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Original poster

Elena Eleanor pronunciation

160 replies

firstpregnancy1 · 02/06/2020 11:14

I personally would pronounce Eleanor and Elena exactly the same - eh le na (with the stress on the first syllable)

If I want that pronunciation, should I use Eleanor or elena ?

I worry that with Eleanor there will be SOME people who pronounce it eh le NOR. I know this would really irritate me.

Equally , would Elena be pronounced by some people as eh LAY na or eh-LEN-a ?

Anyone know/ got an Eleanor / Elena who can share their findings ?

Thank you!

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blosstree · 03/06/2020 01:04

Vic-tuh and Hec-tuh. I've lived in multiple areas of the UK and never heard it any differently, I know one Victor and three Hectors!

PuntoEBasta · 03/06/2020 01:03

@CremeEggThief Eleanor of Aquitaine doesn’t have a theme tune (at least not by Disney) - Elena of Avalor does!

ToothFairyNemesis · 03/06/2020 01:01

Also - have NEVER heard people say Vic-torr and Hec-torr!
@blosstree how else would you pronounce those names?

blosstree · 03/06/2020 01:00

Also - have NEVER heard people say Vic-torr and Hec-torr! If I did I'd notice and think it was strange.

I suppose the 'a' sound is more of an 'uh' sound.

blosstree · 03/06/2020 00:56

Eleanor - Ellen-a
Elena - eh-lay-na

But some people will pronounce Eleanor with 'nor' on the end. All you can do is correct them if you don't like it.

Blursula · 03/06/2020 00:41

I would pronounce Eleanor as Ella-nuh. I assumed most would until reading this thread!

Elena I would be unsure of whether to say Ella-nuh or E-LAY-na.

Shame Eleaner isn’t an accepted spelling really

OhLookHeKickedTheBall · 03/06/2020 00:01

I'm from the south east and have known a lot of Eleanors in my time and they've always been el-an-or pronunciations. Elena I've known fewer but have mainly been e-lay-nah though a few were Ell-a-nah.

That said, if someone corrected me I'd make an effort to say it as they had. My surname is often mispronounced and I just correct people while saying yes it weird because it is, I only get irritated by people who continue to mispronounce. Similarly with my first name which is an accepted but not as common spelling.

ToothFairyNemesis · 02/06/2020 23:46

I would say EllaNor and L ain ( rhymes with rain) A

CoffeeRunner · 02/06/2020 23:42

Elena is a really common name in Romania. Pronounced El-N-a. A very short, quick name. Since the only Elena I’ve known has been Romanian this is how I would pronounce it.

Eleanor is a much longer name. El-en-or.

FrancisCrawford · 02/06/2020 23:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NuffSaidSam · 02/06/2020 23:29

Each name has (at least) two different recognised pronunciations, that's the problem, not that Eleanor and Elena are different names/pronounced differently (or in some cases the same) as each other.

LittleCandle · 02/06/2020 23:19

Since these are two totally different names with completely different pronunciations, why would you pronounce them the same way? Eleanor has an 'r' at the end and Elena hasn't. Quite different. If you don't want your child's name to end with a consonant, then pick Elena. And the emphasis is not on the last syllable, its on the first. It isn't like either of these names is uncommon, either.

Yellowcakestand · 02/06/2020 23:07

El-en-ore and el-en-ah here.
I knew an Eleyna at school so that's how I woukd spell the name you are after

PollyEthel · 02/06/2020 22:59

Rhoticity is a typo, meant to be rhotic!

PollyEthel · 02/06/2020 22:57

I'm an Eleanor, and I am Elenuh, stress on first syllable. That is the standard pronunciation in RP. And yes, the or in Victor and Hector would also be pronounced uh (unstressed vowel) in my accent, and my part of England (south west). I really don't like the ore sound in my name in a standard English accent.

However, I have quite a lot of family with rhotic accents (Scotland, Ireland, Canada, USA) and when they say Elenore it sounds right, and so I really don't mind with them, or others with a Rhoticity accent.

Rostbif · 02/06/2020 22:56

Hi OP. My sister is an Eleanor (pronounced El-en-ah). Occasionally people say El-eh-NOR, but it's rare Smile

Oakmaiden · 02/06/2020 22:52

My Eleanor is El-a-nor. Hates being called El-uh-nuh. (And has to regularly correct people)

NuffSaidSam · 02/06/2020 22:51

I think it's so area dependent!

We're also London and all say Ellen-uh. We have Irish and American friends who all say Ella-nor.

It's just one of those names.

DanniArthur · 02/06/2020 22:49

In Glaswegian so I'd pronounce Elena, Elle-ay-nah and Eleanor Elle-eh-nor... probably butchering 2 lovely names tbh lol

EleanorElena · 02/06/2020 22:43

Also - it was reading a similar thread on here 12 years ago that made me think Eleanor was commonly pronounced as El-en-nor!
After DD was born I very quickly learnt that MN was wrong!!

EleanorElena · 02/06/2020 22:40

Name changed for this as it is possibly outing!

I have a 12 year old Eleanor. We live in London. We wanted an El-en-or pronunciation and have stuck with it BUT pretty much without exception, everyone else thinks it is El-en-nuh. Even when she introduces herself as El-en-or, the response will be "oh hi, El-en-nuh". Very frustrating.
So I would go for "Eleanor" in your position!

Lifesabeach86 · 02/06/2020 22:33

My sister is Elena and it's Ella-na

RaymondReddingtonMrs · 02/06/2020 22:30

I would've thought Eleanor is pronounced el-ah-nor, how it is spelt. If you definitely want an 'na' sound at the end it may be easier to go with Elena. Good luck with your decision, all lovely names Smile

JuneJuly · 02/06/2020 22:02

Haven't RTFT, so don't know if this has been suggested, but I think if you spelt it 'Ellena' you would get the pronunciation you want.

eatthepineapple · 02/06/2020 20:19

I would pronounce Eleanor and Elena the same as you - El-eh-na. I am an Eleanor and HATE the NOR pronunciation. I think it's from kids trying to annoy me when I was a kid. Therefore I rarely use Eleanor any more even though I like it with the NA and so I have considered reinventing myself/going back to it now I'm a grown up!!!

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