Arabic Girls name...Aiya 'v' Lana...still stuck please help!

[UmSami]

I posted a while back as was struggling trying to find an Arabic girls name with good meaning, that worked well in English and Arabic. Oh and was simple enough to go with a very long surname!
You came up with some V. good suggestions but
DH and I couldnt agree, and with 2 days til D-Day we're still stuck!
We've got 2 (3) now, but not 100% sure about either...opinions please

Lana - said Laa-na
Lana' - said Lan-a (different names with different meaning...I prefer one, hubby the other - not suprises there then!)
Aiya - said I-ya

Oh if you have any other suggestions please feel free.

[UmSami]

Oh no! At least it's not 'toilet' or even worse...
Arabic and African langauges (don't ask me which specific african language) do not seem to go well together.
DH had friend in uni who's name, and village/town of origin were literally a list of profanities when translated into arabic!

[SofiaAmes]

My friend's name is Rania. I think it's a lovely name and it goes over very well here in the usa. She is iraqi/English and never had any trouble in the uk either.

But of the 3 you have suggested, I like the first Lana.

[CoteDAzur]

How about Aila? ("I-la")

[CoteDAzur]

I'm guessing you won't consider Laila.

[CoteDAzur]

How about Lina?

[expatmama]

what about aisha - it means prosperous?

[expatmama]

can also be spelt aysha.

[UmSami]

CoteDAzur LOL...do you know me?!
Laila was my 1st choice DH said NO! - still fighting!
Then I fell in love with Aila - (bit unsure of meaning though - think Deer - am I right?)
Still love Aila - reminds me of my DM name who passed away when I was 16 (Eileen)
Lina - is a nice name - but I once knew a girl...LOL-oh and do you know the cartoon Adnan and Lina - well i just think of the theme tune!
We're obviously on the same page about names...so if you have any more...for me to harras DH with...
Aisha - a beautiful, classic name, but v. used and dh wants something more 'modern'

[UmSami]

Sory SofiaAmes - din't mean to ignore you...
Rania lovely, but bubs has auntie Rania...dont want to use family name.

[christiana]

Message withdrawn

[Cheesesarnie]

isnt layla arabic?

[michymama]

My tunisian friend has two girls called Aya and Douwa which means a gift from god. I also know a Nuran which means the light that comes from god. Not 100 % sure of spellings on last too so chack them out on the net. Aya I know as she's in DDs class.

[georgiemum]

Sara/Zara works well just about everywhere!

[fuzzywuzzy]

Aiya is also wet nurse in urdu... Think it means verse in arabic???

[loler]

Aiya - sounds like hi ya - which is OK unless you live in the midlands (hiya being the first word of all 3 of my dc!).

Aila - is lovely with a beautiful meaning and even better as it has a connect with your mum - why isn't this on your final list?

[UmSami]

As far as I know...Aiya/Ayah/Aya - is derived from Ayat - a verse of the Quran exactly as CoteDAzur explained...Ayah is also used in spoken arabic to describe the best of something...ie the BEST eyes, the BEST natured...I really like it's meaning...and is sweet as is the first name that EVERYONE ie Me, DH, MIL, FIL, SIL, BIL, Great Uncle Fred 10x removed, oh and the milk man have liked...I do have concerns about it though...Hiya for one...the distinct lack of constanants for another...i'm worried that it may look a little daunting in the english language, especially when folowed by our 11 letter, 4 syllable surname (actually very easy to say as said as read but it scares folk!)Also whilst I do want my bub's name to liked by family & friends, you can't please all of the people all of the time...can you?
DS 2.7, seems not some impressed by it too, he said last night Aiya not my friend, not baby sister...I want him to like it most of all...
As for the Aila thing, I love it, and i've told hubby point blank that if she's born on halloween, she's Aila no questions asked...simply cos my mum would have found the whole halloween thing really funny!...
Beyond that though I want him to like the name...she's his daughter too, and whilst I am v sentimental...it's not the smae for him...
I'm hoping this will all become clear when I meet her!

[slim22]

Ayah, aida and alia were my favorites.

then came cote d'azur with Aila and I fell in love with the name.

In the end, when DD was born, we named her May, a name we'd never considered until we saw her.

[slim22]

Oh, not too keen on Lana. Much prefer Lara.

[UmSami]

Slim...is Lara an Arabic name? What does it mean? I've looked at so many I'm just confused now!
May/Mai is lovely...we considered it but as she's due tomorrow the english version just doesn't work!
Aida's always been a favourite of mine too, but DH has niece and his favourite 'adoptive' Aunt so DONE!
Alia...hmmm not thought of that...NICE...more confusion! Still likeing Aila!