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Avonlea

Picture a young female Canadian artist from the prairies naming a female child Avonlea (ah-von-LEE) What do you think?Avonlea comes from Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series of books.
Avonlea is the fictional community located in Prince Edward Island.
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I wouldn't be surprised to see it, but I've always pronounced it AV-on-lee.
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I have met someone named Avonlea before, and I have seen a couple of distant acquaintances use it for babies in the last few years (thanks Facebook). It's recognizable because of the books, and Nameberry did a focus on the name late last year, so I think that gave it a bit more traction than it normally would have. I think it fits the scene you laid out, and works well as a place-name. I personally wouldn't use it, but that is only because it is not my style. I think the sound pretty and wouldn't be surprised if I met an Avonlea.
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Well, is that even how Avonlea is meant to be pronounced? I never have been sure.Since I really disliked Anne of Green Gables, the idea of somebody naming their kid Avonlea makes me roll my eyes.
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I love L.M. Montgomery, and I think her books are what gave me a love of names. She has so many characters and so many wonderful names. I think it's a disservice to her to use a fictional place name when you could pick one of hundreds of character names.
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My first inclination is to pronounce lea as 2 syllables (like Lea), and Avon just reminds me of the cosmetics company. It seems obviously made up to me, which I guess makes sense for an artist, but also not very original, or like an affectation...So if I was a young female artist going for that sound, I'd prefer Yvonne Li or Avani or Avalon or Ivana Lee....or maybe even something involving Prairie...I like Lucy Maud more than all of those, though.

This message was edited 10/20/2015, 9:20 PM

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I'd pronounce it AV-on-lee, not ah-von-LEE. The final stress sounds pretentious.
Other than that I would not be surprised by it. It's a little flakey, but sayable, and flakey could be expected of an artist, right? heh.
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I like it =) Mostly cos I grew up with Anne of Green Gables but I actually do really like it as a name.
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