When you see

JessBoss · August 2010

Emilia, do you pronounce it Amelia?

I am warming up to this name, but don't really *love* the way Amelia looks.

My DH's father is Hispanic, if the concern that Emilia is of that heritage, and I'm not arises. (From what I understand it is?)

njmoh · August 2010

That is how I pronounced it when I saw it.

I don't get what you mean by the whole hispanic part of your post

JessBoss · August 2010

njmoh:
That is how I pronounced it when I saw it.
I don't get what you mean by the whole hispanic part of your post

I meant that sometimes on this board I've seen people say no to a name, because they feel if you are not of that heritage, you shouldn't name your child that.

While I don't think the Emilia spelling is Hispanic, I just put that there in case.

Emiliana7 · August 2010

No, I pronounce the 2 names differently. Amelia with an AH and Emilia with an EH sound.

HTH.

But I do really really like Emilia -----> its close to Emiliana!

BrittKav · August 2010

It's not a huge difference, but I would pronounce it EM-ilia, instead of UH-melia.

strangebird · August 2010

I do not pronounce them the same. Amelia is ah-meel-yah and Emilia is emm-ee-lee-ah, so not only do I change the beginning sound, but the ending as well. I am, however, fluent in Spanish, which strongly influences my pronunciation of Emilia.

And no, you do not need to be Hispanic to use a name of Spanish origins for your child. I'm not German, but I intend to use a German name for my child--weird? Not at all.

I do have to say, though, that I think Amelia would fit in with the names of your other children much better. Since they are not ethnic names, I feel like Emilia would stand out a bit.

Allie30 · August 2010

I would pronounce it the same. When I say aloud what some of the poster's are saying, I can't even hear the difference they are describing.

Then again, I have two friends named Carrie and Kerry and their names sound different in my head but apparently not when I say them out loud to people.

JessBoss · August 2010

strangebird:
I do not pronounce them the same. Amelia is ah-meel-yah (a as in automobile) and Emilia is emm-ee-lee-ah (emm as in Emma), so not only do I change the beginning sound, but the ending as well. I am, however, fluent in Spanish, which strongly influences my pronunciation.
And no, you do not need to be Hispanic to use a name of Spanish origins for your child. I'm not German, but I intend to use a German name for my child--weird? Not at all.
I do have to say, though, that I think Amelia would fit in with the names of your other children much better. Since they are not ethnic names, I feel like Emilia would stand out a bit.

I hope I didn't offend anyone by saying it was a Hispanic name, according to my FIL! Sorry in advance if I did.

Amelia does "look" better with my children's names, I agree. Separate, I like Emilia. But now that you say that Emilia is an ethnic name, while the others are not, it makes sense.

Thanks

strangebird · August 2010

JessBoss:
strangebird:
I do not pronounce them the same. Amelia is ah-meel-yah (a as in automobile) and Emilia is emm-ee-lee-ah (emm as in Emma), so not only do I change the beginning sound, but the ending as well. I am, however, fluent in Spanish, which strongly influences my pronunciation.
And no, you do not need to be Hispanic to use a name of Spanish origins for your child. I'm not German, but I intend to use a German name for my child--weird? Not at all.
I do have to say, though, that I think Amelia would fit in with the names of your other children much better. Since they are not ethnic names, I feel like Emilia would stand out a bit.

I hope I didn't offend anyone by saying it was a Hispanic name, according to my FIL! Sorry in advance if I did.
Amelia does "look" better with my children's names, I agree. Separate, I like Emilia. But now that you say that Emilia is an ethnic name, while the others are not, it makes sense.
Thanks

Here's a point of comparison you might not have considered. Sit down with a pen and paper and write both names out in cursive and in print several times. I think you'll find that Amelia is much easier to write, because capital As are fewer strokes of the pen in both print and cursive. I like this test, especially when the spelling doesn't change the pronunciation much, because your child will have to write her name an awful lot while growing up and will have to sign it her whole life. Try it and see if it sways you to one direction or another.