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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Elaina/Helaina

141 replies

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 16:40

I love these 2 names, pronounced this way. I know many mnetters are anti 'made up' name's but I think in this instance phonetic spelling will save them a lifetime of correcting people who call them the other version?

Its not like Feebee for instance...

Please mumsnet guide me!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

pretend · 13/12/2015 21:01

You are free to name your child as you wish.

Others are free to judge.

If you don't want to be judged, call your child Jacob or Sophie. incidentally I know a jaicob. I judge

INeedACheeseSlicer · 13/12/2015 21:01

To me, Helaina in particular is not a phonetic spelling. You could pronounce it like Helena, but also Hel-line-a, or Helannah.
To be honest, if I saw it written down, my first instinct would be Hel-ai-ee-na.

When people are confronted with a name spelled they haven't seen before, they won't have a clue how to pronounce it. Some will just read it how it might be phonetically in English. Others will assume it isn't an English name (because if it was, it would be spelled Helena), and so they will try and make sense of the spelling in a context of any other similar names they know - including non-English names. So then there will be a whole load of other possibilities for pronunciation thrown into the mix, that wouldn't be there if you had used a standard spelling.

Having said that, my DC is bilingual and has a name that is popular, or at least well-known, in many european countries, spelled in a standard way. It is pronounced differently in her two languages; when speaking language A, she is known by the language A pronunciation, and when speaking language B, by the language B pronunciation - even within the family. They are both "her". It is like she has two names, and she genuinely seems to not mind, and think it completely natural that her name should be pronounced two different ways.
So personally, I wouldn't get too hung up on different pronunciations, but I know lots of people would think differently.

janethegirl2 · 13/12/2015 21:01

Call your babe what you like, I personally really don't care.

The weirder the name, it seems the lower the social class .....note, nothing to do with ethnicity or racism.

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:59

Costa, it doesn't for you maybe, but im sorry, the first opinion I get for an alternative spelled name is - I will judge this child - and this does reek of something unpleasant, be it racism or some other 'i have made my judgement about who you are because you do not do things the way I would. '

OP posts:

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:55

Quote from this article www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/weird-baby-names_n_2301458.html?utm_hp_ref=parents-pregnancy&utm_source=thestir.cafemom.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_article
Makes an interesting read
The reason may be the increased diversity of names today, Wattenberg told LiveScience. About 60 years ago, the number-one baby names, John and Mary, accounted for about a quarter of all new babies. Today, the top names, Jacob and Sophie, are given to just 1 percent of all newborns.

"We're taking away common ground and it makes people feel a little bit less secure," Wattenberg said. "There's a very real sense that names now are, I think, a more honest reflection of how different we all are from one another."

OP posts:

Costacoffeeplease · 13/12/2015 20:49

My last word on this

Other threads, other posters may turn racist - this one didn't until you raised it, and I resent being accused of racism when I have said absolutely nothing of the sort.

'Illiterate' has no racial connotations

Minty82 · 13/12/2015 20:49

Yes I do think Elaina's less problematic as it looks like you've stuck an a on the end of Elaine rather than changed the middle of Elena

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:48

Harry hill chicken suit 'fight, fight, fight!'

OP posts:

pretend · 13/12/2015 20:46

I bloody love it when a baby names thread kicks off

janethegirl2 · 13/12/2015 20:45

Barbie I'm guessing you'll do what you want to do wrt the name, but it will be awkward for the DC if their name is weird.

Most people want to put a 'y' in my name, WTF??

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:43

When I was growing there was a Martha who was teased for her old fashioned name. Tastes and trends change though.

OP posts:

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:41

minty thank you for your response.

I must admit that Elaina looks OK and Helaina a bit quirky.

OP posts:

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:39

Costa, I will agree to disagree with you on this, to an extent.

This may not be relevant to you but a quick checking mumsnet throws plots of mocking the names thread, which do turn snobbish and sometimes racist.

If its different to the norm its not right. Like, really?!

According to which rulebook?

I don't regret asking this question. I have had my own thinking challenged. I'd like to think it may have led others to wonder if Elaina could be deemed an established spelling. enough to lose sleep over.

OP posts:

Minty82 · 13/12/2015 20:38

River - Helena has two established pronunciations, which I guess is why the OP wants to make the pronunciation clear through spelling.

Minty82 · 13/12/2015 20:35

The article you linked to was an interesting read, and made some fair points. Where it falls down in a British context is by suggesting that Jaxon and Gracelyn wouldn't receive similar mockery. In the UK they absolutely would - possibly more so as they wouldn't come under the umbrella of 'black names with their own validity', but rather 'made up for no apparent reason'. For what it's worth, I have a kneejerk antipathy to the spellings you've suggested as to me they're just wrong. I can see why you politicise that response and don't feel that, without a cultural connection to the original spellings, you shouldn't be free to spell them however you want. As you obviously have every right to do. But if you're going to do at least be warned that most people will see them as misspellings. Not because they're racist, classist or anything else, but because Helaina looks as wrong as definate.

RiverTam · 13/12/2015 20:30

Can you link to your assertion thst these are established spellings? Saying that you've found a couple of people in Google doesn't not make it established, especially as you don't know if the spelling is deliberate or a mistake. Someone upthread has said that there were 3 Helainas born in 2014 - that is by no means established and in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't all misspellings.

The one person I know with a misspelled name has exactly that - her parents didn't know how to spell her name.

I have to say Elena and Helena don't rhyme in my head, Elena is El-AY-nah and Helena is Helen-ah.

Costacoffeeplease · 13/12/2015 20:28

I'm still none the wiser re the connection between 'illiterate' and 'race' - if it's your issue op, then you have to realise that, and not accuse strangers on an anonymous forum, of racism

celtictoast · 13/12/2015 20:28

Bethesda is nice! Beth for short.

IguanaTail · 13/12/2015 20:27

Yes!

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:24

Bethesda does have a nice ring to it...

OP posts:

OneMoreCasualty · 13/12/2015 20:22

What about Bethesda though, that's pretty?

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:21

Or maybe I'm illiterate

OP posts:

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:20

Apologies about spelling. My predictive keyboard is a bugger

OP posts:

Original poster

Barbiequed · 13/12/2015 20:19

Costa, I have already explained. The use of the word illiterate is loaded for me when it comes to names. I concede it may not Bethesda case but I have been witness to a lot of snickering when it comes to names that don't fit the bill.

Apologies if this isnt relevant to you but it is something that happens

OP posts:

OneMoreCasualty · 13/12/2015 20:19

Op, since Elaine exists, Elaina seems less of a stretch, to me.

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