Source
r/namenerds•
WhoapJr

Aleka

What do you all think of Aleka as a name for a girl in the United States? Usually I prefer well established, timeless/classic names, but Aleka has been a favorite of mine for many years. I looked it up and it seems to tentatively have roots in Greece, Germany, Sweden, and Hawaii. I have always pronounced it ah-LEE-kah. Ah like the middle sound in "cup", lee like the vegetable leek, and kah like the beginning part of "cup". Or, phrased another way, like the name Alicia is sometimes pronounced, but with a 'k' instead of a 'sh' sound in the middle.

So, thoughts? Impressions? Is it usable? Does it seem really trendy or tied to a specific age group?

Thanks :)

Posted Jul 25, 2016, 10:46 PM UTC

212
Icy_Empress•

I said it like Ah-lek-ah. So you might have a lot of misprounciation.

17
Fancy_Pet_Rock•

Same here. Ah-lee-kah is pretty tho.

1
WhoapJrOP•

Mispronunciations don't bother me, hopefully my kid would feel the same. Do you mean lek like rhymes with deck? That's probably the least appealing pronunciation I can think of, but it's not awful, and hopefully people would remember how to say it once they hear it the correct way once or twice.

1
Icy_Empress•

Ya sorry lek like deck :( hopefully she won't mind either now that I know the prounciation it's lovely!

1
DrunkenBlowfish•

I definitely would pronounce it as you've written it. It's nms, but I don't think it's overly trendy. It does sound very modern to me though.

3
WhoapJrOP•

Good to hear you'd pronounce it my way. Funny thing is when I searched for Aleka on Facebook, the first result is a middle aged Greek politician.

1
MungoRN•

I would pronounced it Ah-leh-kah based on the spelling. Its not my style but if you love it, use it!

3
WhoapJrOP•

Thanks! I do think that pronunciation is pretty, too.

1
aquero•

I like the name, but would probably mispronounce it as well. Maybe Alika would be a more intuitive spelling?

3
WhoapJrOP•

Ya know, I have considered that. I've thought of it spelled Aleka for 15 years now, so Alika looks weird to me. Also, apparently the regular Greek spelling is Aleka. What about Alieka? That's more palatable to me, I guess since it still has the 'e' present.

The good news is that I'm not one of those people who flies into a rage when people misspell or mispronounce names. My name is misspelled probably 70% of the time and mispronounced about 50% of the time. It doesn't bother me. All the other pronunciations I can think of for Aleka are okay with me, too, though hopefully people would pronounce it the right way after hearing it. Hopefully my kid would be in the same boat.

I normally feel badly for kids given really weird, hard to spell, hard to pronounce names, but I don't think Aleka is in that category. Unusual, but not bizarre and burdensome. What do you think?

2
aquero•

I don't think Aleka is a weird/burdensome name at all. It rather stands out to me as strong-minded and affably quirky. As for the spelling, I think many people would intuitively pronounce it with an "eh" as in "Alec", since that would be the most familiar association, but correcting it once should be enough, so I wouldn't worry too much about this issue either.

I'd totally pronounce Alieka as "Ah-LIKE-a" though... As in the word "lie", you know. English pronunciation is hard, goddammit.

1
pamplemus•

i would pronounce it ah-lee-ka or ah-lay-ka. it does seem a little trendy just because of the "k", but not overly so. it flows well and i think it would age well too!

1