Everyone is getting my baby's name wrong

[Laura3091]

So my baby girls name is Emila - It is pronounced as Em-ee-la.

Everyone keeps calling her Amelia and can’t get their head around Emila. Don’t think it’s that hard to grasp tbh but I know she is going to have trouble as she grows up with people mispronouncing her name.

Do we just shorten it to Mila? (Mee-La) to make it easier for everyone?

That's just simply wrong.

Sure Jan

Honestly, some people never get it. I’ve got people who have known me for years who still get my name wrong.

What about Emi for a nickname? Super cute.

I initially read Emila as 'Eh-Mill-Ah' too.

I’d pronounce it Eh mil a. Bit like Emily with an A.
People will be assuming it’s a variant of Emilia too. In certain accents this sounds same as Amelia.
Mila will also get pronounced 2 ways me la or my la.
Either get used to saying it’s pronounced this way and your dc will do this as get older or if it will bug you change it now.

Give over!

There is always a risk when you give your child an unusual name that people will not pronounce it in the way you want to hear it.

I had an Emila in my class a few years ago and it was pronounced as Em-i (as in igloo)-la. She used to get it shortened to Emi which sounds cute.

From experience her friends will call her all manner of shortened versions of her name so why worry about it now? She is yours, you named her, if people have a problem with saying her name then that’s on them.
Please don’t shorten it to please anyone.

I’ve known several Camillas call themselves Mils.

I think it’s a cute name and I did read it and say it correctly. I do however always get Mila confused and say Myla.

But my daughter has a name that’s uncommon and does look very similar to another more popular name too so we always get that name or a mispronunciation of her name. If I’m being honest we just correct people and it’s starting to feel like we have to correct people less often as she’s settling into nursery and she’s been introduced to most of our family and friends.

Myla would be the natural phonetically choice, like Milo.

The thing about boring Olivia is that everyone knows how to pronounce it.

You don’t hear people saying “ No , her name isn’t O Leee veee a, or Olly vea. “

You either choose a name which conforms to a particular pronounciation or you choose the name you want and expect to spend the next few decades correcting people. My friend wanted to call her child Eva, but pronounce it Ava, but after a few try outs she decided to amend the spelling, with the result that everyone calls her Ava, and spells it correctly too.

I also read it similar to Emily, but with an 'a' instead of y. I think Mila could also be pronounced incorrectly as I read that as My-la. You could always go for Em? Emi also sounds sweet.

Although I agree with others - keep correcting people and the people who matter will know how to say her name.

What a lovely name.

Mila might happen as a natural shortening in the future but I'd stick with it atm & correct people.

That’s a bit unkind. People were just explaining why people might be mispronouncing her name and pointing out that they might still mispronounce your suggested shortened version. No need to be rude to all the Olivias out there!

It's a pretty name but of course people are going to hear/read it as a similar name they are familiar with. She'll have a lifetime of it, comes with the territory of an unusual name.

You could add the phonetic sound of it in brackets until people get used to it?

But if you pick an unusual name, this is the outcome.

It's a nice name TBH but as it's rarely seen people will automatically read Emilia as that's just how brains work. I like Mila and I think people will recognise that a lot more easily than Emila.

Ahhhhhh, I get it. You're one of those 'I want a different unique name.' type mums. Who is now upset because the different and unique name isn't boring/well known enough to be easily recognised.

Perhaps you should have spelled it Emeela.

Well OP, whether it's a foreign name or a made up name, the fact is it's not a common name in the UK so it will be pronounced incorrectly much of the time. Did this possibility really not occur to you? You're very scathing of "boring" names like Olivia, but at least everyone knows how to pronounce them.

I'd pronounce Emila as Em-ill-a, like Emily but with an A instead of a Y at the end.

There's nothing you can do to prevent people pronouncing Emila incorrectly. Friends and family will learn, but new people will often get it wrong. That's the price you (and your daughter) pay for having an unusual name.

That was pronunciation I’d go for (until corrected) you explained it better.

Em i la

That is just rude. You came asking for advice, and are shitty about other peoples choice of name.

You can call your kid whatever you like, but also be prepared that she will spend her entire life correcting people. Your choice.

I’d actually put it in the same category as Olivia of pretty but saturated since it’s an evolution on the Emilia/Emily/Amelia family. Missing one letter out, as it turns out, makes for an inconvenience not uniqueness. I would shorten to Mila.

I read it as Emilia initially. It’s obvious this would happen and could have been easily avoided.

You and her will just have to correct people and spell it out. I have a simple, 4 letter name and have had to do this my entire life. Not the end of the world, but a PITA sometimes.

Mila and Emila do remind me of Milia- the skin condition though!