Elena

[deethra]

I’m curious to hear how everyone would pronounce the name Elena?
Would you say E-LEH-nah or E-LAY-nah?

E len a

I’d assume it was pronounced “Eh-lay-nah”

El-ay-na. Like Elaine rather than Eleanor.

Eh-LAY-na would be my first thought. Although I'm aware there are other ways to say it.

@Violetlavenders

It's originally Greek.

In many languages including Greek, Russian, German, it is pronounced Ell en ah

In Greek its actually more like Él en ah.

same as in Italian.

EE LAY NAH

Second one

E-lay-na

I'd pronounce Elena as "Eh -lay -nah", since the majority I've heard of seem to pronounce it that way (I think it's a lovely name btw).

If you want "Eh - leh - nah", I'd suggest using Eleanor (if you are in E&W), as few people I've met seem to pronounce the "or" at the end (it's usually the soft "ah" or "uh" sound instead.)

I wouldn't know, in an English speaking context, since it's pronounced differently in different languages. I'd probably default to "ELL-eh-na" same as how I say Eleanor. "Elayna" would be my second guess.

El-ay-na like the character in the vampire diaries

I would say El-ayn-ah, but if possible I would check first as there are, clearly, several pronunciations of this name.

E lay na

I've always pronounced it elAYna.
I now work in an area with lots of Greek people and they pronounce it elENNa.
My children go to school with several and they pronounce it ELLuhna.
I haven't met any elAYna for years now.

The only ones I’ve known have been EL-EN-a ie Ellen with an a on the end/same as Eleanor. I think it’s the default in the UK.

No I think El-AY-na is more usual here. . I am in my fifties and only known two, one my daughter's friend, in her twenties, and one a woman I used to work with, who would be nearly 90 now. Both were Eh-LAY-na.

I know two!

One is Czech and pronounces it as el-ENN-uh

One is Spanish and says el-AY-nuh

I’ve also heard EL-uh-nuh.

I personally prefer the Spanish version.

I'd say E- lay- nah. I know only one and that is how she says it.

I would say E-LAY-nah but I’ve heard it pronounced like Eleanor too. Lovely name.

El-len-er

For me. Exactly the same as Eleanor.

I know 3 Elenas. All pronounce Eh-LAY-nah.

Exactly the same as Eleanor.

How can Elean-OR be pronounced exactly the same as Elen-A?

The ending is completely different -OR vs -A?!

@Violetlavenders not everyone has a rhotic accent. I pronounce lavender as lav-nd-uh for example. Eleanor for me is Ell-n-uh, with schwas.

@Violetlavenders

Exactly the same as Eleanor.

How can Elean-OR be pronounced exactly the same as Elen-A?

The ending is completely different -OR vs -A?!

Whilst I’d go with El-ay-nuh out of personal preference, in my non rhotic accent Eleanor is pronounced El-uh-nuh (two schwa sounds) not El-uh-NOR. The only place I personally have heard the El-uh-NOR pronunciation is America. My Scots and Irish family do pronounce the r in a rhotic way but it’s more El-ah-nerrrr than nor. But where I’m from in England we don’t pronounce the r at all, just that neutral schwa sound. Helena is pronounced exactly the same as Eleanor but with an H in front locally. So pp isn’t necessarily wrong.

The first one