Olena

[Ghoulelocks]

Is a form of Helena, we're Eastern European. How is it for a child born and raised in the UK? Easy to say? Liked?

(It's Oh-len-ah)

[MoonlightandWerewolves]

Well, it's not one I'm familiar with, but it is pretty.
Can't see the pronunciation causing too much difficulty. Only thing though, much the same way that Helena can be pronounced either 'He-leh-na' and 'He-lee-na' you may find that Olena gets the same treatment on occasion.

Congratulations too by the way!

[rachel234]

I like it - I'd say Oh-le-na.

[MolotovBomb]

Lovely name choice :)

I'd say 'oh-lay-na' but would happily be corrected!

[shoobidoo]

Lovely name that isn't widely used already - great choice. I'd say Oh-leh-na.

[Snowflakepie]

I think it's lovely, wouldn't say it properly when it was written but would be happy to learn, and most people you will speak to rather than see it written anyway, especially when they're small. Great name x

[SomersetONeil]

Beautiful name - I'd pronounce it O-lay-na.

[SomersetONeil]

That is, until someone told me otherwise, of course!

[Ghoulelocks]

Thanks, O-lay-na is nice enough too if it stuck at school. I just didn't want her name to really different or really identify her to one place.

[juneau]

It sounds like a brand of cooking oil to me. Sorry! If you're living here, I'd go with Helena.

[Gwennan]

Helena can be pronounced:
he-le-na
he-lay-na (I think influenced by the name Elena)
he-lee-na

Olena is likely to be pronounced, or mispronounced, similarly.

Olena seems easy to spell and pronounce once you are told the preferred way of saying it!

[Gwennan]

I just didn't want her name to really different or really identify her to one place .
I'm not sure what you mean by this, OP. I would assume an Olena was from Eastern Europe/Russia or had parents who were from those places. I don't think that's a bad thing at all but your comment sounds like you want a name that's used 'everywhere'. Olena's not one of those.

[eBook]

Agree with Gwennan. I've never heard of Olena before and it does immediately sound Eastern European.