Which of the 4 names?

[SundaySunallday]

We narrowed down our name options to 4 for our DD1 due in May!

We are both Greeks living in the UK in a quite big city with airport etc. think of London but slightly smaller.

The names are:

1. Lily
2. Aliki
3. Klelia
4. Aelia

Concerns are: Lily is safe place but not very greek and too common, Aliki is probably ok, Klelia is probably ok but we want it Kleh rather than Klee. Aelia is a beautiful distinctive greek name derived from Helios the god of sun but I am unsure about mispronunciation issues in the UK and how well it will be perceived here.

Please help as I am lost in doing circles in my mind!

Aliki is my favourite too

Aliki is my favourite, followed by Klelia, then Aelia.

Steer clear of Lily.

I really love Klelia.

Thank you for the IPA! Do you know it for Aelia and Klelia?

I think Aliki will be butchered.

I’m first drawn to Aelia. When I see Aelia, I think “ay” as in play, “lia” as in Leah. I also think the name Ayla is rising in popularity in my area and Aelia would be mistaken for it.

Klelia, I’m thinking “clay” as in modelling clay, “l” palatalised, “ya” as in yu in yuck. Another really pretty name.

I don’t think you should use Lily just to accommodate other people, but I also never think there is anything wrong with a popular name. It’s popular because it’s good! I always think the idea of not using a name because other people are is silly.

I like Aelia and Klelia. Yes, I'd need a bit of help with pronunciation the first time but then I'd know it.

Aliki.

I’m an Alice. DS has a Greek friend whose mum calls me Aliki - pronounced Ah-LEE-ki. I love it!

Our DD is Alison, her Greek Cypriot FIL calls her Aliki - as you say, the pronunciation is everything !
We love it too.

“A licky” is much worse for teasing for a girl than “a leaky” so that would be off the list for me. Can you imagine the grossest of teen boys asking for a lick…

You obviously love Aelia the most so use it! People, especially those in big cosmopolitan cities, learn names all the time. It’s fine.

Aelia is gorgeous. Aeli for short! I know two older people with that name and it strikes me as unusual, pretty and with a great provenance.

@FunnyOrca , 'klɛl:iɐ (I think but the ɛ is as said by Greeks not Brits)
aˈɛɫ:iɐ

Tbh, I can see little potential issues with all of them, and don’t think they are pretty enough to compensate. Sorry if I’m being harsh.

I like Persephone, Electra, Eleni/a, Cleo(patra), Chara, Cressida, Theodora.

Lily. Then she will not spend her whole life telling people the pronunciation. And it is a lovely name.

I'm sorry I'm not answering your question exactly. But I just wanted to say that there is child in my DC's class with the most beautiful Greek name; the DGM is from Greece, and the mother - who was born and raised in the UK - also has a very lovely Greek name. I am going to infer from this that the mother's experience with her name was a positive one and therefore, she chose to pass that cultural heritage to her daughter.

The daughter's name could possibly - to somebody who is not Greek - be seen as difficult to pronounce or whatever. And yet (despite a perception amongst a few parents with multiples in the school that my DC 's cohorts are the offspring of one of the more challenging group of parents In terms of how they relate to each other 😏) I have never heard anything negative said about the name of this little girl . From my albeit very limited experience (as in, 'I ain't her ma!') nobody that I have encountered speaking of her has ever mispronounced her name either. It was a name I had never heard before; the spelling of it was a bit challenging for me and so it may have been to other people. But the mother is as cool and chilled as her little girl is lovely. I'm just guessing but I can't really see her as being the type to get worked up about people potentially spelling her daughter's name wrong by mistake.

And so to completely not answer your original question, all the names on your list are lovely! Go with something that you love the sound and feel of in your mouth and just don't worry about the rest of it.

I think loads of people look for a really unique name for their child that no one else will have. In this case the mother chose a name that is probably not that unusual in Greece and so it will never be featured on the awful Tragedegh subreddit, and yet manages to be beautiful and unique because of its own sound and the rarity of Greek names around here.

And before anyone asks, I obviously can't say what it is 😂 (outing); If you are lucky enough to bump into the little lady one day, you will find out 😉.

Absolutely this! And honestly the name of the child in my previous post does have the potential for mispronunciation on the last two syllables. But people get told once, then they know.

But people get told once, then they know. @crowscomingafterYOU
Is not true. Some people will know others won't or won't care.

I work with an Eleni. She introduces herself as 'El-ENN-y' e.g. when chairing a meeting, but people address her as EL-unn-y, El-AIN-y and El-ENN-y.