Elena Eleanor pronunciation

[firstpregnancy1]

I personally would pronounce Eleanor and Elena exactly the same - eh le na (with the stress on the first syllable)

If I want that pronunciation, should I use Eleanor or elena ?

I worry that with Eleanor there will be SOME people who pronounce it eh le NOR. I know this would really irritate me.

Equally , would Elena be pronounced by some people as eh LAY na or eh-LEN-a ?

Anyone know/ got an Eleanor / Elena who can share their findings ?

Thank you!

That's funny @TyroSaysMeow, because to me, the thread shows that there are plenty of people who consider non-rhotic pronounciations the "correct" or "traditional" way to say things, and believe that those with a rhotic accent are getting it wrong and should change. I find it frustrating!

I'd say E-len-a and El-e-nor. Sound very different to me??

I think both will have some confusion.

Some people pronounce Eleanor as El-uh-na and others go for the 'El-uh-nor' pronunciation. I think it just depends on accent.

Elena can also be pronounced two different ways so it's inevitable that it will sometimes be wrong.

I think if it's going to get in your nerves you have to choose a different name.

But mostly people will pronounce a name the way it's said to them, so if you introduce her as El-uh-na, they should call her El-uh-na regardless of what spelling you go for.

@TyroSaysMeow
I think it's the other way around! Re-read the OP.

So it looks like it's very dependant on your own regional accents!

I'm in the south east and all the Eleanor's I've ever known have been called eh le na and only a few people pronounced it eleNOR but it seems from the answers that perhaps in other areas or with other accents that Eleanor is almost always EleaNOR!

Thanks everyone!

I agree that it’s definitely a widely held view on MN that rhotic accents are inferior/wrong. People with rhotic accents in this country usually just accept that lots of English people just can’t pronounce Rs.

I’m not going to go about insisting that Hector is pronounced with a proper R at the end. Or getting annoyed at the Japanese for not being able to pronounce Lesley, for example.

This whole thread is actually about how annoying/offensive it would be if people actually pronounced the nor at the end of Eleanor. With a poster who corrects people for not realizing she’d like her name to be pronounced in her own accent only at all times.

Lots of us have names that people pronounce differently just because they have different accents. I think it’s sounds quite lovely when my French friends pronounce my son’s name. They render the final syllable completely differently but it’s just an accent thing. My Irish friends pronounce the first syllable differently to me, and that’s fine too.

It’s not up to me to tell them how they should speak! Fair enough you can think the name sounds much better in your own accent, but it doesn’t make their accent wrong. For example, I think both Claire (Clerr) and Sharon (Sharn) sound utterly terrible in a strong glasgow accent but it’d be silly to insist people reinvent their accent to suit your preferences.

I’ve an Eleanor (who is mostly a Nell except when she’s been told off!) and unfortunately people do pronounce it differently, there is no getting away from it. We pronounce it El -en -ner. Americans and some Brits pronounce it Elllen - nor.

Elena is Elaine - a.

Eleanor definitely has emphasis on the nor around here El-ea-NOR. Elena would be like the Disney character pronunciation.

My name is pronounced slightly differently in different accents/languages. I happily accept it and haven't corrected anyone yet.

I therefore also find it odd if I was corrected for saying Elean-or for Eleanor.

In German Elena and Helena are very popular and pronounced Elen-ah and Helen-ah. There's no ay sound at all.

I'm from the East Midlands and would pronounce Eleanor as El-uh-nuh. I wouldn't sound the nor to rhyme with more, but I recognise that in some accents the r would be pronounced in that way. All of the Eleanors I know pronounce the end as uh rather than nor, but they're all from the East Midlands too!

The uh sound I would end Eleanor with is very similar to the uh sound I would use for the a in names like Lyra and Olivia.

I have encountered Elena as Eh-len-uh and and Eh-lay-na.

My niece is Elena, pronounced as Eleanor is.

Our dd's middle name is Eleanor. Ellen-nor.

Ive never heard Elena pronounced Elean-or.

Only Elen-ah.

I live in London and although I've heard the 'or' pronunciation, none of the many Eleanors I know use it. It's always just a schwa (it's not actually an 'a' sound, it's just an unstressed vowel). But then Hector is pronounced Hec-tuh in my accent too, because the stress is on the first syllable. But I wouldn't expect everyone to pronounce a name exactly the same. However, Elena and Eleanor are different names.

I know some one called Elena. She pronounces it El-eee-na. Eleanor is El-a-na with no emphasis on any particular syllable.

I am an Eleanor - pronounced El-en-nuh

Eleanor = Ellen-a or Ellen-or
Elena = El-ay-na
Ellena = Ellen-a
Elenna= Eh-lenna

I know 3 Elenas
2 pronounce their nd me as Eleanor
1 pronounced it Elaynah

I am an Eleanor, pronounced Eh-luh-nuh,
Ellie as a child and El as an adult. Only met one or two people in my 40 years who emphasised the NOR. It didn't bother me I don't think.
I know an Elena who pronounces her name Eh-lay-na

I’ve known loads of Elena and Eleanors.

The Elenas have always been El-ay-nuh. Every single last one, English, Czech, Spanish, American, Irish etc

The Eleanors have either been EL-en-uhr (UK) or El-en-NOR (American).

Elena:- eh-lay-na
Eleanor:- Eh-leh-nor

I would say El LEH na for Elena and EleaNOR for Eleanor.

Neither the way you like it!

I am Scottish and pronounce these very differently.

Eleanor sounds like the Elinor spelling like in sense and sensibility.

Elena is EE lay na

These are names that have varied pronunciations depending on people's accents. If this bothers you, don't use them.

'The Elenas have always been El-ay-nuh. Every single last one, English, Czech, Spanish, American, Irish etc'

The one I know is Italian and it's El-uh-na.