Love the name Eleanor but we can’t say it right??

[IamJob]

So DH and I both love the name Eleanor but realised we both say el-e-ner rather than how it should be pronounced el-a-nor

We’ve tried but we can’t say it correctly! It’s so weird! We both come from different regions too. Does anyone else say el-e-ner or do we have to veto the name?

Other names we like:
Madeleine (mad-e-lynn)
Juliet
Olivia

@Classica

I've always thought the ella-nore pronunciation to be American. All the Eleanors I know are ella-nur.

This.

@Blubells

All the Eleanors I've met pronounce it Ell en NOR.

Elena is pronounced Ell en ah.

See I would pronounce elena el-ain-ah rather than el-en-ah! Even though I would pronounce Ellen on its own ell-en.

Minefield!
What about Helena is that helen-ah or hell-ain-ah!

What about Helena is that helen-ah or hell-ain-ah!

There's also hell-ee-nah.

Some names are just that bit more high maintenance.

It’s a minefield! All the names we like seem to have a million ways of saying them! Madeleine / Madeline is another one we’ve confused ourselves over!

Don’t know what is wrong with us and what we’re picking!

We can at least say Juliet and Olivia correctly but prefer Eleanor and Madeleine

@Classica

I've always thought the ella-nore pronunciation to be American. All the Eleanors I know are ella-nur.

Not sure about this - the ell-en-OR I knew went to a well known private school and was very upper middle class. Although tbh if it was true she mispronounced her name the American way I'd find it hilarious (she didn't like americans).

I know this is hard to imagine but you'll only ever call her Ellie so it won't be a huge issue

You are saying it right. That's how I've pronounced my own name for nearly 30 years anyway!

I have an Eleanor. I call her Eleanore and my partner calls her Eleanuh, most of my family call her Eleanah I don't think there is a correct pronunciation, it's just preference and/or accent.

We have an adopted Eleanor who calls herself el-le-nuh and pretty much everyone else does too. She gets the odd person trying to pronounce it the American way like Eleanor Roosevelt's name but it's not exactly far enough off to be a problem
No one shortens it to Ellie ever which amazes me.

How about Elinor/Elinora

El en er here.

Unless you are glaswegian, then it would be Ellner.

Eleanor is said differently in different accents as this link shows -
forvo.com/word/eleanor/
I'm Irish and say it as Ellen-er (r pronounced). 'Nore' emphasised as the last syllable is quite American I think.

My daughter is called Eleanor and we pronounce it like you OP. I don't like the other pronunciation at all, because for me it just doesn't flow properly.

I would say Eleanor (Ella nuh) and Elinore (elli NORE) 2 different names

have an Eleanor. I call her Eleanore

In German it's Eleonore and pronounced
Ell e o nor eh. 5 syllables.

I much prefer Ellen or Elena.

I like it when Nicholas Cage says in Gone in 60 seconds.

I say Elea-NER.

I know someone who's daughter is called Eleanor and she really pronounces the NOR. It just sounds odd.

I have an Eleanor, I tend to pronounce the nor on the end when I say it, but to be honest she's just Ellie most of the time, I regularly forget that her name is actually Eleanor and not Ellie

I know an Eleanor, pronounced EL-en-uh. She is from the south east but has family from the West Country who all pronounce it ele-NORE, even after she has corrected them. They tell her she pronounces her own name incorrectly 🙄

I always thought that Elena was pronounced with the emphasis in the middle, el-EH-nuh, but would pronounce it however the person who's name it was told me to!

I think it's a beautiful name.

Go and watch Disney’s Brave and by the time you’ve heard Billy Connolly shout “Elinorrrr” twenty times in five minutes you’ll wish she stayed a bear and bit his head off.

I know two Eleanors both pronounce the nor , one actually goes by Nora most of the time. I like the name though. I'm from London and so is one of them the other is from Surrey

I know an Eleanor and I wasn’t sure of the pronunciation as it can vary so much. We are in the South of England and her mum said they say it as per the song “Eleanor Rigby”.

When I was young I had a friend called Elena. Her family were Greek and pronounced it “el-EN-a” quickly but with emphasis on the EN. Since then I’ve come across a few where it’s pronounced more like “Eh-Leen-a” or “Eh-LAY-na”

I work with children and Evelyn is always one we have to ask about as has two different pronunciations. Same for Maya and recently Leila / Layla as some people use Leila but pronounce it Lee-La. Beatrice pronunciation is also known to divide opinion at work!

I live in the South East so we don't pronounce the 'r' at the end of words. I have known loads of Eleanors and they all pronounce it EL-uh-nuh with the stress on the first syllable. The last two syllables aren't stressed so they don't have a distinct vowel sound (it's two schwa sounds). I have known fewer Elenas but they all pronounced it El-AY-nuh with the stress on the middle syllable.