Today's name: Eulalia & Eulalie (Eulalie is the variant of Eulalia)
Alternate spellings: Eulalee, Eulaylee, Eulaylie, Eulaylia, Olalla
Pronunciation: Eulalia: yu-LAH-lee-ah or yu-LAY-lee-ah; Eulalie: yu-LAH-lee or yu-LAY-lee
Potential nicknames: Eula, Eulala, Eulie, Eulia, Lala, Lalie, Lalia, Lia, Lila, Leila, Laia, Lily, Lalita, Allie, Ellie
Origin: Old Greek, meaning "well-spoken," although you can say "eloquent" or "articulate" as well. The "well spoken" meaning of this name comes from the Greek eu (well) lalein (speak), translating to "articulate." The Greek baby name Euphemia (pronounced yu-FEE-mee-uh) also means "well-spoken." Euphemia's most popular nickname is Effie.
Popularity: Surprisingly, there were only 40 baby girls named Eulalia in 2010 in the U.S., and no baby girls born named Eulalie, even though these names are gaining in interest on baby name websites. In 2011 I predicted a slight rise in the amount of births for this name, but it turns out there were only 25 baby girls named Eulalia in 2011, no Eulalie, and 5 Euphemia.
Fun fact: Eulalia was the name of a 4th century virgin martyr Spanish saint, known as the patron saint of Barcelona. Her feast day is February 12, although it is August 22 in the Orthodox Church. After reading about what had been done to this little girl (she was only 12) I think this would be a beautiful way to honor a child who died for her beliefs. If you were to do a little research on Eulalia the saint, you would find out it was said that a dove flew from her body as she died. A middle name meaning "dove" might be perfect. There was also a Saint Eulalia of Merida, Spain, whose story is very similar.
Eulalie is also a poem by Edgar Allen Poe.
Fun link: Check this out for the names of Eulalia's and Eulalie's born in 1911 in England and Wales
http://britishbabynames.typepad.com/blog/1911-census-eulalia-eulalie.html
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I find it slightly ironic that a name which means well-spoken is such a tongue twister for me to say. I do find her charming, however.
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