Which name version sounds the best?

[LostKelp]

Sometimes we pick names that look neat but we can't pronounce, or sound cool but we can't write, or we have a title for a thing which we haven't decided. This is a regular struggle for me because I write arabic characters and I am not an arabic speaker. So if you have a name or a title that you want to test for the best version, drop a poll below. I'll have one for my romani assassin character.

Her name is pronounced ILL - EE - YA.

• Illiya
• Ilia
• Ilija
• Iliya
• Elia
• these all are difficult to read

Show results

[CarltonIsaac]

Elia reads and sounds the best.

[darthmongoose]

I went with Iliya, but I'd also suggest Ilya as an option, because that's a recognisable name. I went with Iliya over Eliya because for a British English speaker the I and E would be pronounced very differently, like ee-le-ya versus elly-ya.

[BoomerZ]

For english speakers, having too many consonants and vowels together just makes it confusing to a reader. Lliya is 2 consonants followed by 3 vowels. (Y is usually a vowel in a name). Two "L"s are also not a normal english combinations. Elia seems the best option for an english reader and it can be easily looked at as EE-lia.

[hakei]

I prefer Iliya or Illiya — Elia seems like it should be read with an "eh" sound like Elliot or Elizabeth.

[Kelheor]

@BoomerZ it's not "L" in the beginning, it's "i".

I would definitely read " Elia" differently.
Ilya is a Slav (male) version of Eliahu, so that's also this thing. For this particular pronunciations I'd go for Illiya or Ilija, although there's always this problem with how you'd read "j" in names, still remembering one from Six of Crows ... So Illiya would be less confusing.

[moontokkym]

As a Brit Illiya is the only one I'd instinctively only prononce Ill-ee-ya. Elia I'd go more for eh-lee-ya, like the E in Emma, Emily or Ella, or even Ey-lee-ya like in some irish and welsh names you can find in the UK, so if you're going for a spelling where 99% of people are going to get it right, then I'd recommend Illiya.

But also I'm the person who named my MC Khayla (pronounced Rayla) because she's from Qatar and Kh is a rolled R sound in arabic, and also a character named Aide pronounced AY-DEE like Hermione... So I just assume people are going to pronounce their names wrong until maybe one day there's a screen adaptation (which is unlikely) or they get to the part about Aide's past where they learn that her name comes from the initials A-D. I don't mind people pronouncing their names wrong though, I don't think it hurts their experience reading my comic.

[2DLenzy]

Well, I'm probably the only one who picked 'difficult to read', but only because it's Arial font and I's and l's look the friggin same, IoI!

My brain pronounced them all the same (American Southern, ill-ya), but I do like 'Elia' in comparison to the others. Maybe it's me picking the one that looks the most different, but that's just me.

[Lensing]

Ellia looks better and is better to read, but depends on the font you use
1) Ellia
2) Illiya

[NickRowler]

I picked Elia most because I am way to dyslexic for IIIIIIIIiya.

Tho you could do Eliya.

[morganicfoods]

If it were me I'd go with something like Eliia, Elleeya or Ileeya (depending on the font). I don't care if the names look a lil ugly, just so long as its clear.

[moontokkym]

OH yeah now you mention it Illiya would be difficult to read with a non serif font/when using upper and lower case. Would ILLIYA all caps be easier to read?

(I'm learning welsh so being able to recognise l from I on sight is a necessary skill TwT)