Thoughts on the name Alena?

[GenerationYmember]

Alena the only girls name I love that I can actually use.

However DH is not yet convinced (I am working on him!), he says she would have a lifetime of having it mispronounced and misspelt.

So MN jury what are your thoughts?

It's pretty. I like it.

But your DH has a point. I say this as someone with a name which is mispronounced 90% of the time 😄 Two of my children have names which are also usually mispronounced, and they are not even that whacky or unusual, we just never predicted they would be such a problem for people! It gets irritating sometimes when I'm in a mood with the world but it's nothing more than a petty problem. Be warned though, if you ever politely and nicely correct people's pronunciation of a name, reactions can be odd. I guess it is embarassment on their behalf. For example, after knowing our school secretary for a couple of years, I once informed her that my name was actually pronounced differently to how she had assumed...and since then she has told people that I am very prissy about it and will insist on people getting it right and will strop if it isn't 🤔🤔 some people don't like being told they might not be always right!

I would pronounce that Ah-Len-A? Is that right?

I agree with him that it would be annoying having to constantly correct people over the pronunciation though

I like it.

One of my good friends is named Alena. It's pronounced Ah-LEE-nah. She's Russian and it's an anglicisation of her Russian name.

It can also be spelt Alina, which might be more straight forward re pronunciation.

I prefer Alina spelling. That must be the most common spelling? And a couple of famous Alinas spring to mind. A popular name outside the UK so will travel well (though it's not rare even in the UK, I don't think, though I'm only guessing) but it's a name I'm very fond of (rare ).

I like it, also Alannah.

I like it and Aleanna (Ah-Lee-Arna)

We had Athena on our list.

Yes it would be Ah-Len-a.

Thanks for the suggestions, I never thought about Alina, I still much prefer the Alena spelling but maybe Alina could be a compromise with Dh.

Wellies Your right about it being awkward about correcting people's pronunciations, my name is always mispronounced (it's a variation of a very common name) and I'm always to scared to correct them I'm not sure how I would cope if it was my own child!

I like Alana. But I guess by saying that I'm kind of proving your DH's point!

I think if your DH isn't keen you need to think about alternatives rather than work on changing his mind.

All Russian Alenas I know have Elena on their BC. Also there is a Russian folk tale about sister Aleyonushka and Brother Ivanushka, quite scary, actually.

Ok so alena could surely only be pronounced a-lean-a! A-len-a would need a double n.

Never heard of it and confused about the pronunciation.

I'd spell it Alina

I prefer Alannah

I like it. I also like Aleyna.

I know an Alayna which might suit better if you're worried about pronunciation.

I would say A-lean-a so I think your DH has a point!

Elena or Alana?

I prefer Elena. I watch Fortitude and love the name. Eh-len-a.

I liked Elena until the Disney "Elena of Avalon" stuff came out.

I wouldn't give a child a name that would lead to a life time of correcting spelling and pronunciation. There are so many lovely names out there, why would you do that?

I prefer pillars of the earth Aliena

I teach an Alena who is a delight and I really like the name. I also like Alina and Elena (not helping sorry)

I used to work with a Dutch Alina (pronounced Ah-lean-a). The rest of us struggled to pronounce her surname properly but her first name was always easy to pronounce and I don't recall anyone ever getting it wrong. Lovely name with either 'e' or 'i' spelling.

Cheers for the suggestions guys, I'm really not keen on Alana. And I do also like Elena but DSD name starts with El and I think that could get a tad confusing.

Just to clarify DH does like Alena but is not yet convinced on the pronunciation.

Hmm, I do like Aleyna..

I know an Alaina pronounced A-ley-na