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Original poster

How would you pronounce Elena?

83 replies

lucieloos · 11/01/2017 08:50

I would say E-Leh-Nah. What are your thoughts on the name and which spelling do you prefer? Elena, Elenna or Eleanor?

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UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 12/01/2017 19:11

I'd pronounce Elena as Eh-LAY-nah. I wouldn't think of pronouncing it the same was as Eleanor.

Pluto30 · 12/01/2017 19:09

Absolutely not! I've never known an Eleanor who didn't hate being called EleaNOR. Stress on the first syllable, and the second syllable is an e sound, not an a - so El-enn-a.

El-eh-NOR is how it's pronounced where I am (Australia), so. Evidently some don't mind!

Jeezimacasalinga · 12/01/2017 18:20

What Vintage said - my daughter is an (Italian) Elena, and it's pronounced ELL-ena. In Spanish, it's the second syllable that's stressed - Ell-E-na.
We live in London, and I'd say the majority of Brits will try to pronounce it the Spanish way - but it's not a problem, quickly oorrected and forgotten!

Original poster
lucieloos · 12/01/2017 16:39

Also stresses both ways of saying it here so take your pick I think

m.youtube.com/watch?v=3BmIRv90hQw

OP posts:
VintagePerfumista · 12/01/2017 16:38

Excellent!

It is lovely.

Original poster
lucieloos · 12/01/2017 16:37

And by the video I mean the second video Grin

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Original poster
lucieloos · 12/01/2017 16:34

Vintage, thank you that's pretty much how I would pronounce it!

Anyway thanks for everyone's input I think I have enough of an idea now. There are basically 2 ways to pronounce it and neither is right or wrong. It is an international name and as such will be pronounced slightly differently from country to country. We aren't trying to sounds like Italians or spaniards. We live in Wales and will go with the pronunciation as in the video as that is our preferred one. Obviously some people may get it wrong but generally I would have thought we would be introducing DD or she will be introducing herself so people will know how it's said rather than relying on seeing it written down.

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Megatherium · 12/01/2017 16:26

Eleanor = El-la-nor (stress on the "nor")

Absolutely not! I've never known an Eleanor who didn't hate being called EleaNOR. Stress on the first syllable, and the second syllable is an e sound, not an a - so El-enn-a.

I'd pronounce Elena as E-lay-na. It's a lovely name, the only problem is that she would get people mispronouncing and misspelling it.

livvylongpants · 12/01/2017 16:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

VintagePerfumista · 12/01/2017 16:23

The second syllable is the vowel!

VintagePerfumista · 12/01/2017 16:22

v

Staranise123 · 12/01/2017 16:14

The Spaniards may well emphasise the second syllable but will not add an ay sound. It is more a long eh sound (that doesn't seem to exist in English).

Original poster
lucieloos · 12/01/2017 15:39

I think E-len-ah was also explained earlier in the thread lol.

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MarmiteDoesYouGood · 12/01/2017 15:32

I'm baffled by those who say Eh-lay-na I can't figure out where they get the 'a' from in the middle

It was explained earlier in the thread, tbf.

VintagePerfumista · 12/01/2017 15:15

Italians pronounce it with the stress on the first syllable, Spanish with the stress on the second.

Hence: ELL-ena and E-LAYna.

Having lived in Spain and then moved to Italy I would get it completely wrong at first.

The Italian pronunciation is much more similar (though not identical) to the UK Eleanor.

Elenna looks made up.

The thread shows, however, that lovely as it is (it was dd's middle name for a day until dp changed his mind) it's a bloody minefield as far as saying it goes.

Staranise123 · 12/01/2017 14:37

To me, Elena is composed of Elen (ellen) and a (ah), so El-en-ah.

Original poster
lucieloos · 12/01/2017 14:13

Dh prefers Elena as its a Welsh name. I'm baffled by those who say Eh-lay-na I can't figure out where they get the 'a' from in the middle but obviously different people and regions pronounce differently so we will just go with how we would say it. From this post it looks like plenty also say eh-len-na.

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Cedilla · 12/01/2017 13:49

If you want her name to be pronounced the same as 'Eleanor' I agree you should call her Eleanor (or Elinor, which is a very pretty alternative).

I'm genuinely baffled by all the people who say they'd pronounce 'Elena' that way because to me it's quite clearly 'Eh-LAY-na'. I think you're likely to be spending a lot of your time 'correcting' people!

CourtJester · 12/01/2017 13:47

I would personally pronounce it Eh-lay-nah

Original poster
lucieloos · 12/01/2017 13:41

Thanks everyone think if we go for that name we will just have to introduce DD how we plan to pronounce it and then people should pick up on it hopefully.

I know that Elena and Eleanor are different names with different origins. I was just trying to make a point that I personally would pronounce both very similarly.

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bookworm14 · 12/01/2017 13:32

Elena and Eleanor are different names with different roots. Elena is common in Russia and Hispanic countries and is their version of Helen. Eleanor is old French/Provencal.

You can pronounce Elena the same as Eleanor, but be prepared for lots of people to assume it's e-LAY-na!

Quartz2208 · 11/01/2017 19:00

Our friends daughter is called the way you want e-leh-nah and all she did was say that is the way she wants it pronounced and its fine. Be prepared to gently correct people and/or accept a different pronunciation but everyone at school/clubs says it correctly for her

RainbowsandLemonDrops · 11/01/2017 18:32

El-a-nah

originalmavis · 11/01/2017 18:31

Eh-lay-nah. I know loads of Russians called that. It must be the equivalent of Mary or John.

Pluto30 · 11/01/2017 18:30

I know two girls with this name.

One is Italian and pronounces it eh-LAY-nah.

The other is Russian and pronounces it eh-LEE-nah.

Elena and Eleanor are completely different names. Here, Eleanor is eh-leh-NOR with the stress on the last syllable. Even if you pronounce Eleanor differently, Elena is still a different name.

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