Lily or Clelia - Italian baby!

[GreenBlacksButterscotch]

We are Italians living in the UK the last 5 years and due in 2 months our DD1. We live in a relatively international/close to London area and our kid will have an italian surname.

We are in between Lily and Clelia.

• Lily because it's easy, international, straightforward and works well in both UK and Italy. There are not many Lilys around here. What put us a bit off is that for Italians it sounds a bit too international (not authentic Italian), and a bit childish/too cute for an adult. Not a strong enough standalone name!

• Clelia is a family name with strong italian heritage behind. Originated by Cloelia and it's a significant name for us as it is the name of a relative that we want to honour. Clelia in Italy is Cleh-Lia not Clee-Lia, and this how we are planning to call her. I know in the UK the default is Clee-Lia which is why it puts us a bit off, having to correct people is annoying. But, I mean it will be just a few corrections in the beginning of everything i.e. nursery/school/work etc. and then end of story?

We don't want a double name, so please don't suggest that! Just advise between the two please given our circumstances and given we are not British and we don't know if we will ever return back to Italy!

I've been trying to imagine 'clelia' in an Italian accent and have decided it sounds lovely.
In English however, to my ears it sounds like clatter or cloaca... Not so lovely.

Another thing to bear in mind is an 'L' can look like an 'i' in a lot of fonts, which might make it extra confusing.
Cielia?

I think Clelia struggles to work in English. My default would be to the "Clee-lia" pronunciation. It's not a well known Italian name here so people will guess at the pronunciation whereas they might know e.g. Giovanna.

Not a massive fan of Lily and it doesn't speak to your Italian heritage- are there any other options? With Clelia as a middle name?

Clelia Lily is a perfect name

While Lily is lovely and is fine for an adult, I would go with Clelia. While unusual, people will learn. The connection with your heritage and family is important, and you may regret not using it in time. Clelia is new to me, but I can see its sophistication and beauty. One of my daughters has an unusual name that she needs to spell out and pronounce to people, but they get it quickly, and she has never wished for a different name.

I LOVE the name Clelia and I knew the pronunciation before you wrote it down and I had heard of the name before. I am not Italian.

Clelia seems like the one you heart leans more towards. People will easily get over the mispronouncing.

I have two children with unusual names and I find that once I tell people how to pronounce, it’s not an issue thereafter.

Prefer lily.

Clelia is nice too but I doubt many people have heard of it and will assume it’s Celia.

can you have one as first name and the other as a middle name?

my Ds father is Italian and I gave up on the name Jake as it was hard and uncomfortable to pronounce for Italian speakers. Went with something easier in the end.😊

both your names of choice are very nice.

My reaction was the same as above. Clelia is beautiful. I far prefer it to Lily.

As an extra anecdote, my daughter has an Italian name that has a French/English and an Italian pronunciation. We use the French/English one mostly but are not fussed if someone uses the Italian :)

Lily is so overused.. it’s this generations Louise. I personally wouldn’t go for something so boring if I had Italian heritage.

My vote would go to Lilia, with Lily for day to day use. Then she would have a more formal version that your Italian relatives might think of as more of a “proper” name, but still be known as Lily, especially as a little child.

How would name Lilia be perceived in the Uk? Does it have a modern feel? An easy European name? A made up name in an effort to not be another Lily? Or a valid British name that is known over the years?

Thank you!

Lily definitely.

Lily is a nice name but far too common right now in the UK. I know 5 of them.

Clelia i also thought would be a typo for Celia, so i would pronounce it as rhyming with Celia.

I like Lilia the best.

Could you call her Clelia, known as Lily day to day?

Lillia does feel modern to me. My teen has a friend called Lillia from an arty family.it would be a nice combination of both names whilst being a proper name in it's own right.

I like Clelia but she would get it mispronounced. You could have it as her official name but use the shortening Lia on an everyday basis?

What about Laylia, if the mispronunciation is likely? It's hard to mispronounce this.

Clelia sounds clunky and made up to me whereas Lilia sounds delicate and pretty.

There is also this autocorrect issue!

I prefer Clelia. Such a pretty name and meaningful to you. It’s not hard to pronounce. It was the name of one of the leads in Maestro in Blue which was where I heard it first, and that was very popular in mainland Europe so if you live in an international area it may not be seen as that unusual

Me too. But having read your post, I think it's a lovely choice in the original pronunciation and people would get used to it. Is it the Italian of Chloe?

People would pronounce it clay-Lia I thin
Nice name though, I think

Lily is very “British” and so common these days. What about Lilia?

Don’t go with this. Op wants it pronounced cleh-Lia not claylia

Clelia is beautiful and has family significance for your daughter. Anyone can be called Lily.

People from all over the world live in London and have their non-English names pronounced correctly every day. I really wouldn't worry on that front - it's not like 40 years ago - schools, nurseries and employers now are (rightly) careful to call people by the correct name.

I love Clelia. I’d personally go with that as it’s a beautiful name and holds meaning to you. I’ve nothing against Lily either but I prefer Lilia out of the two

I know 2 people called Lilia. I think it’s a lovely name. It can also be short for Lilias, which is an old Scottish name. I think it’s better than Clelia, personally.

While Clelia sounds beautiful in Italian it sounds like some sort of disease when pronounced with a British accent! I would go for Lily.