla Grace , we have a 2 year old named Mia and we always refer to her as Mimi. I’m now close to my due date and am second guessing her name and I’ll state my reasons below. We also have loved the name Millie since finding out but never went with it.
With Ayla I don’t feel there’s a way to nickname her , Lala , or even ay doesn’t sounds right to me. We have shared the name with a few people and had a mixed response, some love it , my brother hated it and my mother keeps saying Isla when we want her name to be Ayla - said like the spelling Ay-la. And I’m worried people will call her Isla in school and don’t want to be forever correcting people on her name. However I love that it’s different. Unlikly to be another Ayla in her class at school, it’s not common but again it’s not wildly out there.
With Millie, it sounds great with Mia , can nickname her Mils for short, no confusion on the pronunciation but only down sides are mother in law hates it and said it’s a dogs name , and we have a cousin abroad named Millie , have never met her but wouldn’t want her to feel we’re copying or naming baby after her. Also haven’t a clue on a middle name for Millie either, our daughter Mia has a middle name so we’d like our second born to have one.
what name do you prefer ? What would you go with ? And middle name suggestions for Millie please.

Grace is a lovely name - why not use that as her first name rather than her middle?

I know one Ayla and it’s pronounced like you want it to be, so that would be how I would pronounce it. I love the name and don’t think it needs a nn but Aylie is gorgeous if you did?

Millie is also lovely, and what I’d probably choose from your two options just because I’m all for an easy life and would personally get fed up of correcting people with Ayla (which seems from this thread to have two pronunciations!) But that’s just my personal preference for a low maintenance name :)

I love Layla as a suggestion even more than Ayla or Millie :)

I know a dog called Millie and a dog called Ayla. But like someone else said it's so common to give dogs human names (and to be honest Humans dogs names) it doesn't really matter anymore, perhaps if you wanted to call her Spot, Fudge it might be different.

People may will need to be initially corrected in the pronunciation of Ayla, but most people aren't idiots and will learn/remember! It's a nice name, however Layla is a really nice name in my opinion, how about that?

Millie is very sweet too, I like it. Try not to let mothers and mother in law influence you too much. Perhaps you could say to them whichever of you learns the very simple and easy pronunciation first, or stops whinging I will give her your name as a middle name?!

I think Millie and Mia sound too matchy so I wouldn't go for that.
I wouldn't worry too much about people pronouncing it differently to the way you want. There are a wide variety of names in my grandchildren's school and I find that people use the pronunciation that the parent does . If she is always introduced as X that is what other people will call her.

you know when you know someone with the name and it puts you off, that’s Layla for us! We both know of a Layla but we both don’t know of any Aylas to put us off , I know it might sound silly as they’re very similar

Amelia is very pretty but doesn’t pair well with Mia when said out loud, and reminds me of the princess diaries princess Amelia and they all nn her Mia so I don’t think it would work for second baby x

I've never heard the name Ayla and honestly I would have pronounced it Isla.

I think both names are nice though!

Middle names:

Millie Rose
Millie Eloise
Millie Grace
Millie Jane

You have Mia, who is called Mimi.

Mimi and ..
Aila Grace - same confusion with pronunciation
Ayla Grace - people will easily learn the pronunciation. Ay is commonly said as eye in names like Maya.
Aisla Grace - Scottish - AYZ-luh
Millie - too similar - say Mimi and Millie aloud together.
Camilla Grace - Cami, Milla - still similar to Mimi but easier to say aloud.
Grace Camilla
Grace Millicent
Grace Melissa
Isla Grace
Leila Grace - my favourite
Louisa Grace - Lulu - my favourite

There are several Ayla's around here, pronounced how you want to. I think it comes into the style at the moment which is the vowel starting girls names ending in 'a' . Dds nursery class is all Ayla, Aliya, Orla, Isla, Ava etc. There's also 2 in the baby group I go to and I live very rurally so it's definitely becoming popular here.
So I don't think people would struggle with it as it seems to be quite popular! It's a very pretty name but all the 'a' names around at the moment would put me off.

Ottilie shortened to ‘Tilly’ or ‘Lotty’

I am a teacher, I know a couple of Aylas. Never pronounced Isla.

I also know a couple who spell it Aila.

I love Ayla Grace. The pronunciation you want is how I would naturally say it. I would never think it was Isla.
I think Ayla and Mia sound lovely together.

How much do you like it because you think it's uncommon, and how much do you just like it? Because Ayla is #54 in the popularity charts and rising, with 817 babies named it in 2023 (assuming you're in Eng or Wales). Similar sounding Isla is number 3. Still not likely to be multiple in a year, but not as uncommon as you might be thinking. I've only heard it pronounced Isla, so I think this will be a common mispronunciation.

I think the same as others that Millie is too close to Mia, and like the idea of using a longer name with that as a nickname. What about Alyssa, Taylor, Amelie as alternatives?

Our dog is called Millie, nicknamed Mils.

I would pronounce Ayla like Isla. Very confusing that name to me.

I wouldn’t use another M name. Too cutesy.

You could use Millicent? Amelia ( too close to Mia?) Amali? Amity? Melia?

Suggestions for middle names for Millie …

Millie Roberta
Millie Jacqueline
Millie Elisabeth
Millie Francesca
Millie Genevieve
Millie Caterina
Millie Ursula
Millie Josephine
Millie Georgina
Millie Caroline
Millie Annabel

Our two dogs are Millie and Layla ! 😂

I automatically read the name Ayla as 'eye-la' in my head. That's how I thought it should be pronounced? I've taught an Ayla before and that's how they pronounced it, I had no idea it could also be pronounced with 'ay as in day'. I think there will always be some element of confusion around it and personally wouldn't chose it for that reason.

I love Millie as a nickname but I would personally use it as a short form of Matilda or Milena (although I wouldn't actually use either of those currently because they're way too popular where I live).

Wouldn't Matilda usually have the short forms Tilly or maybe Mattie though? But obviously people can use any nicknames they like.

I think Milena is lovely, and a natural shortening to Millie. It's more popular in Eastern Europe I think. But I've been told on here before that it sounds like an unfortunate medical term. Still, so does Amelia and nobody takes any notice of that.

Ayla will be Ayla in school. Teachers always use their correct names with correct pronunciations. Nicknames grow organically and may not be to do with first names anyway. Millie goes really well with Mia and its a cute combo. Family with opinions change their minds as soon as the baby is born. A cousin is no reason not to use a name! Why not Grace after Millie if thats the middle choice for Ayla? Go with your favourite and don't worry! I prefer Millie

Yes, but I hate both of those short forms so would push for Millie 😅. If Maria can be Mia then Matilda can be Millie!

Yes, Milena is common in Eastern Europe, but also with Italian speakers. There are a lot of Serbians and Italians where I live (not UK). It was on our list for my daughter because I have Ukrainian heritage - Mila Kunis was born in Ukraine and is actually Milena.

What about Alba or Alva? Or Emilia/Amelia for the Millie nn

I definitely wouldn't use Alba in the UK.
It's the Gaelic word for Scotland and therefore is all sorts of company names from Skips, to tv channels and it's a political party

I was going to say, with Ayla you (and her) will be constantly having to spell it , correct the pronunciation and see it spelt incorrectly over the years...but then Millie can also be spelt Milly - so you might be saying eg - on the phone - 'it's Millly with an ' ie' not Milly with a 'Y'...I have had this myself with a family member's name so something to think about! However, if that's not a problem, out of the two...I'd choose Milly 😃

how about Mila?