Do you like the name Alana, and how would you pronounce it?

[WhyTheHeckMe]

I'm 32 weeks pg with dc2.

Got a 2 year old DS called Theo. Loved his name because it wasnt too popular but not chavy either.

We don't know the sex but have a huge struggle with girls names. I have just suddenly tonight realised I actually really love the name Alana.

But what's your opinions? We've kept all name options entirely to ourselves so need opinions of strangers :-)

I would like it pronounced 'Ah-larnah' as opposed to 'Al-Anna'

Is the spelling correct for this?

If you have this name or a do with this name do you find the spelling and pronunciation an issue?

Lastly does it get shortened to anything?

Theo doesn't and I can't see that Alana could apart from 'Lana' maybe.

Is it even a nice name? !

Alanah is pronouned Ah-laR-nah is these parts. Larnie/lala for short. ( from teletubbies era).
Personally I like it better with the 'h' on the end.

Alana in Scotland would be A LA na. In London and the south east A LAR na. Elsewhere take your pick! I'm not sure.

In North America it would tend to be a LAN na. Australia my guess. Is a LAAAR na.

Ah-larna

It's ok. Don't love it but each to their own! Whatever name you choose - someone will turn their nose up won't they!

I like Lana though

Alana as in that very overweight child called Honey Boo Boo?

I like it and when I first saw it I had the Alarna Al-anna debate in my head before I read that that was actually what you are asking...

So I think that would be a thing - correcting pronunciation would be a feature of her life.

Whether or not that matters is a a matter of opinion I suppose- it wouldn’t bother me that much.

I would have thought Al/Allie were obvious nickname contenders

Wouldn't have even considered it could be pronounced anyway other than ah-lar-na. Beautiful name, quite classic without being too commonly used.

I know a lovely Alannah. Pronounced Ah Lah Na. No particular stress on any syllable.

She moved to Essex and phoned me in tears a few weeks later - "everyone at my new work keeps putting a fucking R in my name on purpose, I'm a nice person, why are they trolling me!!?"

Now she lives in Canada where they pronounce it properly. I do sometimes call her arlarnar to piss her off though...

That aside, it's a lovely name. Means serenity in gaelic.

I love the name alanna because of these books www.goodreads.com/book/show/13831.Alanna that I read when I was a child. If you call your DD Alanna, you absolutely have to buy her them when she is old enough ;)

I would definitely say "alAHnna" though, and I have a very RP/BBC accent- in the south west you might get more alARRRnna's though.

If you say it a certain way, after a while most people you see regularly will probably copy you.

A larna is how my ds friend pronounces her name.

I absolutely love it. Dd1s name starts with Annie though so not sure I can use it for any future DDs as too similar. I would pronounce it Al larn ah the way you spell it but Al ann ah when spelt with two Ns.

I wanted this name for my dd and as I was didscussing it with my friend, her dc said “A Llama?! That’s a silly name!” That put me off.

Then we considered Lana but I saw a thread on here that pointed out it spells anal backwards!

My dd is Alannah prounounced Al- an- ah.
She gets called Al- ar -na by most people though. With hindsight I would have picked a different name. It does suit her though.

I agree with others, a-lar-na. Middle syllable rhymes with 'yarn' not 'dan'.

I know one Alana, but she goes by Lani (lar-nee).

It's not my style of name, but I don't dislike it.

Really interesting to get all of these options and pronunciation variants also.

Just rang dh who is at work, he said he doesn't dislike it but prefers Olivia. I love Olivia but am trying to come up with something pretty but not as common!

He said he'll sleep on it :-)

Very pretty name
I’m the south it would be pronounced
Al-ar-nah

Alana is very pretty and I’d pronounce it the same as you. The only thing that would put me off slightly is it looks like the female equivalent of Alan...

Its gorgeous I was almost an Alana to be pronounced Alan-a after my dad.
However my mum.was in love with the name Clare so they went with that instead.
I'd pronounce Alannah (Al-ar-na) though. For some reason I think the Ah sound at the end gives it Ah instead of A pronunciation. There for I'd go with the Alannah spelling.

My daughter's name has that sound in it and people pronounce it differently depending on their accent. Including within our family! We just get on with it, no big deal!

I have a lovely from called Ilana (pron Ilarna) which is great name. I pronounce Alana as Alarna too.

I don't understand the regional variation of pronunciation for this name. Does everyone not all say Alanis Morissette or do some people call her Al-ar-nis? And is the Anna bit not universally pronounced the same?

Anna, Alanis ( because there's only one) are said one way pretty much.

But think of A llama mentioned earlier. Its variation echoes that of Alana through the English speaking world.

I’m an alana. Pronounced a-Lan-ah, I get called Lanny.

I’m scottish and I totally get what casmama means - it infuriates me when people pronounce it with and r. Does my name have an r in it? No, so why on earth would you prounounce it like that!

I like Alana, and would automatically pronounce it like the name Lana, with an A on the front.

To make it "rhyme" with Anna, it would need to be spelt Alanna or Alannah, in my experience.

Alanis is a different name altogether.

That's a good point ivflytrap!

For instance Lana del ray I've only ever heard pronounced "Larna" not "Lanah"
So with an "A" in front I'd assume "A-Lar-nah"

But Lana Turner was La-na OP not Lar- na. So there are at least two ways of saying Lana too..