Eleanor or Elinor...?

[blueberrymoon]

Hi All. Just interested to know...

Which do you prefer? (And why?)
And how would you pronounce them? (And where are you in the world?)

Please and thank you :)

Eleanor, it just seems softer.

Ellena is my preference and DDs name .

Elinor is the spelling we have on our shortlist, Lin for short. Pronounce them the same, though, on thinking about it, I say Eleanor more slowly than Elinor

My DD is Eleanor and we say E lin er I suppose....

Wow, thanks for the great response!

I prefer it pronounced with the 'or' sound, but all the Eleanor's I know are prounounced 'er'. So I thought the Elinor spelling might avoid confusion? What do you all think?

I think I prefer the spelling Eleanor... however, I'm now warming to Elinor!

Of the two, I prefer Eleanor, but not with the 'or' pronounced.

I know two Elanors.

Prefer Eleanor, but actually love Elena just to be difficult . Would pronounce

El-uh-nuh- Eleanor
El-ih-nuh- Elinor
El-uh-na- Elena

Eleanore?

Thanks QBEE, somehow doesn't look right to me...

Elena is El-AY-nuh. Different name.

The French Aliénor?

I do tend to slightly pronounce the 'ih' in Elinor, whereas Eleanor is just 'eh-luh-nuh'. I used to think Elinor wasn't pretty, but now I have a good friend called Elinor and I think it's lovely. I would be picky and go for Elanor, though, since I'm a LOTR geek.

DD is called Eleanor but nickname Elly. My Gran was an Elly who came from Germany though we're in England.

If you want an emphasis on the NOR, I'd go for Elinor. I personally prefer Eleanor but I'd pronounce that Eh-leh-neh and that's not what you want

I like the spelling Eleanor

In the UK I understand it to be pronounced el-uh-nuh however in NZ (where I'm from) they would say it El-i-nor which is not so nice sounding. English friends who moved to NZ called their DD Eleanor and are constantly horrified at the way her name is pronounced.

There is always Ellen or Elena to consider as well as possibilities.

ELinor is much prettier

My MIL is Elinor..and it is pronounced Elin-Or

All the Eleanors I know are pronounced Elen-Uh

I liked Elanor, but only because I am a Lord of the Rings fan girl and loved the idea of naming my DD after the "sunstar" flowers.

Eleanor - lovely name, UK