will people know how to pronounce Elena?

[MrsCharlieD]

Hi ladies Im just after some feedback really. We've decided if bimba turns out to be a girl that we will name her Elena. We've shared this with close family and have had people mispronouncing it which had never crossed my mind would happen. so far I've heard e-len-a, a-leen-a and ee-len-ar. Is this a difficult name to know how to pronounce? We have always pronounced it e-lay-na x

I would say E-lay-na. But if I was you I would spell it Elaina. Just as pretty but more likely to get the pronunciation that you want (but also concede you are just not get 100% pronunciation with that name).

I think there are several pronunciations depending on country.

I know a German Elena where it is the same name as English Eleanor (so ELLE en er).

And Russian ones where it is Elle LAY na.

I speak Dutch and Russian and it is usually pronounced those 2 ways in Dutch/German and Russian speaking countries respectively

@NowEvenBetter

Ellen-ah How is ‘len’ pronounced ‘lay’?

In the same way that Lena is pronounces LAY -na?

Lena is the abbreviation for Elena in many Russian speaking countries

The child is now 7 years old so I don’t think it matters any more.

Zombie Thread!!!

I’d say Lena as Leena (Dunham)
@DyeKen revived this ZOMBIETHREAD why?

I teach three Elenas at the moment - one pronounces it El-ay-na
the other two pronounce it Ellen-ar (exactly the same as Eleanor)

Friends daughter is called Elena. Everyone seems to cope with pronouncing it like you’ve described. She’s 12.

Elena is pronounced as it's written:

El en a

Like Ellen with an a.

There's no ay sound.

How is ‘len’ pronounced ‘lay’?

Exactly. It's El en ah.

And Lena is Lehn-ah. There no ay either.

Eh-lay-nah

I'd pronounce Elayna as Elayna.

But Elena is Elena imo.

I have similar name and just answer to variants of it. The most common will be Eh-lay-nah, eh-len-ah, and eh-lay nor (despite the ending) and even making the middle sound "lee". Lots of ways to say but as it's practically my name I'm not going to criticise

Oh Zombie thread... how bizarre

Why do people do this?