Elena writes:<\/p>\n
My name is Elena and my husband Oliver and I are expecting our second baby – a girl – who is due on the 5th of January. We have a son named Max Oliver, and we absolutely adore his name. Fortunately we do not have the problem of being unable to agree on any names. We have three girls names that we would be happy to use in a heartbeat, but they have some issues that may make them unsuable. Middle name will be either Elena or May after me (family tradition).<\/p>\n
Our top name is Alaia, uh-LIE-uh. There is the obvious problem of “a liar”. Infact when I told my mum that we loved Alaia her response was “Alaia? Like a liar? That could cause some problems.” Although the next day she told me that she actually really liked it, after she thought more about it. It sounds sooooo pretty when you don’t think of “a liar”. But I would hate to give my daughter a name that gives her grief. Another problem is that Elena and Alaia are kinda similar sounding, though I do go by Elle 80% of the time. So what do you think? Is Alaia usable? If we used Alaia she would be Alaia May.<\/p>\n
Our second name is Ruby. Max and Ruby. Like the childrens TV show. Does that make Ruby unusable for us? We LOVE it, and we love how Max and Ruby sound together, but does it seem tacky? Like we were trying to copy the TV show? She would be Ruby Elena. Max Oliver and Ruby Elena. Oh it’s so cute! We are hoping to have one more baby, so if we had Max, Ruby and Theo (our favourite boy name) does that make it better?<\/p>\n
Our third name is Mia. It comes with little problems, such as the repeating ‘M’ initial. Max and Mia. I think it sounds cute, but I don’t know if it’s too cutesy and tacky. We also know a few little girls named Mia, so I don’t know if it’s a bit popular (I know Ruby is popular too (at least in Aus), but we don’t know any). Also the middle name is an issue, Mia May sounds way too cutesy, but Mia Elena doesn’t sound right either because of them both ending in ‘a’. So yeah, I’m just not sure.<\/p>\n
Our last name is James, so we really want a girls name that is clearly feminine. Some other names we have considered, but aren’t using are:
\nScarlett
\nAmaia
\nRaina
\nAmelia<\/p>\nAnd like I said before, our favourite boy name is Theo, so if we have another boy this will most likely be his name!<\/p>\n
So what do you think Swistle and readers? Are these names usable or unusable? Maybe a poll could be helpful. Suggestions for other names would be great too!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Another issue with Alaia is pronunciation: I wouldn’t have known how it was pronounced, and probably would have tried “ah-LAY-yah” first (I’d be thinking, “Maybe it’s like Alaina, but without the N”). After finding out the actual pronunciation, I noticed I immediately started using “a liar” as a mnemonic to help me remember how to pronounce it—unfortunately reinforcing that connection.<\/p>\n
Names similar to Alaia that might avoid the issues:<\/p>\n
Eliza
\nIsla
\nLila
\nLinnea
\nMaya\/Mya (same middle name problems as Mia)<\/p>\nMy favorite is Eliza: to me it sounds almost exactly like Alaia, but without the liar-sound and spelling\/pronunciation issues. Eliza May James; Max and Eliza.<\/p>\n