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!

But I'm Scottish and we are proud of our Rs

I am Italian and I would pronounce it E-leh-nah and E-leh-nor

Oh gosh - another Scottish person here. I have NEVER heard Eleanor pronounced any other way than Elli-nor. I would also put the 'r' on the end of Victor and Hector. Elena I would pronounce Ell-ay-na and to my ears to sounds much softer and prettier than Eleanor which I find a harsh and clunky name.

My neighbour's daughter is called Ellena, which is the pronunciation you like.

The majority of English people pronounce Eleanor Eh leh na . If you live in the south east I would name her Eleanor and pronounce it as you wish. A few people might pronounce it what I would consider to be the Scots or American way but all the people she knows well would use your pronunciation so I can't think that that would be a major problem. Elena has two pronunciations that have equal validity in this country depending on which background you are referencing and is much more likely to cause discomfort. Ellena looks a bit contrived to me.

@Apolloanddaphne

Oh gosh - another Scottish person here. I have NEVER heard Eleanor pronounced any other way than Elli-nor. I would also put the 'r' on the end of Victor and Hector. Elena I would pronounce Ell-ay-na and to my ears to sounds much softer and prettier than Eleanor which I find a harsh and clunky name.

Same for me!

Elena= El AY nuh Eleanor = EL en uh

Nobody says 'Elen OR..the people that are telling you that are mistaken.

At the end of both these names in usual pronunciation is the 'schwa' sound or the neutral vowel sound that we love so much in English. I love the 'schwa'.

The spelling really just changes the stress.

Someone will come on now and say 'but my sister says 'elenOR. I can assure you she doesn't . It's just that we are not very good at listening and transliterating sounds.

Elena: Ell AY na or ELL uh na (I'd ask which one they prefer).

Eleanor: Ella NOR (always)

Nobody stresses the final syllable on Eleanor. Say it out loud and listen.

Ellen a
Eli nor

Nope no different at all in the sound of the final syllable. Not in London or anywhere south of Birmingham anyway
.

clyp.it/03orqjdt?token=98fbe6c8d05c73854c0ac454ef9c4741

This is how I say them! Middle-class Scottish accent, Glasgow origin but don't sound it.

@Destroyed people
I can assure you lots of people pronounce the OR in Eleanor. The 'usual pronunciation' depends on where you live

@Destroyedpeople People aren't claiming they stress the last syllable. They're capping it to show the difference way they pronounce it.

Not in London or anywhere south of Birmingham anyway

brb, just getting some popcorn

(PS most of the West Country is rhotic)

Thinking more, and especially following PuntoEBasta's post, Eleanor with a properly local accent here (south west) would be Elener, and for me, that would sound fine because it is meant to be.

I suppose what I really don't like (I have a non-rhotic accent) is people with non-rhotic accents saying 'or' or 'er' because to my ears it sounds wrong. Or as some people have mentioned, putting the stress in the third syllable.

Whichever way you want to pronounce it yourselves, there are always people who’ll pronounce it differently. Twelve years down the line, it’s honestly no biggie and I’ve never bothered to correct people. It’s a lovely name, just go with it and don’t stress about it.

There are two issues that affect the pronounciation of Eleanor - whether the stress is on the first or last syllable, and then whether or not the R at the end is pronounced. In rhotic accents, the R will be pronounced, but (in Britain anyway) the stress will often still be on the first syllable, with a soft "uhr" at the end - so EL-en-uhr. @SporadicNamechange is spot on. It sounds quite different from Elena (however you pronounce that name!)

Some pronounciations do emphasise the last syllable though. In the US, for example, I've often heard it pronounced el-e-NOR (with the R pronounced) which seems to be the standard pronounciation there. @Destroyedpeople it's a bit bizarre to state that nobody pronounces it that way - especially when multiple people on this thread have said that they do! Maybe you haven't been exposed much to different accents and dialects?

'It sounds quite different from Elena (however you pronounce that name!)'

Not always. They can both be pronounced the same. I know an Elena who is El-en-uh which is exactly the same way I would pronounce Eleanor.

I’m Eleanor, pronounced the way you like it. Sometimes people ask, but not often. It really hasn’t been much of a problem!

Sorry @NuffSaidSam, I meant that when pronounced in a rhotic accent, where the R is said, then Eleanor will always sound different from Elena, whether you pronounce Elena as Ellen-a or e-LAY-na. I know that if you don't pronounce the R in your accent, and if you say Elena with the first pronounciation, then they will sound essentially the same :)

I'd pronounce Elena el-Eh-na (it's quite Spanish). Eleanor El-uh-nuh but I wouldn't bat an eyelid if the person/ parents' preferred pronunciation was El-uh-nor.

@Pippilangstrumpfie
Pronounced Elean-ah, extremely late reply to your question sorry!

I have an eleanor which we pronounce
El-en-er (live in the SE). Our Scottish family mostly pronounce the same way apart from one family member who does El-en-or sometimes but has stopped doing it after a few years!! (Unprompted).
Occasionally she does receive the El-en-or pronunciation at nursery but it isn’t a problem. European friends pronounce it as El-en-NOR (again not an issue just a differing of accent and emphasis).

For Elena I would say el-AY-na or El-EN-a

I would say I was a little worried about the different pronunciations of Eleanor but we loved the name and went with it and our pronunciation seems to be the most usual one where we live so it’s not proved to be a problem! Good luck!