Need HELP/opinion with baby name (girl)
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Need HELP/opinion with baby name (girl)
| Sun, 04-22-2007 - 11:05am |
So I'm due May 27th & for about the past 4 months we decided to go with the name Amiah only we had troubles figuring out how to spell it so that it wouldn't be hard to pronounce or too confusing. We first tried Amaiah, which I liked but my dad being an English teacher LOL kept saying its going to get mispronounced and its not "phonetically" correct. Everyone and their neighbor has put in two cents about this name. No one has said they don't like it only how the spelling should or shouldn't be. It is pronounced A-MY-A NOT A-ME-A or A-MAY-A..Basically I'm now at an indecisive stage of my pregnancy where my hormones are out of whack and I could cry at anything and last night it all came to a head because my family was teasing and yeah I think they like the name its just oh the spelling...and mocking it and so then out of left field my husband says I kind of like the name Colby. I was going Oh my gosh where is this coming from. Here I'm supposed to be excited and don't get me wrong I'm thrilled about this baby, but why is naming her taking so hard? We have a 9 year old son and we were told that we might have a rough time having another one and we honestly after years of trying were shocked to find out I was pregnant with her, maybe that is why everything has to be SOOO perfect she is like a little miracle baby. I just was curious what other people out there think besides family people in the public that see her name if they could pronounce it spelled Amiah or if anyone has other ideas as to which was would be easiest to pronunciate there are so many variations like Amyah (which looks like Amy to me) or Amaya I didn't know about all the a's. My son's name starts with a C i think that is why my husband was throwing out Colby our last name starts with a C as well. We got home last night and my husband says I was just messing with you I do like the name Amiah - and I keep thinking in the back of my mind if I go with Amiah will I regret it because of the hassle with pronunciation OR if I change it will I wish I would've stuck with Amiah? The middle name is Marie after my husbands deceased mother. Please if anyone can help I'd appreciate it, I want something kind of different rather than popular or common as my son's name is unique. Thank you!!!!!! :)

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Well since Maya and Maia can be pronounced MIE-a, like you want, and Amaya and Amaia happen to be actual, valid names that some -- if not many -- are fairly familiar with, it seems either of those would be your best bet. Trying to create a spelling (that's not always phonetically correct, as your father pointed out) doesn't help elicit the pronunciation you desire, since it just looks made-up and even less familiar, KWIM?
Amaia might suit you best, since it should help avoid the a-MAY-a pronunciation some will assume with Amaya.
You should be aware -- if you aren't already -- that the name means "the end." I don't know all the linguistics here (just going by BTN, which is generally quite reliable), but some would consider that a negative association. I think in your case it could be used to represent the positive end to your journey -- having tried for years to have this second child and finally seeing your dreams come to fruition. Just something to bear in mind.
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HTH
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It sounds like Amiah is the name you really love best. If I were to see the name written, such as on a class list on the first day of school, or on a resume later in life, I would have to either take a guess between AmEEah and AmEYEah or ask how to pronounce it. The only spelling I saw in your message that I immediately knew to pronounce AmEYEa is Amaiah.
But if Amiah is the name you love best, and you think you may regret not using it, then I'm not sure that this pronunciation issue is the end of the world. I mean, lots of people are named Helena, and since there are two completely valid pronunciations of the name, they go through this all the time. But it's still a great name. I guess my thinking is that if this is really "the name," as far as your heart is concerned, you should use it and just plan to help people with the pronunciation sometimes.
I think that if Amiah is the name you love, you will regret not using it. As far as pronunciation, I would probably pronounce Amiah as A-mee-yuh. Spellings that seem to best fit the pronunciation of A-my-uh, at least for me, would be:
Amaya(h), Amya(h)*
*this is A-my-uh most to me. I guess I tend to think of the pronunciation you are looking for with the use of a "y" instead of an "i". Like Mya would be My-uh to me, and Mia would be Mee-uh to me.
HTH!
Also, this is really weird, but Amiah is only one letter off from "Amish" and they look sort of the same in many fonts--throughout this thread I've been wanting to misread it as "Amish" at a glance. Not that there's anything wrong with that association per se, but it just seems a little strange.
v
I like the Amaya spelling the best and it's the only spelling I've seen IRL. It's the most straightforward to me, and I like it visually better than Amiah. I'd stop talking about it all w/ your family until the baby is born so that you don't have to deal with all the stress.
Good luck!
Liz
Thanks belle_petite for the siggy!
The spelling that I think most looks like uh-MY-uh is Amaya, followed by Amiah. Amaiah honestly just throws me off b/c of the -aia-, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it when I first see it.
The name is beautiful, and I think it's a great choice. However, b/c it's not one that's well-known with only a single most common spelling, it will probably be mispronounced and misspelled occasionally. I don't think that's the end of the world. Really. Once people hear the correct pronunciation and see the name, they'll probably be fine. (And again, I think Amaya is the most clear.)
My younger DD is Julianna, and the doctor's office calls her Julia almost every other time that we're in there. People will mess up almost every name at some point, so I wouldn't let that stop you from using it.
Amaya/Amiah is just beautiful.
Stephanie, mom to Megan Joy (nn Meg), Julianna May (nn Annie), and baby boy edd 8/30/07
My neighbor has a daughter named Amaya (spelled this way). I think it is a beautiful name.
KT
I believe you should spell it the way you love. However, I do know a little girl with that name, and it is spelled Amya. I don't know if that helps or not. Good luck.
Tracy
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