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I love it too. It has a very pretty sound to it, but like you said, also has some spunk. I wouldn't use Hayley/Hailey as the nn, it's too common. I love Mahalia Audrey and Mahalia Charlotte. Mahalia Audrey would be my pick though, it's gorgeous.

I think it's pretty said muh-HAHL-ee-ah but I cannot stand muh-HAY-lee-ah, which sounds absolutely awful to me.

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Mahalia Charlotte is really lovely!

Mahalia is cute. I like it best with Charlotte. Mahalia Charlotte.

I love Mahalia! It's beautiful and virtually unused (at least to my knowledge). I don't care for the NN Hailey, et al because they are very trendy and popular names--the polar opposite of what attracted you to Mahalia in the first place. I'd use Hali (prn. like Holly) or Lillian's suggestion of Mailie. That being said, I'd much rather see the name used without a nn.

I was just about to post about Mahalia!

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It's awesome! Mahalia Storm is even better. If you don't mind, I'm adding it to my top combos... ;-)

I *love* Mahalia!

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As in, Lillian Scarlett Mahalia, my older daughter. :-)

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For combos with Mahalia in fn position, I personally favor Mahalia Claire; but also love

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Mahalia Grace
Mahalia Helena
Mahalia Jade
Mahalia Leilani
Mahalia Marguerite
Mahalia Mireille
Mahalia Naomi
Mahalia Patience
Mahalia Rain
and
Mahalia Salomé (SAL-o-may).

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You'll probably have noticed that only Claire and Marguerite stand out as not having an assonant long-A sound, but Claire has assonance with the short A's at the beginning and end, and Marguerite has alliteration instead. I ♥ assonance and alliteration. :-)

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I disagree with jeziana that Halie, et. al. (my preferred spelling, since it's the -hali- portion of the name lifted straight out) would "be a bit of a stretch" for nn's of Mahalia. That seems to me to be the obvious nn, since the syllabic emphasis is on the second syllable, which sounds like "hail." For the record I wish to note the difference between Halie [HAY-lee] and Hallie [HAL-ee].

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However, even having defended it I'm yet not particularly in love with Halie. I prefer Mailie (prn the same way [MAY-lee] but taking some modest liberties with the otherwise orthodox spelling).

Not a name I'd ever use, but it does sound nice. The only nn I like is Lia.
How abou these:

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Mahalia Sabrina
Mahalia Larissa
Mahalia Eve
Mahalia Josephine
Mahalia Nicole
Mahalia Elisabeth
Mahalia Elena
Mahalia Anita
Mahalia Petra

Mahalia is beautiful, and I agree it's not popular and spunky.

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I dislike the idea of using Hayley / Halle / Hailey as nns. It can be done but those names could stand alone, and it's a bit of a stretch.

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My old combo was Mahalia Patience / Patience Mahalia.
Mahalia Charlotte and Mahalia Lenore are lovely.

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Using your PNL for ideas:
Mahalia Tesni
Mahalia Scarlett
Mahalia Tamsin
Mahalia Lorraine (liking this!)
Mahalia Claire
Mahalia June
Mahalia Violet

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Like any?

I think it's a very pretty, feminine name actually. I'm not keen on Hailey, so I'd use something like Lia or Halle.

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I like Mahalia Lenore :)