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?

@Laura3091

nothing wrong with more prevalent names, OP. I would much rather have a “boring” name that people knew how to pronounce and spell than an “unusual” or “unique” name.

I don't understand why people can't cope with "Em - mee - la". Seems simple to me.

But I've spent half my lifetime correcting people as to what my first name is so I'm probably biased.

I'd rather be boring than pretentious, but each to their own!

It looks like a lazy spelling mistake.

Yes shorten it. I still can't get it to stick my head after saying it myself a few times!

It's a lovely name. It's easy, especially once you see it written.

Keep it. Yes, a few idiots might comment but the difficulty of having a slightly unusual name is vastly overrated.

I admittedly initially misread this as Emilia. Not Emila.

Mila as in Mila Kunis? (Am I showing my age here? I don't know if she's still relevant/known nowadays...😅)

I suspect you'll simply have to correct people. Those that know and care about your DD will learn how to pronounce her name.

Not the best name, I would change it. Makes me think of Milia (little white milk spots that can appear on the skin).

I hate my name and curse my parents, as the name is unusual and very close to a common name (think Fennifer). You should change your daughters name asap before you ruin the rest of her life. I had to do this myself as an adult.

Lol,😂 Gif Gone Wrong!

I'd look at that and pronounce it Emil-uh, with the emphasis on the first syllable.

Sorry but it's not a name I've heard before and nor, I suspect, has almost everyone, hence the mispronunciation. You either tweak it a bit so it's more of a familiar name, or you accept that people will get it wrong.

To my eye it looks like Emily has been spelled incorrectly by replacing the 'y' with an 'a'. 🤔 I am not surprised that people get it wrong as it is too similar to well known names.

How would you read it as Eh-Mill-Lah? There's one L? Same goes for Emily. @Portugal1987

Just correct them every time, say sorry it’s X not Y. It’s a lovely name and even if you had a new name spelt qwerty and Pronounced “Bob” you can still correct people

It’s a lovely name. If people don’t read it properly (their error, doesn’t mean it’s a terrible name), just correct them. It’s on them to learn! And congratulations on your baby girl ☺️

"mil" and "mill" are homophones in English, meaning they are pronounced the same way. Both are pronounced with the /mɪl/ sound, rhyming with "bill" and "still."

ChatGPT agrees with me. I'm a native English speaker.

I would stay with the name. Everyone who knows her will call her by the proper name. Just nake sure her teacher say it properly and the kids will automatically say it too. Soon she'll be able to correct people herself. I have several children with unusual names. People know them now and we've not had any more problems with names. If a substitute teacher mispronounce them, their friends often correct them!

Emilia and Mila are both super popular right now. So I can see why people would get confused. But if you correct people they will soon get it right.

You do know that when I say 'read it as', I'm referring to the pronunciation rather than the spelling right?

@GAJLY your children will probably be meeting more people in their lives. So plenty more people to correct. It goes on forever I think, right up to when they have to tell the carers in the nursing home how to pronounce their name. That's the price for having an "unusual" name.

Yeh, I think because Emilia and Amelia are so common now, I'd assume one of these if I heard the name out lous. I've never heard of Emila before, and I'd presume you were just saying one of the other 2 names, but quickly

@Laura3091 where is it from? I’m not aware if it as a name, google autocorrected my search to Emilia too. I think it’s setting her up for a lifetime of difficulty.

English doesn't have acute accents.

When I had my DD I met another mum who was irritated that her child's 'unique' name (not unique in the UK but was unique-ish in the country I lived in for a year) wasn't the only one in nursery and that my DD had the same name.

She comforted herself with the knowledge that 'Oh well, NO ONE will ever spell their kids name the way mine is spelled.' I remember looking at her thinking, that really isn't the flex you think it is.

I did see Emilia when I read the first post. If I saw you regularly, I'd catch on quickly if corrected though. I think I'd pronounce Mila correctly but might wonder if it were Miller. I'd stick with Emila and just let people get used to it.