Araceli

Why isn't it Ari cay yee. Which would be the pronunciation of two Ls in Spanish. I love the name. I did know an Aricella once. My husband is a professor with students named Aricelli with that pronunciation (Ari selee).

I'm not quite sure what Seraphine was talking about, but this name is pronounced Ah-rah-seh-lee, not with a 'ch' sound. Well, at least that's the Spanish pronunciation of it.

I meant that, if the name comes from Latin (the quite-dead language, not the Latin Americas), I'd give it its Latin pronunciation, which would mean pronouncing the third syllable with a "ch" sound (not as in the hard K sound but as in the word "cheese"). That is what ruins the name for me. But I'm okay with the coexistence of other pronunciations. The Spanish one sounds more graceful, definitely - no jarring "ch" sound in there to mar the effect.

In Italy, it is pronounced Ah-ra-CHEE-li.

I believe that the name can also be pronounced "ayr-a-chel-ee" or "ah-ra-chel-ee". It is the name of a character in Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' Kiesha'ra series.

I believe ah-rah-CHEL-ee would be the Italian pronunciation.