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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Eleanor - pronunciation and mean nickname potential

48 replies

zoobaby · 01/02/2015 13:27

Do you pronounce it:
Ell-a-NOR
Ell-a-NAH
Ell-EN-ah
Or some other variation?

Also - how about mean nicknames? Only one I can think of is "smelly Ellie" but I'm sure there are more.

OP posts:

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Clawdy · 08/02/2015 21:12

DD is Elinor but pronounced the usual way, ending in "A" not"OR". We thought she would be Ellie but her three older brothers started calling her Elz, and unfortunately, it stuck.

Clawdy · 08/02/2015 21:13

And she has never,ever had a single mean nickname!

Hobby2014 · 08/02/2015 21:21

Nn Nory/Nora.
Have heard it pronounced lots of ways. I'd just announce it in the way you want her to be called & correct people

PrimalLass · 09/02/2015 07:42

DD is Elinor but pronounced the usual way, ending in "A" not"OR".

How is that the usual way? I'm still confused. I would think someone was bonkers if they called their child Elinor bur said it Ellena. (Am Scottish, btw, we like our 'R's.)

PrimalLass · 09/02/2015 07:42

*but said it

Clawdy · 09/02/2015 09:25

Because Elinor is the same name as Eleanor, it's just an earlier spelling, so it's pronounced the same way. Unless as a parent you decide to say it differently - your choice. I know someone with a daughter called Karen who has always insisted on calling her "Kahren".

LollyLondon · 09/02/2015 10:30

El-en-or
For short, I've heard Ellie, Elle, Lennie, Nell

Original poster

zoobaby · 09/02/2015 10:58

Difference of opinion over the ending was really why I posted. I think "or" or "er" endings are prone to "a" or "ah" pronunciation. It's the same with regular words (e.g. farmer is more likely to be said farm-a than farm-er).

OP posts:

Original poster

zoobaby · 09/02/2015 11:00

Clawdy, the kah-ren pronunciation just fits right in with the "a" sound argument you get with Alexandra and Cassandra. Same as dance and France. Argh!

OP posts:

Theas18 · 09/02/2015 11:06

Pronouncing it - what ever you decide peopje will fall in with and they are all fine. It's like the Sophia thing - sof ee ah, soh fie ah - just depends.

Nicknames many and varied. Lots if Ellie's / Ella's about so maybe go for Nell? Or just use her full name.

It's a fine name.

I shall share with you all my favourite fact about the amazing Eleanor of Aquitaine - she married the son of her former future husband.

( takes a bow )

MaudeLebowski · 09/02/2015 11:21

All those pronunciations are the same - just with different regional accents

Names will always be pronounced slightly differently with regional accents.

PrimalLass · 09/02/2015 11:33

Because Elinor is the same name as Eleanor, it's just an earlier spelling, so it's pronounced the same way.

Yes, with the -or at the end

PrimalLass · 09/02/2015 11:34

It's the same with regular words (e.g. farmer is more likely to be said farm-a than farm-er).

Not here.

fattycow · 09/02/2015 11:34

El-la-nor would be my pronunciation.

Roseformeplease · 09/02/2015 11:35

I have an Eleanor (nn Ellie) who has been fairly badly treated by a number of girls at school. None of them have used any of the cruel variations on her name. The name is lovely.

Hesalovernotabiter · 09/02/2015 11:41

I have an Elle -e-nah. No one has tried to shorten her name and she is 9. She loves her name and its origins.

She thinks it's hilarious she would have been called Nelly years ago!

It's irrelevant anyway as we all call her squealer (surname play on words)

flowery · 09/02/2015 11:42

I'm Eleanor. Family and v old friends mainly call me El, I've also had Ellie. Never had a nasty nickname.

I pronounce it El-uh-nuh. I've had it pronounced with -or at the end (to rhyme with door bore snore more) very occasionally, which I don't really like, but most people don't do that. Loads of names/words aren't pronounced exactly as they are spelled!

SomeSunnySunday · 09/02/2015 12:03

Primal I'm Scottish too and I'm always very confused by the debate on here over the prounciation of Eleanor / Elinor. I've known lots, and they have all pronounced it "El-en-or". I only discovered that there was any dubiety about pronounciation on Mumsnet, and I still can't quite get my head around "El-en-ah" as a mainstream alternative. Maybe it's an accent thing?

flowery · 09/02/2015 12:10

I can't say I've ever come across a Scottish person who has pronounced the last syllable of my name to rhyme with bore/snore.

SomeSunnySunday · 09/02/2015 12:36

No it wouldn't rhyme with those, flowery. The "o" is less pronounced. I suppose that I'd say it almost like "er", but not quite - it's still a soft "o" sound really, without much emphasis.

PrimalLass · 09/02/2015 13:56

More -nir than -nore

squoosh · 09/02/2015 14:32

Ellen-ur is how I'd pronounce it in my Irish accent. I always pronounce my Rs.

Ellen-ORE to rhyme with snore is horrible.

mrsmootoo · 09/02/2015 15:19

Lovely name - I have an Ell-en-uh. It has never been shortened - mainly her choice, she was always correcting teachers. Even her siblings don't dare! All the others we know are Ellies which I don't like.

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