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Original poster

Helene Heleen pronunciation

30 replies

doughnutmuffin · 24/05/2020 16:35

How do you pronounce these names?

DH wants either as a middle name for DD, named after his grandmother Helen who recently died. TBH I don't like the name but would it be best to just use Helen rather than a foreign version like Helena, Elena, Helene etc?!

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livinthevidalockdown · 25/05/2020 07:47

I went for Helena

CherryPavlova · 25/05/2020 07:42

What Lavenderblues said.

Lavenderblues · 25/05/2020 07:39

Helene is pronounced Hell-eh-ne with 3 syllables.

So like Helena but Helene with an eh sound at the end.

MrsDrSpencerReid · 25/05/2020 03:02

I quite like Nina Helene Smile

I would pronounce it Heleen

DramaAlpaca · 25/05/2020 02:53

I think Nina Helen is actually rather nice.

Crikey0000 · 24/05/2020 23:03

The only Helene I know has to explain how to pronounce her name all the time.

123Dancewithme · 24/05/2020 23:01

Nina Helen sounds good to me.

percheron67 · 24/05/2020 22:23

Hell en. Not keen on Helleen - looks like a misspelling of Halloween!

peperethecat · 24/05/2020 22:00

I would just use Helen.

Hélène in French is pronounced Ell-EN.

Without the accents it just looks wrong, but I've heard it pronounced as both Hell-EN and HELL-en.

I'm not sure why you would do this when the person you're naming her after was a regular Helen, which is perfectly nice and not confusing.

bluemoon2468 · 24/05/2020 21:34

I went to school with a girl called Helene (she had one French parent and one German parent) pronounced hel-ENN (like the English Helen but with the stress on the second syllable)

daisypond · 24/05/2020 18:00

Helen is a lovely name. Go with that. I know two Helenes. One is pronounced Hel-AINE. The other is pronounced Hel-ENN.

bridgetreilly · 24/05/2020 17:43

if you're going to give someone someone's name then actually just give them their name?! Rather than a version of their name?

THIS.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 24/05/2020 17:10

The one Helene I know is Hell-enn. She gets really miffed if you say Helen.

eleventy3isthemagicnumber · 24/05/2020 17:06

It'd choose whatever flowed with the name best.

FWIW I'd pronounce:

Helene as Hel-LEN (not heleen).

Helen as HEL-en

Why not have Elena or Helena if you prefer them? They're basically the same name. Also, Ellen is an old English version of Helen.

Original poster
doughnutmuffin · 24/05/2020 17:03

Lol Nina Helen it is, Nina Helena definitely wouldn't be fair on the poor child.

He was very close to DGM so it would be lovely to give the name. She will have his surname but I did choose the first name so overall I'm happy

OP posts:
JasHarts · 24/05/2020 16:58

Nina Heleena bo beena banana fanna fo feena fee fy mo meena...Nina Heleena

NameChange30 · 24/05/2020 16:55

FWIW, I'm pregnant with a girl, and she will have DH's grandmother's name as a middle name. (She will also have both our surnames. And we already have a DS who has my grandad's name as a middle name.) We would never have chosen the name for its own sake but it means so much to DH and his lovely grandmother (and therefore to me) that I don't really care what it sounds like.

PollyEthel · 24/05/2020 16:55

I think Nina Helene (pronounced either Ellenne or Hellenne stress on last syllable) sound better than Nina Helen - you are right, it is about where the emphasis is.

BreconBeBuggered · 24/05/2020 16:54

If you want Nina then you'd better stick with Helen, or you risk a whole Nina Heleena scenario.

Original poster
doughnutmuffin · 24/05/2020 16:52

It is a classic name so I definitely don't think it's a terrible name, just not something I would pick myself.

OP posts:
Original poster
doughnutmuffin · 24/05/2020 16:51

Hmm I don't think Helen really goes. We've agreed on Nina for the first name but then again maybe I'm not keen because I'm generally not keen on Helen. As a lot of people say though the middle name isn't overly important/used in everyday life so I'm swaying towards just going with Helen

OP posts:
NameChange30 · 24/05/2020 16:50

If you're going to use it, just use Helen, but if you don't like the name, don't use it.

Did you take DH's family name after getting married and will you give that surname to the baby? If so she will already have a name from his side.

BreconBeBuggered · 24/05/2020 16:49

The only Helene I know is a Heleen. But that's her first name. I only know the middle names of a few people. If you want it as a namesake you need to stick with the original.

MikeUniformMike · 24/05/2020 16:46

I prefer Helen to the names you've listed.
Helene is just Helen with an e on the end cf. Carol/Carole)
Helena and Elena have pronunciation issues.
It's a middle name, does it go with the rest of the name?

ThisIsMeOrIsIt · 24/05/2020 16:46

I have a friend who's middle name is Helené (so Helen-ay). Her family is English, I'm not sure where it comes from. It's nice. Middle names are used so rarely, I think have whatever you want.

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