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LEE-uh.

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It's just sounds so clear and so pretty without having to be all frilly (though I do love frills).

This message was edited 9/11/2011, 8:13 PM

I have always pronounced it LEE ah and anyone I have seen using it pronounces it the same. I live in the US.
Leia is very Stars Wars for me but I think spelling least likely to cause confusion for the LAY uh pronounciation.

I prefer LEH-a by a landslide. I don't like LEE-a at all, never have. I coached a LEH-a spelled Leah once and I got so excited about it because the pronunciation really made a difference for me.
I'd spell it Leah and just correct people. Leah pronounced LEH-a makes a lot of sense to me. Leia doesn't do anything for me.

I always pronounce it and have always heard it pronounced Lee-uh. I think Leia would be better for the prn though it is very Star Wars.

I pronouce Leah "LEE-uh", but I prefer the sound "LAY-uh". I think Leia is great.

LAY-uh/LEH-uh...(m)

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I find it kind of frustrating when everyone says that this pronunciation won't work where English is the primary language. I'm in the US (always have been) and I grew up hearing Leah as essentially LAY-uh (or as some have said, LEH-uh). It's going by the original Hebrew pronunciation, which as someone who is Jewish, just feels more natural to me. Even if you pick that pronunciation and people mispronounce it until you correct them, it's not like it's a randomly chosen way to say it - it's an actual legitimate way based on an English spelling of a Hebrew name.

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I've always though Lia works better for "LEE-uh" anyway.

I instinctively pronounce it with the long 'e' sound, however, I did know a family that pronounced it LAY-uh because they were religious and wanted the original pronunciation (or the closest approximation to the original pronunciation). What's funny is that her younger sister, Ariel, was given the male spelling and her pronunciation was AIR-ee-ul.

I usually hear it pronounced LEE-uh, but I do know someone with the middle name Leah pronounced LAY-uh.

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Leia will definitely generate "Star Wars" comments. I'd stick with Leah or would use Léa instead.

I love both, but LAY-ah for Leah is absolutely not going to fly in an English-speaking country. Leia is waaaaay too Star Wars.

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I'd go with LEE-ah for a first name, and if you really love LAY-ah, save it for the middle.

This message was edited 9/9/2011, 9:54 PM

LAY-uh

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I've always pronounced it LAY-uh. Perhaps it's the influence of the French Lea, but I've never heard LEE-uh around here. Leah Miller, the MuchMusic VJ, pronounces her name as LAY-uh.

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I like the Leah spelling more than Leia, but I think it might just be easier to spell it Leia. As for the Star Wars association, I'm sure someone, some day, will bring it up, but it isn't the first thing I think of when I hear Leah.

Lee-uh... That's how I prefer it.

It's going to be pronounced LEE-ah by every single person in the U.S. I've not once heard it pronounced any other way. Sorry.

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Leia would be pronounced LAY-uh, though. I like the Star Wars connection so that wouldn't be a problem for me.

I like Leah and Leia, and also Lea. I pronounce Leah "Lee-uh", and Leia and Lea "Lay-uh' (although Lea could be a little more like "Le-uh").
I like both, and personally I don't mind the Star Wars-ness. If you want to avoid Star Wars you should probably avoid Leia.
Where I live, I'd only use Leah as "Lee-uh" because people would constantly get it wrong if you used Leah "Lay-uh". If I wanted "Lay-uh" but not Star Wars, I'd use Lea.

LEE-uh

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This is my younger sister's name.

Well, my name is Leah and I pronounce it Lee-uh. I've never actually known it can be pronounced a different way until I read it earlier on this website. No one's ever called me Lay-uh, so I think if you pronounced it like that but spelled it Leah there'd be a lot of mis-pronunciations, especially since its getting more popular now (at least in the U.S.)

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So I'd spell Lee-uh Leah and Lay-uh Leia.

I think it isn't really LAY-ah, more like LEH-ah, but the EH is long. It's the same in French. Hard to explain, but I speak French and it's just not an AY but a really long EH sound, your mouth doesn't open as much.

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So I think there's a difference between the pr. of Leah and Leia. Leah is LEH-ah (long EH) and Leia LAY-a.

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I much prefer Leia because it can have a different meaning, I guess. I just hate the meaning of Leah and the Bible story.

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Oh and I wouldn't use Leah LEH-a or LAY-a in the US it would be way too confusing because Leah is really common. If you want LAY-a I'd go with Leia, for LEH-a (long EH) with Léa.