Adding to the chorus of nos. As someone with an unusual name (at least in this country), I'm telling you it's a huge pain to constantly have to spell (and pronounce) your name for people. It's understandable to have to do that with an ethnic name like mine, but I never understand why people choose unusual spellings for common names.

Anonymous wrote:I would think you were from some ethnic background that I was unfamiliar with. Like Kazakh or Finnish or something with unusual spelling.

This. And I would have pronounced it “Layg-ha.”

I'm personally not against making up names, but you aren't making up a name, just a spelling. Which is an unkind thing to do to your child who will have to explain this over and over again their entire life just because you randomly didn't like the way the name Leah looked but also couldn't think of another name to give them.

I would look for another name. There are many! Here are a few with a similar sound/feel to Leah:

Hannah
Sarah
Mia
Thea

I would think you were from some ethnic background that I was unfamiliar with. Like Kazakh or Finnish or something with unusual spelling.

Leah is a perfectly good name.

Leigha's like Meekayleigha, or any of the other awful yoonike spellings that people come up with while beset by hormones. I think if you use it, you'll regret it.

Also, my spell check didn't know what to make of it.

Very ugly.

Anonymous wrote:I see Leg-Ha

Like the character Laoghaire in Outlander that fans call Leg-Hair.

I went to school with a Leigha. I think it’s a pretty name. Pronounced Lee-ah.

Agree that I would not know how to pronounce this name. I think it is confusing. Leigh and Leah are both lovely, so just pick one of those.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We love the look of Leigh and the sound of Leah, so ... Leigha?

Good lord NO! Sounds like a name for a horse.

Please don’t insult horses like this.

Leandra?

Or do you mean Lee-ya? In that case, spell it Leah. I did know a girl in high school named Leigh who pronounced it Lee-ya.

Also when I first saw the subject line before opening the tread I thought it was about a medical issue.

Leia

Anonymous wrote:I know a couple girls who spell it Lia and Liah, which I like better than Leigha, which on first glance looks like you’d pronounce it Leig-ha.

Leah was a name I had considered for DD.

+1 the spelling makes the pronunciation confusing.

Also I have a personal dislike of "unusual spellings" of names and here there are a number of great options - Lea, Lia, Leah, etc.