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Original poster

How would you pronounce Helena?

116 replies

HinchcliffeandMurgatroyd · 09/08/2022 17:51

Just that really. Home country/region might have an effect, I think.

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5511551l · 10/08/2022 00:28

Helen-ah is my preferred pronunciation and the one I’ve heard most. Central England.

Earlymenopausesucks · 09/08/2022 23:59

Hel-ee-na

MrsDrSpencerReid · 09/08/2022 23:50

Helen-uh Bonham Carter
Hell-ay-na Christensen

blacktiger · 09/08/2022 23:35

Hay - lane - ah.

Swedish girl that lived in our halls at uni.

ErrolTheDragon · 09/08/2022 23:29

Helen-uh, pretty much even stress.
I'm pretty sure I've only ever hear it that way in England, including in A Midsummer Nights Dream, but I had a European colleague who was a HelAYna

TidyDancer · 09/08/2022 23:04

Helen-er. I've heard it said the other ways and I'm not keen personally.

TitoMojito · 09/08/2022 22:47

Helen-uh. But I know a He-LAY-nah as well so I usually check first.

mathanxiety · 09/08/2022 22:42

I know two. One is HELL-uh-na and one is hel-EE-na. The latter is often heard in Ireland.

I would assume HELL-uh-na unless told otherwise.

Fluffyboo · 09/08/2022 22:32

I know a helen-a and a hell-ay-na, both spelt Helena

GrouchyKiwi · 09/08/2022 22:30

pinklavenders · 09/08/2022 22:26

There's no AY sound in Helena in any language!!

Ay as in Day.

pinklavenders · 09/08/2022 22:26

There's no AY sound in Helena in any language!!

pinklavenders · 09/08/2022 22:26

In Germany it would be pronounced Hel ay na

Definitely not!

It's Helen-ah with the emphasis on Hell.

ScreechingEchoChamber · 09/08/2022 22:07

Hel Ay Na.

DeadbeatYoda · 09/08/2022 21:59

My dd is Helen-uh

merryhouse · 09/08/2022 21:58

Same as Helen, with a schwa on the end.

I pronounce Eleanor to rhyme with it - and Elinor (almost. I think there's a tiny difference but it's mostly in my head). Elena is a non-English spelling so I pronounce it differently, the same way I pronounce Elaine with a schwa added.

Origins are East Midlands lower-middle-class.

HappyGoDucky · 09/08/2022 21:56

It's either/ or. Although I would naturally pronounce it Hel-ay-nuh.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 09/08/2022 21:50

Helen-er.

JocelynBurnell · 09/08/2022 21:49

My colleague is Hel-eeeeeee-na. She's Irish.

SuperlativeOxymoron · 09/08/2022 21:44

Hel-en-a
Although my friend who has a daughter called Helena calls her Hel-ain-a

abw94 · 09/08/2022 21:43

Ell-ana

SizzlerFizzler · 09/08/2022 21:42

In Ireland it's usually pronounced huh-LEE-nah

GrouchyKiwi · 09/08/2022 21:41

My sister is He-lay-na, because we are Dutch. But our Great Grandmother of British extraction always called her Hel-ee-na.

Over here (UK) I'd assume Helen-a.

WhatIsThisPlease · 09/08/2022 21:41

I went to school with one and work with one. Both pronounced hell-ee-nah

Arnaquer · 09/08/2022 21:37

Hell- ay- nur

scratchycatty · 09/08/2022 21:36

I work with a Helena who pronounces her name Helen-a. Yet a man we worked with persisted with Hel-ayna

Same man pronounced Ali-sha as Alice-ia, despite knowing