According to Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names by K.M. Sheard it was originally correctly pronounced as EYE-la. The AYL-sa pronunciation was established later on.
I am named Ailsa, and even my best friend still calls me "A-el-suh". I don't have the heart to tell her she's saying it wrong.
― Anonymous User 11/11/2020
0
Ailsa Craig is a volcanic plug in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is partly comprised of granite that is used for curling stones. The granite is the hardest and most durable to be found anywhere in the world. I was a personal friend of the late Lord Charles Kennedy, Clan Chief and Marquis of Ailsa. I once asked him what Ailsa meant but he body swerved it. I am sure that he was well aware that he was The Marquis of Fairy, this being one of the translations of the original Viking word. My only grandchild is an Ailsa.
My husband and I have a rainbow baby that we named Ailsa Maeve. She just turned a year. We loved the name for so many reasons! After some research we found the ‘supernatural victory’ meaning to be fitting. And we have Ailsa on her birth certificate but we also call her Ailsabeit, or Bett, after her great grandmother who was a ‘Bett’. She fits the name perfectly!
I’m an AILSA to. I get different variations on a theme as to how people spell my name to. Alisa, Aylsa, Ailssa, Elsa to name but a few. I get asked is that ELSA as in the lion from born free or more recently the princess in Frozen. I must admit I've grown to like it being spelt ELSA now. I think that’s because I’ve gotten used to it being written like that because no one can ever spell it right in the first place. Pronounced AILSA sounds like I’ve done something wrong- my Sunday name.
My name is Ailsa, and I get a lot of "Oh, like Elsa from Frozen?" I love my name, but it gets a little bit annoying. I also have a very complicated last name so I have to spell out my entire name, letter by letter, each time someone needs to spell it. I have been called: Elsa, Alisa, Alissa, Alyssa, Allison, Alisha, etc.
I love names that relate to rocks, as I am a geologist:) My son is named Peter. I think this name is very pretty. It looks very similar to Alisa, and for me it takes a second glance to tell them apart, since the only difference is the reversed position of the "l" and "i". Either way, Ailsa and Alisa are both very beautiful names!
― Anonymous User 12/8/2015
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The meaning of the name of the island Ailsa Craig is "Fairy Rock". I grew up holidaying on the West Coast of Scotland and seeing Ailsa Craig every summer morning and decided then to name my daughter if I had one Ailsa... and Ailsa has just walked in as I type this... hehehe.
― Anonymous User 9/4/2015
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My Scottish nana always pronounced my name ale-za, even though everyone else used the s sound. And since she had an r-ful dialect, she actually said Ale-zur!Constant correcting of pronunciation and spelling, but I like it fine. Works for any age. I have had it from birth to 74!
'Modern Scottish name from Ailsa Craig, a rocky islet in the Clyde estuary off Ayrshire coast. Derived from Old Norse-Viking Alfisigesy "island off Alfsigr"; composed of alf "supernatural being, elf" + sigi "victory". Possible anglicization of Ealasaid. Ailsa Craig is known in Gaelic as Allasa, or Creag Ealasaid. Form of Elsa from Hebrew Elizabeth, "consecrated to God."' Source: http://www.amethyst-night.com/names/scotfem.html
My parents were from China and they moved to the U.S. in New York. They got my name from a big book of names and they found Ailsa. My dad chose it even though my mother wanted it to be Alisa so they always pronounced it Elsa. I never knew it was pronounced AY-il-sa.
― Anonymous User 11/5/2007
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Ailsa Stewart (née O'Rourke; previously Hogan) was a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away.
Ailsa Piper is an Australian television actress of the 1980s 1990s. She is most famous for playing Ruth Wilkinson/Martin in the soap opera Neighbours from 1996 until 1999.
― Anonymous User 8/5/2007
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Pronounced AY-il-suh.
― Anonymous User 3/20/2007
-3
Yes, but given that the island is named after Alfsigr, which means 'elf victory', it follows that fairies could tie in there somewhere. ;0) I think Ailsa is a pretty, soft sounding name.