Elena Eleanor pronunciation

I'm from the East Midlands and would pronounce Eleanor as El-uh-nuh. I wouldn't sound the nor to rhyme with more, but I recognise that in some accents the r would be pronounced in that way. All of the Eleanors I know pronounce the end as uh rather than nor, but they're all from the East Midlands too!

The uh sound I would end Eleanor with is very similar to the uh sound I would use for the a in names like Lyra and Olivia.

I have encountered Elena as Eh-len-uh and and Eh-lay-na.

My name is pronounced slightly differently in different accents/languages. I happily accept it and haven't corrected anyone yet.

I therefore also find it odd if I was corrected for saying Elean-or for Eleanor.

In German Elena and Helena are very popular and pronounced Elen-ah and Helen-ah. There's no ay sound at all.

Eleanor definitely has emphasis on the nor around here El-ea-NOR. Elena would be like the Disney character pronunciation.

I’ve an Eleanor (who is mostly a Nell except when she’s been told off!) and unfortunately people do pronounce it differently, there is no getting away from it. We pronounce it El -en -ner. Americans and some Brits pronounce it Elllen - nor.

Elena is Elaine - a.

I agree that it’s definitely a widely held view on MN that rhotic accents are inferior/wrong. People with rhotic accents in this country usually just accept that lots of English people just can’t pronounce Rs.

I’m not going to go about insisting that Hector is pronounced with a proper R at the end. Or getting annoyed at the Japanese for not being able to pronounce Lesley, for example.

This whole thread is actually about how annoying/offensive it would be if people actually pronounced the nor at the end of Eleanor. With a poster who corrects people for not realizing she’d like her name to be pronounced in her own accent only at all times.

Lots of us have names that people pronounce differently just because they have different accents. I think it’s sounds quite lovely when my French friends pronounce my son’s name. They render the final syllable completely differently but it’s just an accent thing. My Irish friends pronounce the first syllable differently to me, and that’s fine too.

It’s not up to me to tell them how they should speak! Fair enough you can think the name sounds much better in your own accent, but it doesn’t make their accent wrong. For example, I think both Claire (Clerr) and Sharon (Sharn) sound utterly terrible in a strong glasgow accent but it’d be silly to insist people reinvent their accent to suit your preferences.

@TyroSaysMeow
I think it's the other way around! Re-read the OP.

I think both will have some confusion.

Some people pronounce Eleanor as El-uh-na and others go for the 'El-uh-nor' pronunciation. I think it just depends on accent.

Elena can also be pronounced two different ways so it's inevitable that it will sometimes be wrong.

I think if it's going to get in your nerves you have to choose a different name.

But mostly people will pronounce a name the way it's said to them, so if you introduce her as El-uh-na, they should call her El-uh-na regardless of what spelling you go for.

I'd say E-len-a and El-e-nor. Sound very different to me??

That's funny @TyroSaysMeow, because to me, the thread shows that there are plenty of people who consider non-rhotic pronounciations the "correct" or "traditional" way to say things, and believe that those with a rhotic accent are getting it wrong and should change. I find it frustrating!

EleaNOR has nothing to do with rhotic v non-rhotic accents though. I have a strong south London accent and would pronounce the ending or. Like the word "or".

If this thread makes one thing transparently clear, it's that some people subconsciously view non-rhotic accents as inferior!

OP, what's the accent like re: Rs where you are? If you're somewhere non-rhotic, go with Eleanor.

(Where I am we drop Hs at the start of words too, so Eleanor and Helena sound basically the same.)

But an American Katy could reasonably change her name to Kaydy if she wanted British people to pronounce it that way. Hence why I’d suggest OP picks Ellena if she wants that pronunciation.

Yes, asking people to amend their accents is odd. It'd be like an American Katy telling an English person to call her Kaydy. (Yes, not all American/English accents, but you get the idea).

@Ellmau
The tradition of pronouncing 'a' for 'or' only holds for a limited geographical area.

It's fine to choose to pronounce your child's name a certain way, but it's not good to be 'irritated' by those with different accents who will, quite naturally, pronounce the name differently.

I quite like Ellena despite it being a “wrong” spelling. It doesn’t look obviously wrong. Lots of people spell their names phonetically. Like the actress Ginnifer Goodwin - her name is Jennifer but she didn’t like how people pronounced it when she moved away from the southern states, so she changed to a phonetic spelling to get the pronunciation she wanted.

You are in a very limited accent range there. These are not the same name.

I would say

El-AH-NOR
EL-AY-NA

I know a few Elenas, and they all pronounce it Eh-LAY-na.

I would pronounce Eleanor in my (Scottish) accent as Ellen-or, but with the stress on the first syllable, and a short "-or" at the end. Pronouncing the -or is just how it's said in a rhotic accent, and rhotic accents, as mentioned above, are very widespread. It's not a "wrong" pronounciation. I'd have to put on a fake accent to say it the non-rhotic way, it would be bizarre!

I find it weird that anyone called Eleanor would insist on correcting people for their accents. It’s weird to insist that everyone pretends your name doesn’t end in ‘nor’ because you don’t pronounce Rs in your accent.

Exactly this!

Lots of people pronounce the 'r' in Eleanor, not just SOME people as you state in your OP! English is spoken with a rhotic accent in Scotland, Ireland, most of the US and Canada, as well as in parts of England (for example). Your daughter may choose to move to any of these places in the future.

Why spell it with a NOR at the end if you want it pronounced with an A?!

Because those are the traditional spelling and pronunciation.

I pronounce Eleanor like you do but Elena eh-lay-na. I met an Elena who pronounces it like you do but everybody always pronounced it eh-lay-na which really annoyed her

I know 6 Elena’s ages vary from 5 to 36 they all pronounce their name exactly the same as Eleanor.

Which is how? Elean-ah or Elean-or?

Or Victor as Vict-ah

I know 6 Elena’s ages vary from 5 to 36 they all pronounce their name exactly the same as Eleanor.

I disagree @SporadicNamechange. I think it's the respectful thing to do to make a decent attempt at pronouncing someone's name the way they like it. Take Ahlam for example. I met a young lady with that name who pronounced it Eh-lam with a very hard e and a stress on the h (like the Ah in Ahmed). Should she have accepted being referred to as A-lam?