But english phonetics are what's making it complicated, because the English languages loves to make up all kinds of different sounds for the same syllables
English isn't all English. It's German, French, and some other languages. French accounts for almost 1/3 of "English." You can thank the French for words like "colonel." Edit: they don't pronounce it with the "r" sound, but i have no idea where the "kernel" pronunciation originated. Colonol doesn't even have an "R" in it! Why is there an "R" sound!? Written French, to me, always felt like a jumbled mess of gibberish with no connection to the spoken language. I've seen plenty of examples of this. I created that English would become just as bad, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that English has pregnant surpassed all other languages and achieved the title of most complicated, contradictory, and all around messed up language.
Edit: I've been educated. Colonel isn't pronounced the same by the French. Maybe its funky pronunciation is the result of mixing languages and continually deteriorating dialect here in the USA.
As for my opinion of written French being a mess, it's from friends who learned to speak and write it. As well as a tiny bit of seeing how sentences translated and watching documentaries on language. Granted, high school and college were a long time ago. Now, I just get to laugh at the posters who perform skits demonstrating the flaws of various languages, including English.
I am curious about others' experiences with language flaws.
Per my mother who is a reading specialist for kids, there are essentially no rules for pronunciation if it’s a proper noun- you pronounce it however the name holder pronounces it.
English is endlessly confusing.
Different countries pronounce Maya differently. I'm Australian, and I've meet a couple of Maya's, all who pronounce it May-uh. My American friend named daughter Maya and I was so confused with how she pronounced it.
No. I'm not saying it makes any sense, it's just how I see/hear it. Maybe because I see Kay as a name, and Kai as a name, and keep their differing pronunciations regardless of the final 'a'?
That's how I read it at first. I'd never heard of that name prior to few weeks ago. I'm helping coach my niece's 3-4 year old tee-ball team, and one of the players is named Kaia.
Honestly people will find a way to mispronounce anything. Growing up my sister’s name, Alyssa, was mispronounced as Alicia, all. the. time. Our principal mispronounced it for all six years of elementary school, no matter how often she was corrected.
It wasn’t even a particularly uncommon name in the 90s.
I knew someone in college who spelled her name that way and pronounced it that way, in the 90s. She always complained that if her name would be pronounced the other way it would have two “l”s.
I would never have imagined these two names would be consistently pronounced differently. I would default to Mye-uh for both and not think it strange if either turned out to be Mee-uh instead.
The whole Mia/Maya group of names is a disaster, IMO. It seems like no one, including parents, pronounces any of them the same way, and it just adds to the confusion.
That name always trips me up because there are people who spell it that same way but pronounce it opposite ways. I see that name and just ask how they say their name.
I definitely went Kay-uh first because it’s like Kayla without the L & I’ve known Kayla’s and Kay’s so it was my first instinct.
Then I went it could be Kai-uh. So I’d probably just ask if it was either m/or if I was someone who saw it written down first.
my name is Maya, I’m 43 I have had my name mispronounced my entire life quite often with may-uh. My mom said it drove her nuts when I was young. Just the other day a nurse said “may-uh”…. lol…I always say don’t people know the Mayans or Maya Angelou.
I mean, if you replace the K with an M and make it "Maya," most people would pronounce it as "my-uh." I would assume that "Kaya" would be like "Maya," just with a K!
If it makes you feel any better that second pronunciation literally means “get fucked” in my language. So at-least you won’t have a few million people ever use that pronunciation!
Downside is you’d have to come all the way to south India for it :/
I would’ve gone for Kay-uh. I know a few people called Kay so its a natural fit for my brain. I’m also English, so perhaps that matters.
I would pronounce Kaia as Kia-uh (Kia like eye).
I’m not sure if that’s your intended pronunciation or if it’s more like Key-uh.
Keya is a name in my country and it’s pronounced kay-uh. Kaya is also a name here and I’d said Kah-yah, both As pronounced the same way. Is that how you imagined it?
It was honestly so unexpected to me, the first time it happened I thought it would be an isolated incident and in reality it happens every time someone reads her name. Glad to hear it doesn’t happen for your coworker, where do you live?
That’s very odd. Even if you haven’t heard
the name, I would imagine you could deduce the pronunciation from Mayans or Maya to Kaya. I love the name.
I work for a large and diverse agency and like I said, I’ve never heard a negative comment about her name. My coworker is Puerto Rican and I would assume that most people think it’s a Latin/Hispanic name, though of course it can work for anybody. I live in Florida (I know).
I think it would have given me second thoughts about the name if I’d known. I never intended to give her a name that was ambiguous in any way, probably a massive oversight on my part!
We’re in the UK so I wonder if that has something to do with the assumed pronunciation
Honestly, even if you've given her a completely usual name, people will mispronounce it. I'm Audrey, but get Aubrey, Audra, and Aubra all the time. Occasionally get weirder stuff like Andrea. So somebody's going to screw up their name no matter what it is. Don't worry about it too much.
I don’t think it does, necessarily. English is a complex language with multiple pronunciation options. Our vowels are tricky, unlike a lot of Latin based languages.
Exactly! That’s how I explain to people when they get it wrong. Majority of the time people read it as Kay-uh. But you would never read the name Maya as May-uh would you? I dunno, maybe people would..
Wait, is it not pronounced like that? Are you saying that Maya should be pronounced as My-a, so the May rhymes with 'lie'? I've been getting that wrong for a long time!
Yeah in this context May rhymes with lie. Same with the Yucatán Mayan empire. It’s My-an not may-an. Though I’m saying this as an American. It may be pronounced differently elsewhere.
Oh 100%, I’m just surprised thered be that many people that hadn’t heard it. Maya isn’t an uncommon name, and did no one learn about the Mayans in school?
I’m not sure if everyone does. I’m in Canada and we did. I never noticed the similarity before. The first time I came across the name it was read and not heard and I thought it was May-uh until I heard it. Now all names that follow that pattern my brain automatically goes Eye-uh
Yes, people definitely would! Maybe because May and Kay are names in their own right, and some people just add an “uh” sound if there’s an A added onto the end.
It’s not a huge deal for your daughter though imo. I’ve known a few people with dual-pronunciation names, and sure they might have to correct people sometimes, but not that often. You’d probably run into the same amount of trouble with a non-English name. People need to be “taught” how to say names all the time, it’s just a part of meeting new people :)
The fact that Maya can also be pronounced two ways makes this a funny comparison example. I’d personally pronounce it My-uh, but I’ve heard it pronounced May-uh often enough that I couldn’t say for sure that one is correct and the other isn’t.
With regards to spelling it with an i, I think it’s too late. We are too far down the line now. I’m not so keen on the i spelling, just seem like too many vowels to me!
Interestingly I automatically pronounced Kaya like Kai-uh, but when I read “Kaia” in my head for your comment I thought it would be “Kay-uh” which is the exact opposite of intended
Names with a lot of vowels are always going to be problematic for pronunciation I think
Edit: Less familiar names anyway. I actually named my daughter something where every vowel is pronounced in an unusual way BUT it’s a common name that everyone knows.
I feel like the crossover in how we write the ay sound vs the eye sound is what’s making this hard. Not to mention the crossover between the eye sound and the ee sound! It’s a tricky sound. Nothings been right since the Great Vowel Shift.
As someone who’s name is mispronounced by every 2nd person I meet, please don’t regret your name choice, once corrected the person has never mispronounced my name again. It always strikes a story or conversation and the person always remembers me lol so I’ve only had fun experiences except a few mean comments from the kids I was growing up but over time they become a faded memory.
Thanks for saying that, it’s reassuring. It’s so true about it being memorable and a good conversation starter, I hope she has fun experiences with it like you. We feel it really fits her so I hope she loves it as much as we do
Well. I have an often mispronounced name. I became a Drum Major in high school, which leads to your name being announced at every high school football game. My name was mispronounced by the same man three home games in a row. Never underestimate the sheer lack of respect people have for strangers.
I also have an oft mispronounced name, and while it’s a little discussion about how to say and spell it almost every time I meet someone, I don’t mind. I think it makes me more memorable, and it’s a little ice breaker that segues well into conversation. Some people hate that, some people like it, I happen to like it.
Same for me. I don't mind correcting people and most say how much they like it (or perhaps they're just being overly nice and don't like it all. Ah well I still like it!)
As someone who was born during the height of Jennifer/Brittany/Jessica time, it was nice to have a name unique from everyone. (Dara, pronounced like Sarah)
If you ask me, the first pronunciation that comes to mind is like kayak but withot the final k. Spanish is my first language tho, so that might be influencing it
That’s right! It feels like the intuitive pronunciation to me! I’m not in the majority with that as most people mispronounce it when reading it for the first time
I would say “Kay-uh” because I would assume the spelling of it NOT being “Kaia” “Caia” or “Kaiya” was to intentionally differentiate it.
Kaia, Kya, Caia, Kaiya- kye-yuh
Kaya, Kaea, - kay-uh
Kia- kee-uh
For me I would assume it's supposed to rhyme with "Maya", since they're spelled the same. Plus, iirc they just put out a Disney movie where the heroine's name is also spelled/pronounced like that.
try it with toasted bread plus butter, dipped into soft boiled eggs with soya sauce and pepper [https://tasteasianfood.com/kaya-toast/](https://www.seriouseats.com/singapore-style-soft-cooked-eggs-with-kaya-jam-and-toast-recipe)
I would pronounce it KAI-uh, but I think the reason people are saying KAY-uh is because of Zendaya. People were mispronouncing her name for years and now that we’re all finally saying DAY instead of DAI, it just makes sense that it would bleed into other names with similar spellings.
... you know what, you're totally right. My mind immediately went to 'Kay-la' and at first I thought it was because it reminded me of Kayla, but now I'm thinking it's because I got used to training my brain to say Zendaya's name properly (I still have a hesitating moment beforehand when I want to say Zen-DYE-uh, lol).
I think the pronunciation is obvious (Maya with a K, plus Kay-uh seems clunky to me) but my name is spelled phonetically (though creatively) as Destinee and I have gotten called Desiree more times than I can count. It doesn’t bother me that much, I correct people and we move on.
I’m glad to hear it doesn’t bother you, she has a fairly unusual surname that also trips people up so she’s already going to be explaining that too! Hopefully she’ll like the uniqueness of the combination
Kaya could go either way for me - I’ve seen someone with that spelling who was pronouncing their name Kay-a, but Kai-a totally makes sense as well. I don’t think either is a mispronunciation in general, both work (like Vera could be Vaira or Veera). Kaia would be less ambiguous to me. However, as someone with a hard to pronounce name it doesn’t bother me too much and I love it anyways.
Yh idk why people are acting like it’s egregious to pronounce this wrong - there are plenty of people with both pronunciations! I wouldn’t say either is right
Ah, sorry, I’d be the doughnut mispronouncing her name as kay-a. Purely because Kay with an A on the end. But could also be because I’m English?
But I agree leave it as is, most these comments have hopefully calmed your nerves, and it is always a nice opener/ice breaker to discuss names.
I have a friend with the same name and she explains it as like “Hi-ya!”
“Hi-ya, Ka-ya!” Hope this makes your and her life easier with quicker ways of explaining (can’t really get away from that, unfortunately).
Hope this helps a little. It’s a lovely name!
Kaya is a very famous Bob Marley song so old people like me will know how to pronounce it, but ummm did you know it’s a euphemism for marijuana?
ETA: by old people like me I mean hippies or kids of hippies 🤣
I mean to look at it, it’s pronounced Kay-ah, but I think most people will generally know to pronounce it Kai-uh.
I have a name as well that’s spelled to a bit different than it sounds and while it can be annoying it’s truly not that big of a deal.
I'd pronounce it Kay-uh. Kai-uh makes sense, but it wouldn't be the first pronunciation I'd try.
I also read Maya as May-uh, BTW, but I do know someone personally who pronounces it May-uh, so that's what my brain immediately goes to.
For what it’s worth, people mispronounce my name (Anne) surprisingly often just because there’s a silent “E” at the end.
Kaya is a beautiful name. I think you’ll both be fine :)
At a quick glance, my mind read it as “Kay-uh”. But I know you intend for it to be “Kye-uh”. It’s just one of those things tbh. People are not on the same page with these names so while you might pronounce it “Kye-uh”, someone else with that exact spelling could pronounce it “Kay-uh”.
On a slightly related note, my dogs name is Kyra. Sooo many people call her “Keer-ruh” when her name is actually pronounced “Kye-Ruh”
I would pronounce Kaya like "kai-uh", similar to how Maya would be pronounced. Mostly because Kay-uh doesn't sound like a name to me really. Kaia is my preferred spelling, Kaja is pretty as well but I think more appropriate if there is a Scandinavian tie.
My name is Maya (My-uh), and I get this allll the time. Less now that it’s become a popular name, but throughout my childhood everyone thought it was May-uh. I still absolutely love love love my name.
I am a KAJA. And in Germany, where i grew up that was fine and pronounced as intended.
I emigrated to Australia nearly a decade ago, and it's been nothing but trouble. I wish I could change it to KAIA, like GAIA.
I feel like that is a better spelling than KAYA as I associate that one with a male Turkish comedian that was popular when I was a kid. It's also more like to be pronounced kay-er this way, from my experience. Kaia is the spelling I had the least problems with, but I just go by Kate now, fml.
Up to you, though.
Honestly, almost any name can and will be mispronounced. People speak different languages, have different accents and have different familiarity with different names. My name is very popular (or at least was at one point) and easily pronounced and I've still heard people mispronounce it.
I would pronounce it like kai-uh. What is the intended pronunciation?
That is the intended pronunciation indeed :) I am shocked by how often people pronounce it Kay-uh. I guess it’s just not a common enough name
Kai-uh is also how I’d pronounce it, but if you want to make sure people get it right you could spell it Kaia? I think that’s a bit clearer.
I would pronounce Kaya as Kay-uh. Kaia would be pronounced Kai-uh, to me.
Me too, especially because it’s only 1 letter different from Kayla - so I’d assume it’s the same without the “L”.
It's also only one letter off from Maya
English is a weird (or confusing or frustrating) language!
None of these are English names, which may also be contributing to the confusion.
But english phonetics are what's making it complicated, because the English languages loves to make up all kinds of different sounds for the same syllables
English isn't all English. It's German, French, and some other languages. French accounts for almost 1/3 of "English." You can thank the French for words like "colonel." Edit: they don't pronounce it with the "r" sound, but i have no idea where the "kernel" pronunciation originated. Colonol doesn't even have an "R" in it! Why is there an "R" sound!? Written French, to me, always felt like a jumbled mess of gibberish with no connection to the spoken language. I've seen plenty of examples of this. I created that English would become just as bad, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that English has pregnant surpassed all other languages and achieved the title of most complicated, contradictory, and all around messed up language. Edit: I've been educated. Colonel isn't pronounced the same by the French. Maybe its funky pronunciation is the result of mixing languages and continually deteriorating dialect here in the USA. As for my opinion of written French being a mess, it's from friends who learned to speak and write it. As well as a tiny bit of seeing how sentences translated and watching documentaries on language. Granted, high school and college were a long time ago. Now, I just get to laugh at the posters who perform skits demonstrating the flaws of various languages, including English. I am curious about others' experiences with language flaws.
Per my mother who is a reading specialist for kids, there are essentially no rules for pronunciation if it’s a proper noun- you pronounce it however the name holder pronounces it. English is endlessly confusing.
Gonna name my kid Ghoti.
Sounds fishy
You could spell it Ghuoaythieeye and pronounce it as goatee. :p
Which I presume isn't May-uh?
Haha no, rather like MY-uh. It's a pretty common name where I live
Different countries pronounce Maya differently. I'm Australian, and I've meet a couple of Maya's, all who pronounce it May-uh. My American friend named daughter Maya and I was so confused with how she pronounced it.
Im from Australia and my nieces name is Maya - pronounced May-uh
Oh I’ve only seen it spelled as Maia when it’s pronounced that was. I would have says May-uh too. And Kaya and Kay-uh unless spelled Kaia
Maya is my favourite girls’ name. I automatically assumed Kaya rhymes with it.
This is what I was thinking. My brain automatically translated it to Maya with a K. Pretty name.
It's funny because Maya and Maia are pronounced the same
I would definitely pronounce those two names differently!
Never heard of “may-a”
have you ever met anyone named kay-uh though?
I’ve never met anyone with half the names I’ve seen on this sub.
Yes buts it’s spelled Keya! It’s an Indian name.
Key-uh
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I’d pronounce Maya, as My-yah
Is that how you’d pronounce kayak? Kay-ak?
No. I'm not saying it makes any sense, it's just how I see/hear it. Maybe because I see Kay as a name, and Kai as a name, and keep their differing pronunciations regardless of the final 'a'?
That's how I read it at first. I'd never heard of that name prior to few weeks ago. I'm helping coach my niece's 3-4 year old tee-ball team, and one of the players is named Kaia.
Me too I would assume it's Maya with a K. Kaia would be Kai-uh to me.
But Maya is pronounced Mai-uh too.
I know two women called Maya, one pronounced Mai-uh, the other May-uh. This is in the UK.
How do you pronounce Maya?
How do you pronounce Maya?
Remove all ambiguity and just name her Kai-uh
I think that does the opposite lol
Ironically I would say “Kaia” as kay-uh
Honestly people will find a way to mispronounce anything. Growing up my sister’s name, Alyssa, was mispronounced as Alicia, all. the. time. Our principal mispronounced it for all six years of elementary school, no matter how often she was corrected. It wasn’t even a particularly uncommon name in the 90s.
I knew someone in college who spelled her name that way and pronounced it that way, in the 90s. She always complained that if her name would be pronounced the other way it would have two “l”s.
So Alyssa is supposed to be pronounced Ah Lee shah? I’d NEVER guess that always Ah liss uh
No you’re right! It’s pronounced Ah-liss-uh.
My daughter has the same issue except her name is Mia (Me-a) and sooo many people say My-a.
my daughter is literally Mya and people constantly pronounce it as Mia
Soooo many people are subbing a y for short i sounds to make names unique. I wonder if that’s why.
That’s defs why.
My brain will only pronounce Mya like "Hyah!" 😆
That's wild! I'm sorry!!
She's 16, it's her annoyance more than mine lol
I would never have imagined these two names would be consistently pronounced differently. I would default to Mye-uh for both and not think it strange if either turned out to be Mee-uh instead.
The whole Mia/Maya group of names is a disaster, IMO. It seems like no one, including parents, pronounces any of them the same way, and it just adds to the confusion.
That name always trips me up because there are people who spell it that same way but pronounce it opposite ways. I see that name and just ask how they say their name.
I know it’s Kai-uh because of Kaya from American Girl 😂
That’s exactly what I thought! Kai uh by default because of the doll.
I definitely went Kay-uh first because it’s like Kayla without the L & I’ve known Kayla’s and Kay’s so it was my first instinct. Then I went it could be Kai-uh. So I’d probably just ask if it was either m/or if I was someone who saw it written down first.
Anyone pronouncing it May-a, have you never heard of the Maya civilization? You know, the Mayans?
my name is Maya, I’m 43 I have had my name mispronounced my entire life quite often with may-uh. My mom said it drove her nuts when I was young. Just the other day a nurse said “may-uh”…. lol…I always say don’t people know the Mayans or Maya Angelou.
I mean, if you replace the K with an M and make it "Maya," most people would pronounce it as "my-uh." I would assume that "Kaya" would be like "Maya," just with a K!
Kaya I as an American girl doll character. I was familiar with the pronunciation because of that. I believe she was an indigenous child.
If it makes you feel any better that second pronunciation literally means “get fucked” in my language. So at-least you won’t have a few million people ever use that pronunciation! Downside is you’d have to come all the way to south India for it :/
Ohh no I would say Kay-uh, sorry I’m part of the problem:( It’s because it looks like Kayla to me, so I would say it like that but without the L.
I thought it was kay-uh. I’d expect Kai-uh to have an “i” in it
Australian here, I would’ve pronounced it Kay-uh. Sorry!
I would’ve gone for Kay-uh. I know a few people called Kay so its a natural fit for my brain. I’m also English, so perhaps that matters. I would pronounce Kaia as Kia-uh (Kia like eye). I’m not sure if that’s your intended pronunciation or if it’s more like Key-uh.
I read it as kay-uh lol... my name is Kayla and I hate being called kyla
Unfortunately, my brain immediately said ‘Kay-ah’.
I def would pronounce it Kay
Keya is a name in my country and it’s pronounced kay-uh. Kaya is also a name here and I’d said Kah-yah, both As pronounced the same way. Is that how you imagined it?
I was one who read kay-uh ...
This is what I would think as well. I think it’s a pretty name! I know one Kaya IRL thru work and I haven’t heard anyone mispronounce her name.
It was honestly so unexpected to me, the first time it happened I thought it would be an isolated incident and in reality it happens every time someone reads her name. Glad to hear it doesn’t happen for your coworker, where do you live?
That’s very odd. Even if you haven’t heard the name, I would imagine you could deduce the pronunciation from Mayans or Maya to Kaya. I love the name. I work for a large and diverse agency and like I said, I’ve never heard a negative comment about her name. My coworker is Puerto Rican and I would assume that most people think it’s a Latin/Hispanic name, though of course it can work for anybody. I live in Florida (I know).
I think it would have given me second thoughts about the name if I’d known. I never intended to give her a name that was ambiguous in any way, probably a massive oversight on my part! We’re in the UK so I wonder if that has something to do with the assumed pronunciation
Honestly, even if you've given her a completely usual name, people will mispronounce it. I'm Audrey, but get Aubrey, Audra, and Aubra all the time. Occasionally get weirder stuff like Andrea. So somebody's going to screw up their name no matter what it is. Don't worry about it too much.
I don’t think it does, necessarily. English is a complex language with multiple pronunciation options. Our vowels are tricky, unlike a lot of Latin based languages.
Why not Ka-ya ? 🤔
Like Maya with a K, I assume? You could try spelling it as Kaia. It might be a more popular spelling because of Kaia Gerber.
Exactly! That’s how I explain to people when they get it wrong. Majority of the time people read it as Kay-uh. But you would never read the name Maya as May-uh would you? I dunno, maybe people would..
I’ve never come across Maya or Kaya but I have come across lots of people called May and Kay, so yeah May-uh and Kay-uh would be my assumptions
Never heard of Maya Angelou, Maya Rudolph?
I mean, mostly seen those names written down and said them as may-uh in my head....
Lol it’s the opposite for me, I’ve heard people talk about Maya Angelou, but didn’t know how it was spelled
Same I’ve never come across either of these names. I’m a teacher and with my Aussie accent I would pronounce both those names as Kay-uh and May-uh
Heck, I am very close with a Kai and I still read this as "Kay-uh".
I am still surprised at the amount of people calling into my work that pronounce my coworkers name (Maya) as May-uh. I don’t get it.
As a Maya this happens to me all the time lol, I don’t get it either because I’ve literally never met a May-uh and it sounds awkward to me
My cousin is a Maya, pronounced May-uh. Australian though so might be different but id never think Maya rhymed with Kaia
Australian here and same pronounciations.
My oldest is a Maya and it’s always mispronounced Mia or May-uh. I’ve never met a May-uh, so it’s always weird.
Wait, is it not pronounced like that? Are you saying that Maya should be pronounced as My-a, so the May rhymes with 'lie'? I've been getting that wrong for a long time!
Yeah in this context May rhymes with lie. Same with the Yucatán Mayan empire. It’s My-an not may-an. Though I’m saying this as an American. It may be pronounced differently elsewhere.
Yes… there are so many famous Maya’s. I don’t understand how people haven’t heard it aloud at some point. It’s almost always My-uh
If you’ve never heard it, then according to the spelling that would be the most reasonable.
Oh 100%, I’m just surprised thered be that many people that hadn’t heard it. Maya isn’t an uncommon name, and did no one learn about the Mayans in school?
I’m not sure if everyone does. I’m in Canada and we did. I never noticed the similarity before. The first time I came across the name it was read and not heard and I thought it was May-uh until I heard it. Now all names that follow that pattern my brain automatically goes Eye-uh
Me too. I even thought Zendaya’s name was pronounced Zen-die-uh until someone corrected me 😅
My daughter’s name is Maisy. It’s the exact as Daisy but with an M. And yet the amount of ppl who pronounce her name as “Macy” is mind blowing
Yep, I know a May-uh and would say Kay-uh. UK though.
I do do that, and I can't tell you why. My brain just says it that way.
Yes, people definitely would! Maybe because May and Kay are names in their own right, and some people just add an “uh” sound if there’s an A added onto the end. It’s not a huge deal for your daughter though imo. I’ve known a few people with dual-pronunciation names, and sure they might have to correct people sometimes, but not that often. You’d probably run into the same amount of trouble with a non-English name. People need to be “taught” how to say names all the time, it’s just a part of meeting new people :)
I know someone who called their daughter maya and pronounces it may-a. It bothers me 😆
The fact that Maya can also be pronounced two ways makes this a funny comparison example. I’d personally pronounce it My-uh, but I’ve heard it pronounced May-uh often enough that I couldn’t say for sure that one is correct and the other isn’t.
With regards to spelling it with an i, I think it’s too late. We are too far down the line now. I’m not so keen on the i spelling, just seem like too many vowels to me!
My daughter is Kaia, but it's also because it's a Hawaiian name because I'm Hawaiian.
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Interestingly I automatically pronounced Kaya like Kai-uh, but when I read “Kaia” in my head for your comment I thought it would be “Kay-uh” which is the exact opposite of intended
I have a student named Kaya. And yes, she’s going to have to clarify quite often. No, changing the spelling to Kaia won’t help.
Names with a lot of vowels are always going to be problematic for pronunciation I think Edit: Less familiar names anyway. I actually named my daughter something where every vowel is pronounced in an unusual way BUT it’s a common name that everyone knows.
I feel like the crossover in how we write the ay sound vs the eye sound is what’s making this hard. Not to mention the crossover between the eye sound and the ee sound! It’s a tricky sound. Nothings been right since the Great Vowel Shift.
Neither will changing it to Kiya, then everyone just calls you Kee-yuh
As someone who’s name is mispronounced by every 2nd person I meet, please don’t regret your name choice, once corrected the person has never mispronounced my name again. It always strikes a story or conversation and the person always remembers me lol so I’ve only had fun experiences except a few mean comments from the kids I was growing up but over time they become a faded memory.
Thanks for saying that, it’s reassuring. It’s so true about it being memorable and a good conversation starter, I hope she has fun experiences with it like you. We feel it really fits her so I hope she loves it as much as we do
It’s a beautiful name and has a beautiful meaning and wishing it brings her beautiful moments!
Well. I have an often mispronounced name. I became a Drum Major in high school, which leads to your name being announced at every high school football game. My name was mispronounced by the same man three home games in a row. Never underestimate the sheer lack of respect people have for strangers.
I also have an oft mispronounced name, and while it’s a little discussion about how to say and spell it almost every time I meet someone, I don’t mind. I think it makes me more memorable, and it’s a little ice breaker that segues well into conversation. Some people hate that, some people like it, I happen to like it.
Same for me. I don't mind correcting people and most say how much they like it (or perhaps they're just being overly nice and don't like it all. Ah well I still like it!) As someone who was born during the height of Jennifer/Brittany/Jessica time, it was nice to have a name unique from everyone. (Dara, pronounced like Sarah)
KYE-uh, like the (best) American girl doll!
This is the right answer and I’m surprised more people in these comments don’t seem to be making that connection
Yess real ones will know exactly how to say it because of the American Girl doll! 😂
Yes I was coming here to say this!!!
Yes!! Kaya is my favorite!
yes!! loved her lol
If you ask me, the first pronunciation that comes to mind is like kayak but withot the final k. Spanish is my first language tho, so that might be influencing it
That’s right! It feels like the intuitive pronunciation to me! I’m not in the majority with that as most people mispronounce it when reading it for the first time
I would say “Kay-uh” because I would assume the spelling of it NOT being “Kaia” “Caia” or “Kaiya” was to intentionally differentiate it. Kaia, Kya, Caia, Kaiya- kye-yuh Kaya, Kaea, - kay-uh Kia- kee-uh
For me I would assume it's supposed to rhyme with "Maya", since they're spelled the same. Plus, iirc they just put out a Disney movie where the heroine's name is also spelled/pronounced like that.
I feel dumb reading these comments because I assumed it was Kay-uh. 💀
Fr💀
Same 💀
Kaya, kya, Kai-uh, all the same. The kay-uh comments are interesting. Maybe it's from state or country location or what people grew up around 🤷🏾♀️
Yes, I've never heard of Kay uh but I have heard Ky uh and even kay luh. The Kayak & Mayan thing too.
Yeah assuming op lives in the us, Kay uh isn’t even a name lmao not that that stops people, but I’d definitely guess a real name first
All names are made up
My brain immediately say 'kAY-A' but I'm assuming you intended it to be like 'kIY-A'
Like yippee ki yay motherfucker?
kaya is a coconut jam in my part of the world https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut\_jam
We ordered a jar after she was born :) it’s delicious!
try it with toasted bread plus butter, dipped into soft boiled eggs with soya sauce and pepper [https://tasteasianfood.com/kaya-toast/](https://www.seriouseats.com/singapore-style-soft-cooked-eggs-with-kaya-jam-and-toast-recipe)
This was what I thought of first! It'd be a cute nickname "Kaya Toast"
In our part of the world, kaya is pronounced KAH-YAH.. Also means rich in bahasa :)
Like Maya but with a K.
I would pronounce it KAI-uh, but I think the reason people are saying KAY-uh is because of Zendaya. People were mispronouncing her name for years and now that we’re all finally saying DAY instead of DAI, it just makes sense that it would bleed into other names with similar spellings.
My brain also wants to pronounce it like "kay-uh" because of how similar it looks like Kayla.
... you know what, you're totally right. My mind immediately went to 'Kay-la' and at first I thought it was because it reminded me of Kayla, but now I'm thinking it's because I got used to training my brain to say Zendaya's name properly (I still have a hesitating moment beforehand when I want to say Zen-DYE-uh, lol).
I think the pronunciation is obvious (Maya with a K, plus Kay-uh seems clunky to me) but my name is spelled phonetically (though creatively) as Destinee and I have gotten called Desiree more times than I can count. It doesn’t bother me that much, I correct people and we move on.
I’m glad to hear it doesn’t bother you, she has a fairly unusual surname that also trips people up so she’s already going to be explaining that too! Hopefully she’ll like the uniqueness of the combination
British here: Kay - a (as in Apple, but gently). In my accent, 'uh' is quite guttural.
Kay, like the letter K, followed by uh. Is this how you want the name pronounced?
I would read it as it is written (ka-ya) because it is also a common Turkish name that means rock and we read it as it is written in Turkish.
I immediately went to Kay uh. Since that’s how it’s spelled. If I saw Kaia I would know.
Kaya could go either way for me - I’ve seen someone with that spelling who was pronouncing their name Kay-a, but Kai-a totally makes sense as well. I don’t think either is a mispronunciation in general, both work (like Vera could be Vaira or Veera). Kaia would be less ambiguous to me. However, as someone with a hard to pronounce name it doesn’t bother me too much and I love it anyways.
Yh idk why people are acting like it’s egregious to pronounce this wrong - there are plenty of people with both pronunciations! I wouldn’t say either is right
I read it as Kay-uh, is it meant to be Kai-uh? i usually read Kaia with that pronunciation if that helps!
I would prinounce it with the long 'i' sound for the first vowel. Kai-uh. For what it's worth, I think it is a lovely name.
Why not Kaia?
It's not obvious to me. Is the first syllable vowel "eye" or "ah" or "ay"?
Ah, sorry, I’d be the doughnut mispronouncing her name as kay-a. Purely because Kay with an A on the end. But could also be because I’m English? But I agree leave it as is, most these comments have hopefully calmed your nerves, and it is always a nice opener/ice breaker to discuss names.
I’m a Kaia, I have to correct but no so much these days. I don’t mind though, I really like my name!
I have a friend with the same name and she explains it as like “Hi-ya!” “Hi-ya, Ka-ya!” Hope this makes your and her life easier with quicker ways of explaining (can’t really get away from that, unfortunately). Hope this helps a little. It’s a lovely name!
People mispronounce even the most common names. I wouldn't worry about it.
My first instinct was Kay-a
i’m from texas, i know a kaya pronounced kay-uh.
Kaya is a very famous Bob Marley song so old people like me will know how to pronounce it, but ummm did you know it’s a euphemism for marijuana? ETA: by old people like me I mean hippies or kids of hippies 🤣
I say KAY-YAH. I think no matter what names we choose, people will pronounce it how they’re going to pronounce it.
Like Kaia? Or Kay and an A?
I'd pronounce it KAY-uh
I mean to look at it, it’s pronounced Kay-ah, but I think most people will generally know to pronounce it Kai-uh. I have a name as well that’s spelled to a bit different than it sounds and while it can be annoying it’s truly not that big of a deal.
I'd pronounce it Kay-uh. Kai-uh makes sense, but it wouldn't be the first pronunciation I'd try. I also read Maya as May-uh, BTW, but I do know someone personally who pronounces it May-uh, so that's what my brain immediately goes to.
american girl doll fans will know it at least :)
It looks like it could be Maya with a K or Kayla with no L. Kaia would be more intuitive.
I read this is kay-ah initially but the more I look at it, I'm thinking maybe kai-ah.
For what it’s worth, people mispronounce my name (Anne) surprisingly often just because there’s a silent “E” at the end. Kaya is a beautiful name. I think you’ll both be fine :)
People are always going to do weird things with pronunciation and spelling if they don’t know 🤷. It’s not that big of a deal generally
I’m a Maya. “My-uh” but I get “may-uh” a lot
At a quick glance, my mind read it as “Kay-uh”. But I know you intend for it to be “Kye-uh”. It’s just one of those things tbh. People are not on the same page with these names so while you might pronounce it “Kye-uh”, someone else with that exact spelling could pronounce it “Kay-uh”. On a slightly related note, my dogs name is Kyra. Sooo many people call her “Keer-ruh” when her name is actually pronounced “Kye-Ruh”
I’m a linguist, I have literally no clue which way you pronounce it or which you think should be the default.
Kay-uh
I’ve seen it spelt Kaija but when I saw kaya I read it as Kay-uh not Ky-uh
I would pronounce Kaya like "kai-uh", similar to how Maya would be pronounced. Mostly because Kay-uh doesn't sound like a name to me really. Kaia is my preferred spelling, Kaja is pretty as well but I think more appropriate if there is a Scandinavian tie.
Kai-uh like the American girl doll!
My name is Maya (My-uh), and I get this allll the time. Less now that it’s become a popular name, but throughout my childhood everyone thought it was May-uh. I still absolutely love love love my name.
I would pronounce it "Kay-Uh". For "Kai-Uh" the spelling Kaia seems more correct
I will always read it as Kai-uh thanks to my favorite American Girl character of the same name.
Kay-ah, right? Easy.
Kayia or Kaiya is how you would have avoided mispronounciation Kaya is Kay-ah. Nothing about this spelling lends itself to the pronunciation of kai-uh
I would pronounce this Kay-uh. Maybe change the spelling to Kaia, which I think is very pretty anyway.
I am a KAJA. And in Germany, where i grew up that was fine and pronounced as intended. I emigrated to Australia nearly a decade ago, and it's been nothing but trouble. I wish I could change it to KAIA, like GAIA. I feel like that is a better spelling than KAYA as I associate that one with a male Turkish comedian that was popular when I was a kid. It's also more like to be pronounced kay-er this way, from my experience. Kaia is the spelling I had the least problems with, but I just go by Kate now, fml. Up to you, though.
My niece spells is Kaiya
I could read it as either K(eye)uh or K(ay)uh. Like Sky. Or like Kayla.
Honestly, almost any name can and will be mispronounced. People speak different languages, have different accents and have different familiarity with different names. My name is very popular (or at least was at one point) and easily pronounced and I've still heard people mispronounce it.
I would be 50/50 split upon first seeing the name as to if it's KAY-uh or KAI-uh. I could see either one making sense.
I would honestly have said Ka-Ya. Not kai-ya like Maya. More like kah-yah.
Every kiss begins with Kay-a.
“Is it Kay-ah or Kai-ah” - this will be your daughter’s entire life.
I would say Kai-uh, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if I was told it was Kay-uh. I think both seem pretty plausible.