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Original poster

Does UK pronounciation of Elias definitely rhyme with Tobias

63 replies

Ruthshaw1980 · 03/06/2018 17:29

Dear all

Following on from last week’s poll regarding boys name, it appears that DH may (and surprisingly) be favouring Elias as his preferred choice. Without getting too excited since this is also my favourite of the names polled, I would just like to check the English pronunciation of Elias. I understand on the continent they would say el-EEE-us whereas the English pronounciation is e-LIE-us, therefore rhyming with Tobias. Is this correct?? Oh and before anyone asks, yes Tobias itself is a lovely name but off limits as taken by Nephew Smile

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sonnyboo · 21/06/2018 08:21

I'd say El ee as. Like Elliott (not Ell eye it)

moredoll · 21/06/2018 00:40

Definitely rhymes with Tobias

letsallhaveanap · 20/06/2018 22:05

no. Id say Eel-ee-ass and id say Toe-bye-ass

Original poster
Ruthshaw1980 · 20/06/2018 22:03

Apologies for the delay in responding to everybody, many thanks to all who posted. A significant majority of you would say eh-lie-us, which is very reassuring as that is our preference. It’s in DH’s top two so maybe we have a winner if a boy (due 6th July). Now back to girl names.....

OP posts:
bluechameleon · 06/06/2018 11:12

I've known boys pronounced Elly-us and Illy-us but neither was of British origin. I think it is one of those names where you just have to tell people how you are pronouncing it.

TERFousBreakdown · 06/06/2018 10:48

e-LYE-us.

Mongrel Brit, born & bred in London. Standard SE middle class accent but an expat of a decade here in case this matters.

MikeUniformMike · 06/06/2018 10:44

The Lebanese connection makes a big difference. His name is Arabic -Ilias but spelt Elias.

LongTermPerm · 06/06/2018 10:27

To me it doesn't rhyme with Tobias because the stress is on the first syllable- EH-lee-ass, although the first sound is somewhere between EH and AY. I say it like that because that's how the only one I know pronounces it (he's Lebanese, if that makes a difference).

sonnyboo · 06/06/2018 10:24

I'd say Elias to rhyme (first part) with Eliot or Elinor so El ee as.

HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone · 06/06/2018 09:57

To me, with 'standard English' accent, yes, it rhymes with Tobias and I agree it's related to Elijah

Pretty much what I was going to say Grin. Aa a random side note all the children I have taught with this name have pronounced it to rhyme whether they were English or not.

lottiegarbanzo · 06/06/2018 09:48

To me, with 'standard English' accent, yes, it rhymes with Tobias and I agree it's related to Elijah.

Of course people in other European countries will say El-ee-us but they'd pronounce lots of names differently.

Cadencia · 06/06/2018 09:36

I agree with your pronunciations OP. However, as you can see from this thread, that is certainly not universally recognised!

Knitjob · 06/06/2018 09:34

I'd have said Ellie-us to rhyme with bus. But I've never met an Elias ever in my life so I'm clearly no expert.

theunsure · 06/06/2018 09:30

Yes to rhyme with Tobias here (English native speaker)

Ginandplatonic · 06/06/2018 09:26

e-LYE-as to rhyme with to-BYE-as here in Australia.

Liz38 · 06/06/2018 09:26

I think that's your answer! You could pronounce it either way and lots of people will either tell you you've got it wrong out just do it differently. Fwiw I'm El-eye-as

Snowysky20009 · 06/06/2018 09:16

Yes rhymes with Tobias here. I actually had Both names on my list with ds2, but dp didn't like them.

MakeLemonade · 04/06/2018 18:53

Elias to rhyme with Tobias here too.

Sounds like lie-us.

MyDcAreMarvel · 04/06/2018 18:15

Tobias is Toe Bye Ass

SoupDragon · 04/06/2018 14:17

Eh lye us

NordicNobody · 04/06/2018 14:13

Only Elias I've ever known pronounced it El-ee-us so that's how I'd say it. Both he and I are English.

BlankTimes · 04/06/2018 02:08

Elly ass

T' by ass

MyDcAreMarvel · 04/06/2018 01:48

Elly Ass

Joeybee · 04/06/2018 01:37

In the UK definitely it'd rhyme with Tobias.

LionAllMessy · 04/06/2018 01:36

There’s no universal U.K. pronunciation of a word

And there's certainly no universal European pronunciation of a word. "On the continent they would say..." – sorry OP, but there are 23 official languages spoken in Europe (and many more non-official ones), and they don't all pronounce everything the same!

In mine, it sounds very similar to Elliott, but with an S instead of a T at the end.