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Leah
Because of my linguistic background I would pronounce Leah LAY-ah in stead of LEE-ah. I like the name LAY-ah much better than LEE-ah, but I suppose that in English that would Leia. However that has such strong Star Wars connections.
So what do you guys think, if I want the name to be LAY-ah?
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I love Leah. Both pronounciations are gorgeous in my opinions. You can't go wrong with Leah. :)
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I pronounce it like you do - just as I pronounce Leila lay-luh.
I don't dislike Leah, but prefer Leila by miles.
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I 100% agree with you that LAY-ah is much better pronunciation than LEE-ah.

This message was edited 7/3/2011, 3:23 AM

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With that pronounciation, Darth Vader better be the father.
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I like the name Leia, and I don't automatically think of Star Wars when I hear/see it. I actually know a girl whose name is pronounced LAY-uh, but she spells it Leigha. Other possibities could be Laya, Laia, Laea.
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I think even in English-speaking countries, adding the accent aigu and dropping the h--spelling it Léa--would cause people to pronounce the name as LAY-uh.

This message was edited 7/2/2011, 7:06 PM

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I agree, EXCEPT, most legal documents in the US don't allow for the accent mark. So she would just be Lea and I think people would say LEE or LEE-ah more often then Lay-uh....
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I agreeSpell it Léa and you will get the pronunciation you want.
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I completely agree. I think most people would know to pronounce the first part LAY rather than LEE because of the accent aigu. If most people in English-speaking countries can handle Renée, they can handle Léa too.
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I agree and I think Léa looks very pretty, I'd use it.
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I know someone with the middle name Leah who pronounces it LAY-a. It's only her middle name, so she probably doesn't have many issues because of that. I've never asked her. Anyways, Leia is too "Star Wars" for me, but how about Léa?

This message was edited 7/2/2011, 6:53 PM

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I love LAY-ah, both spelled Leia and Lea. If I wanted the sound without the Star Wars, then Lea is what I'd use (with or without an accent aigu).
I've also seen Leya. I like that too, but Lea seems closer to Leah.

This message was edited 7/2/2011, 6:42 PM

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I think that, in the US, Leah will be lee-uh and not lay-uh at least to 97% of people. If you dislike Leia, (which I don't automatically think "star wars", but if you do, that's what counts) maybe you can consider alternate spellings.
Here are some possibilities:
Laya / Layah
Leya / Leyah
Leiah - or is that still too close??I kind of feel that Leia is the best of all for your pronunciation....
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Kind of OT...I've always wondered this, and since Leah is the topic of discussion I suppose now is as good a time as any to ask. How do you pronounce your niece's name, Lilleah?
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It's like Lilia.
Basically the story goes that my SIL was determined to name her first daughter Lilia. My brother thinks that the name Lili sounds like that of an old crotchety house maid and so they had to compromise. What resulted was the same name, but a spelling that encourages the nick name Leah and not Lili. (or so my brother feels and that's all that mattered to my SIL, as long as she could use the name)
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Léa!
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