My daughter's name

[Rivka P]

OK guys, DH thinks this is totally unimportant, but it bothers me, so I wanna see what you think.
My daughter is Baruch Hashem, about 18 months old. He name is Laya Ora. Laya was in the parsha (daled kislev) and was my grandmother, Lila's name. Ora we liked and thought it was appropriate for kislev, and as my husband likes to say, at the end of a difficult labor, she was our light. Oooh, also she was born after the attacks in Mumbai, India to which my response was "we need to spread more light in the world"

Here's the dilemma: People always think her name is Leora. It's to the point where I have a scripted response of, "yes, I see how it sounds like Leora, but her name is Laya Ora"

What should I do? Should we nickname her? go with either one name or the other? (Don't really want to do that, as I want to honor my grandmother, but still really like the name Ora.) just stop worrying?

Thanks.

[medic09]

I'm afraid you'll have to get used to it. This is, seriously, a consequence of living in galut. In a Hebrew speaking society, most people would get her name quickly. Even then, since one name ends with a vowel carried by alef (the heh has no vowel), and the other name begins that way, it is bound to be a bit slurred. Think of, for instance, the issues with careful enunciation during kriat sh'ma and davening.

Be sure you enunciate her name clearly. And what do you *really* call her? Probably Laya, no? (By the way, that different spelling for an otherwise familiar name may also confuse.) As she grows, people will most likely call her by her preferred single name. I think most commonly, people end up being called by one name or the other most of the time.

[Rivka P]

2 things FYI,

We really do call her Laya Ora. Though, sometimes I will introduce her as Laya, my husband and I really call her by both names.

I wanted people to say Lay-uh and not Lee-uh, so I didn't spell it Leah.

[achot]

Dear Rivka,
I think you gave your daughter a beautiful name- both of them and for very meaningful reasons which will give her much depth and an anchor for her life- she is tied to her grandmother and to the Tanach with her name...
Keep calling her Laya Ora and correct people with a smile on your face, it is a common mistake and once corrected nicely usually isnt repeated. I have a similar thing with one of my kids who as a teenager now introduces himself only by his first name and not both but we all call him by both, and we dont make a big deal about it.
BTW a friend named their baby Shai Yakir ( in hebrew means Dear Present) and I joked- he will be called "Shaker" or "Shaiker" and even his parents jokingly call him that...