Baby Naming Issue: The Pronunciation of Dahlia

T. writes:

I love the name Dahlia. …I pronounce it like “dally-uh” (“dal” rhyming with “pal”). However, I know some people pronounce the name “dolly-uh” (and I hate the name pronounced that way). So… which is correct? Or IS there a correct pronunciation? Is it a regional thing? I live in the midwest.

Thanks!

 

As with Madeline and Caroline and Helena, I find I can simultaneously accept several pronunciations. If I encountered a Dahlia or Dalia on a piece of paper and needed to say it aloud to the person in question, I would say “Dolly-uh, Dally-uh?” And there’s also the issue of whether it’s more like Doll/Dal-lee-uh or more like Doll/Dal-yuh. In short, I wouldn’t be surprised by a variety of possible pronunciations.

The Baby Name Wizard has both Dahlia and Dalia as Dolly-uh. Forvo has four English samples; two of them say dolly-uh, one says dally-uh, and one (the British one) says day-lee-uh. Howjsay has day-lee-uh in what sounds like a British accent. Inogolo has doll-yuh. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has dal-yuh, and mentions that day-lee-uh is usually British.

I think we should have a poll below to find out how most people would say it. Notice that in addition to the separate doll and dal-rhymes-with-pal options, I also included an option for knowing BOTH doll and dal-rhymes-with-pal, since those seem to both be American English pronunciations.

 

39 thoughts on “Baby Naming Issue: The Pronunciation of Dahlia

  1. Lashley

    I say this name ALL the time – it’s my street name! I also love it as a future name possibility . “You were named after the street we lived on when we were first married” seems like a lovely story to tell a little one. I always always always say the Dah like “doll” and, here in Colorado, hear that pronunciation almost exclusively. I give the whole thing three syllables (DOLL-e-uh), but cruise the middle one pretty quickly.

    However, when I talk to my family in Virginia and Alabama, they make the first syllable rhyme with “pal” and the name almost always has only 2 syllables. “Should I send this to the DAL-yuh street address?”

    As I’m sure most people will say, I prefer my own pronunciation :)

    Reply
    1. Kelsey

      Eee… Lashley, I love the idea of you using the name for a future child, super neat association to a have! I also pronounce it with the extra -e- in the middle but same as you, minimal emphasis on it. As I don’t actually know anyone with this name, I’m finding that I am pronouncing it either doll-e-uh or dal-e-uh, not sure which I prefer?? I find that the doll- makes it feel more laid-back where as the dal- makes it feel more feminine and perhaps from a more sophisticated background?

      (I’m from Canada).

      Reply
  2. Katie

    I think that while “doll” is probably better known, the “dal” pronunciation is also known and wouldn’t raise many eyebrows. You might need to explain it when you first meet people but don’t we all have to do that anyway? (i.e. I’m Sarah with an H, I’m Kathryn with a K, I’m Helen-a not Hel-ena).

    Reply
  3. Heather

    I think it’s completely regional. I say it somewhere in between doll and dall, more like “Say Ahh”. It’s not exactly as round as DOLL-yuh but it’s halfway there and it isn’t dall, as in dilly-dally or pal. Daaahlia. Of course, if met a Dally-uh I would try and pronounce it the way she was introduced to me. I think the important thing to remember is that while you might encounter people pronouncing it any number of ways, it’s ok to use and encourage only your preferred pronunciation. I know an Ana. Pronounced Ahna and she absolutely hates being referred to as Anna or Awwnuh, but she simply tells me people “Hi I’m AHna.” Emphasizing the Ahh. And she doesn’t hesitate to correct people if they slip up. They usually get it pretty quickly. I know a “Keersten” who is occasional referred to as “Kursten” and she corrects it about the same way. It’s sort of a mild annoyance but both Keersten and Ahna love their names (I’ve asked…I know that’s super lame, but I like to know these things!)

    Reply
  4. Leith

    First time commenting! I voted “day” but wanted to add, FWIW, that I’m in Canada where we tend to have some hold-over British pronunciation preferences!

    Reply
    1. Laura

      Me too – I’m a Canadian with a British background, and I would say it either Dally-uh or Day-lee-uh, both sound equally normal to me. Dahhhhh-lee-uh sounds to me like someone’s trying to put on an air of poshness, but I think that’s just because of the accent I’m used to hearing all the time.

      Reply
      1. Kelsey

        Hehe.. I agreed and commented above on the Dah -le – uh having more of a sophicated/posh background… also from Canada

        Reply
  5. Sheri

    It’s kind of between doll and dall, isn’t it? When I see Dahlia, I think of Roald Dahl with a leeah at the end, so DAH-LEEAH. It’s a pretty name, kind of old-school like a Daisy or Violet, but with a twist because it’s less used?

    Reply
  6. Sara R.

    I agree it’s between Doll and Dal (rhymes with pal.) Although this now has me second guessing the way I say pal, which is a word I almost never use. After saying it out loud several times, I find that I roll through the first syllable so quickly that it… almost doesn’t matter (or maybe I should say it’s indistinguishable) because the emphasis is on LIA.

    I voted either doll or pal, but not day. Definitely not day.

    Reply
  7. British American

    I knew a Dahlia in school as a kid, in the UK. Her name was pronounced like “Dal-ya” or I’d also say the name “Dal-ee-ah”.

    Reply
  8. Jemima

    Wow, I say it completely differently – not an option in the poll! I’m from Australia, which probably makes (quite a big) difference, but for what it’s worth I pronounce Dahlia DAHH-lee-ah (3 distinct syllables). (DAHH rhymes with car). I absolutely love this name and have definitely been considering it!

    Reply
  9. margot

    I think your poll should include Dah-lee-yuh as that is how we pronounce it! As in Dah rhymes with Car. I am in Australia and i think this is the standard pronunciation here. Maybe Day-lee-yuh. Never Dally-uh or Dolly-uh – i cannot comprehend those two pronunciations for the name Dahlia at all! They just don’t compute in my head. I’m sure they do sound pretty though. It might be an accent thing.

    Reply
    1. margot

      Oh wow ijust saw the person above me also from australia just wrote basically the exact same comment as me! Dah rhymes with Car!

      Reply
    2. Swistle Post author

      Yes, I think it must be an accent thing—I don’t see how “dah” could rhyme with “car”! I’d be happy to put it in the poll, if I could figure out how to put it! I wonder even if you ARE saying it the same as one of the options, but that you don’t say the “it sounds like” words the same—just as I can’t figure out how car could rhyme with dah.

      Reply
      1. Lashley

        I just said out loud, “How the bleep does dah rhyme with car?” I need to find an Australian person, STAT!

        Also, in my head I imagined that the first syllable of Dahlia was just a little different from “doll,” but when I practiced aloud, they were basically the same.

        Reply
    3. Swistle Post author

      Okay, I looked “car” up on Forvo (http://www.forvo.com/word/car/#fr), and the vowel sound of car in the Australian examples sounds to me like what I’m calling the “doll” pronunciation of Dahlia. But do those of you from Australia agree? That is, did you click the links in the post for pronunciations of Dahlia, and did any of them sound right to you? Or was every single one completely different than the way you say it?

      Reply
      1. Grace

        I’m from New Zealand and would say it dah-lee-uh, and can not figure out how it could be pronouced to sound like ‘doll’, in my accent there is a definite ‘o’ sound in doll (and I’m guessing it’s the same for the Aussies commenting above), but after searching the American pronunciaion of doll I get what you mean. I will now vote for dahl sounds like doll, even though that’s NOT how I would describe it, lol.

        Reply
      2. Jemima

        No, none of them sounded right to me at all! We don’t put a lot of emphasis on the ‘r’ at the end of words at all – the ‘ahh’ sound rhymes perfectly with car for us. Interesting how much names can be changed by pronunciation! Every single one in the poll sounded completely foreign to the way I’d pronounce Dahlia – still love the name though!

        Reply
        1. Swistle Post author

          No, not in the poll—I mean in the links in the post, like to Forvo and Inogolo and so forth. Did you listen to those, and none of those sounded like how you say it? If none of the links to pronunciation sounded like yours, can you find a link to a pronunciation that sounds like yours?

          Reply
      3. Janelle

        Based on what I know of American and Aussie pronunciation, I think the Aussie pron. of Dah/Car (remember their “r” is less noticeable) is what the poll is calling “doll”. The difference is that Americans tend to morph the “ahh” into the “o” of doll, while Australians will hear the “o” as a VERY different sound- closer to “old”.

        In short: if you’re an Aussie who says Dahhhlia, click “doll”. :) They are pretty similar.

        Reply
  10. Bonnie Jo

    I also live in Australia and work in a shop that sells flowers – dahlias are popular flowers here and im sure they are everywhere else too and we always pronounce it Day – li – uh and that is how customers ask for them.I have an Italian friend and her sister has the name and they pronounce it more like dar- li -uh or duh- li – uh. I guess this all comes down to accents really, for me my name becomes so different in the states instead of being bohn -nee I become Barney.
    Either way it is a very pretty flower name

    Reply
  11. Kim

    I’m from Australia too and have always pronounced the flower name Day-li-uh as well.

    I first heard it pronounced Dar-li-ah when the hollywood movie “Black Dahlia” was released. (Admittedly, the American accent does make it sound like Doll-e-ah too.)

    I think it all just boils down to accent differences and which pronunciation you have been exposed to the most.

    All the best!

    Reply
  12. Christine

    I always pronounce it as Doll-yah. It isn’t three syllables when I say it. That’s how I’ve always heard the flower pronounced here in the Northeast…interesting!

    Reply
    1. Erin

      Like Christine and The Other Gail, I pronounce it Doll-yah. I live on the east coast, too, but in the South (Atlanta). I’ve only ever heard the flower pronounced this way.

      Reply
  13. Emily

    Well, I voted and then read the comments, and realized that I voted wrong. I pronounced it many times outloud before I voted, so it seems silly to say I heard myself wrong, but I did. I think the truth is I pronounce it in the middle. I don’t say doll, or pal, but more like AHHH. I am from the Boston area, so kind of the way I would pronounce Arlington. You know the Pahked the cah in Hahved Yahd sound? That’s it.

    Reply
    1. Swistle Post author

      For me, that’s the “doll” version—or close enough, considering it’s different words for the sake of estimation.

      Reply
  14. Lo

    Fascinating….I immediately saw this and thought to myself “Well, it’s a Hebrew name.” Which it is, and I am almost certain that everyone I know with the name has it because it is a Hebrew name (I am Jewish): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalia_(name) (Apparently when translated into English, the Hebrew version of the name does not have the “H”, which makes sense to me based on the Hebrew spelling. I chose this Wikipedia link though Wikipedia is not my favorite source because it does include the Hebrew spelling.)

    And in Hebrew the “correct” pronunciation is definitely the “doll” pronunciation (specifically “doll-ya, definitely two syllables and not three), simply based on the way Hebrew vowels work. There are no options the way there are in English.

    But of course it is obvious that “Dahlia” is not only a Hebrew name, and in fact that spelling (as opposed to Dalia) has a different origin entirely, even if you pronounce them identically (which you would be, if you said “doll-ya). If the name is specifically from the flower, then I think the “dahl” part would be pronounced “Dahl” as in Roald, precisely because the flower was named for a Swedish botanist named Anders Dahl (http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/dahlia).

    Of course, when one is using the name — in my opinion — one is not necessarily staying true to the name of the flower, or the name of the botanist, or any particular language; one is choosing a set of sounds to name one’s own child. So I think you can pronounce it any way you like and, as Heather said about Ana and Kirsten, you (and eventually your child) can just be clear about how it is pronounced. My sister and i both have names that have several potential pronunciations, and we both feel strongly about the one that is *ours*, and we just…repeat it if we have to. Not a huge problem.

    I am fascinated that Dahlia/Dalia has several different etymologies that are totally separate and yet converge to make a lovely name with multiple nature connections. These discoveries are why I love names.

    Reply
  15. Lashley

    This Australian pronunciation thing is so wild! The best I can tell :
    DAH = like “car” for Australians or what Americans might think sounds like “cahh” = how Americans say the first phoneme of “doll”

    When I pretend to have an Australian accent (not very scientific, but still), I make the o-sound in “doll” almost like I’m just starting the word “oil,” in which case I understand the confusion.

    Reply
  16. Janelle

    I clicked “familiar with all three,” but when I see the name, I go for either “doll” or “dale”. I wouldn’t think to rhyme the name with Pal, thought I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that from someone else.

    Reply
  17. Jodi

    I’m an American who is married to a Brit spent a few years living in Britain, and I can attest to the fact that Dahlia (the flower, at least) is indeed pronounced DAY-lee-a over there. This was sad for me, since I loved the name pronounced either way (Doll- or Day-), but it was kind of out for us since hubby and I say it so differently. I would guess here in the US you’d get mostly the Doll- option.

    I would think the Dalia spelling would more likely fetch the Dal- (rhymes with pal) version, if that helps.

    Also, I totally sympathize with the Aussies who are scratching their heads about it being pronounced like Doll. My husband and I are considering the name Polly for our daughter, and we say the name with very different vowels. My American voice says it like Pah-ly and his British is more like how we Americans would say Paw-ly (which is different again the way he says it, but nevermind!) I love this stuff!

    Reply
  18. Slim

    I think we should let PG Wodehouse decide, even though I am of the rhymeswithpal-yuh school
    and this seems to be rhymeswithpail-yuh

    Go to 3:15ish

    Reply
  19. Tori L.

    I’m in the south, and I think of it as very similar to the southern drawl way of saying darling (daaahling). With three syllables total though – daaah-lee-uh. I think this puts it closest to the dolly pronunciation, though only if I draw out dolly in a southern fashion, which I normally don’t think of that way.

    The southern “darling” example helps me see how it could rhyme with the Australian pronunciation of car. In both cases the “r” is almost non existent.

    Reply
  20. Ky

    I have always pronounced it like the Merriam Webster definition: Dal-yuh. The one gal I know who is actually named Dahlia pronounces it that way, too!

    Reply
  21. Megz

    How very interesting.

    In Britain and New Zealand (where I’m from) it’s day-li-uh with the emphasis on the AY

    It seems in Australia it’s either as above or Dahhh-li-uh to rhyme with car, which in Australia and NZ is pronounced “kaa” (no r sound).

    In the States it is either Dally-uh or Daaah-li-uh, which is apparently similar to the word “doll”.

    There is a very subtle difference between the Australian Dahhh-li-uh and the American Daaah-li-uh but that is probably more accent than anything.

    For the record, down under we pronounce “doll” more like “duwl” with a very round mouth and deep sound. Or at least that’s the best spelling I can come up with as every O word I can think of, American’s pronounce “aa” or “aw”.

    I think for the sake of different accents, the three options should be

    Dali-uh (like Salvadore Dali)
    Dally-uh (like dilly-dally)
    Daily-uh (like daily mail)

    Reply
  22. Dahlia

    My name is Dahlia and it is pronounced DAY-LEEAH. My American and Germany and Spanish counterparts always say Dolly-ia or DAAHLIAH..It use to drive me nuts bu tnow I either correct them or just don’t even bother. I am or 40 years old and by travelling the world, I have accepted and appreciate that pronounciation/accents varied so I am now comfortable. I make sure when I introduce my self I say Dayleah spelt like the flower.

    Reply
  23. Kate Wolf

    My new granddaughter is names Dahlia, and they pronounce it DAHL-ya.
    I looked up the origin of the name, and it is from the name of the flower, which is named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl!

    Reply

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