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I love Ophelia especially with the pronunciation you prefer. I like both spellings depending on the language in which it is being used. I don't think of failure when I hear it. It does remind me of the drowning association because of these song lyrics that mention that part of the play, but obviously it doesn't keep me from liking the name.

Ophelia is a pretty name. I'd spell it Ophelia.

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I don't think of "failure" when I hear the name. I'm well aware of the Shakespearean character as are a lot of people, but I don't think that the association makes the name unusable.

I like it and I don't think of failure or anything. I like both Ophelia and Ofelia. In an english speaking country I would probably prefer Ophelia..

I really like it, I like most Shakesperean names, and I pronounce it the way you do. I think the Ophelia spelling makes more sense, unless you speak a language where there's no "ph" sound.

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I really don't get the "failure" or "I feel yah" associations. If there's a bad association with a name, it's that it's the name of a character who goes crazy and kills herself.

Ophelia. o-FEE-lee-uh. I don't like the "f--l" sound in names, generally. But Ophelia (any prn) is alright.

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o-FEH-lee-a doesn't make me think of "failure" any more than o-FEE-lee-uh makes me think of "feel ya" ... that is to say, not enough to matter, as long as it's your kid and not mine.

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I don't think the character association is too strong. I worked with an Ophelia once (who was Greek, I think raised in the US). Everyone loved her name. It was said with a long ee sound.

This message was edited 4/2/2010, 10:36 AM

I like the name, but I do think the associations are too strong to use (as a namesake at least). I'd use the Ophelia spelling. In my accent it's o-FEE-lee-ah, so it doesn't make me think of 'failure', but I guess it depends on how R's are pronounced in your accent.

I think it's beautiful but I think that the association with the tragic character in "Hamlet" is too strong, strong enough that I would never consider using this name. I prefer the spelling Ophelia.

I really like this name. I would spell it Ophelia. No it doesn't make me think of failure, but now that you said it...well....and finally, naw.

Does it make me think of "failure? NO WAY! This is a beautiful name. It also happens to be the name of my husband's grandmother. She is THE sweetest old lady I've ever met! Hands down. The association of the character is there for me BUT if you're a fan of Shakespeare, who cares?! If we named a daughter Ophelia, I would probably nickname her Fee or Lia. That's just me, though :)

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All in all, fantabulous name.