Eleanor pronunciation? Please help!

[Nurseryrun]

Hello,

I am interested in the name Eleanor and I was wondering how it is pronounced.

I've heard it as Eh-Len-Nor. Is this correct?

If this is the case, why is the "a" lost and not pronounced?

Would it not be better pronounced as Eh-Leh-Ah-Nor ? This is what I read...

I would like it to be pronounced as Eh-Leh-Ah-Nor... S, how should I spell it?

I’ve heard it commonly pronounced

Eh-leh-nor
Eh-leh-nuh

But never with
Eh-leh-ah-nor

I imagine the a is not pronounced because of the way the letters combine. Am no linguist! But you don’t pronounce the a in bread, just as you don’t pronounce it in Eleanor. I don’t think you can call her Eleanor and have any hope of people pronouncing it the way you want.

If you want a longer version maybe Eleanora?

There's previously been a massive thread on the pronoucarion of Eleanor.

I'm Eleanor. People usually say "el-eh-na" how I pronounce it. Or "el-eh-nore" sometimes esp from Americans

@Talipesmum thank you that is useful.

Would Eleanora be pronounced as Eh-Leh-Ah-Nor-Ra?

Thank you!

@Bells3032 are you ok with the fact that the "a" is lost and not pronounced?

I've never heard the middle "a" pronounced separately. As far as I know, the name has a standard pronunciation that is the same whether you spell it ELINOR , ELENA, or ELEANOR.
Eleanora is usually pronounced El-en-ora.

@nurseryrun I've never heard it pounced thst way

Thank you all! That's very useful?

So, how should I spell the name to make the "a" stand out and not get lost?

No it's not. If you want the A to be pronounced you really really should use a different name. Eliana or Elianna?

Google suggests Elianora is a name and pronounced as you want but I've never heard of it in real life.

I think you’d need to add an h or a y to get the ‘a’ pronounced. But then it’s a bit of a mouthful.

Is Leyanora a name?

El ah nah

I really dislike El ah nore

Would it not be better pronounced as Eh-Leh-Ah-Nor?
No
Would Eleanora be pronounced as Eh-Leh-Ah-Nor-Ra?
Absolutely never in my experience.

Ea is pronounced e (although there are a few exceptions as English is a strange language!) But the a isn't lost its just that what those two letters sound like together. For example dream, scream, dear, etc

@Nurseryrun

Thank you all! That's very useful?

So, how should I spell the name to make the "a" stand out and not get lost?

You...can't, really. You're trying to force a pronunciation that doesn't exist.

The way you want to pronounce it would just be a made up name. It doesn’t matter that the ‘a’ is lost - that’s how spelling/pronunciation works sometimes.

What about Leonora instead?

It’s El - en - uh.
Pronouncing it “El - eh - a - nor” is like pronouncing Heather “Heh - ather“. It’s just wrong!

So, how should I spell the name to make the "a" stand out and not get lost?

Honestly just discount the name entirely. You want it pronounced in a way that no one will pronounce it and no matter how you spell it people won't say the 'a' because it is not siad with an 'a' sound in the middle.

Trying to include the 'a' will be setting your daughter up for a lifetime of correcting people who are actually pronouncing her name correctly. It's like calling your daughter Phoebe and telling people it's pronounced Pee Hoe Be.

@Nnique

The way you want to pronounce it would just be a made up name. It doesn’t matter that the ‘a’ is lost - that’s how spelling/pronunciation works sometimes.

What about Leonora instead?

Yes! Leanora. I went to school with one. Pretty name.

Also please no weird alternative spellings to try to make people say it differently.

Pick a name that you love as is. 🙂

What about Elanor? I know one (It's a name form Lord of the Rings Samwise Gamgee's daughter. If you watch the films it would be the little girl who hugged Sam when he got home at the end)

El -Ah-Nor

However she would need to spell it out for the rest of her life.

Thank you all! That's very very insightful!

@Synchrony I liked your suggestion of Eliana.

So, would Eliana be pronounced as Eh-Lee-An-Na?

If it was Eleana how would it be pronounced?

Eliana might be your best bet.

Eleana will likely be misread as Elena and pronounced el-en-uh or people might have a bash and guess it's eh-leen-uh.

Eliana really is the closest you'll get to what you want.

@ShowOfHands That's helpful thanks.

Also, is the "ea" in Eleanor, Eleanora, Eleana etc. spelled as "ee" or "eh"?

Thank you all :)

And in which syllable is the stress?

I pronounce Eliana "Eh-lee-ah-na" (long ah, as in "are"), and Elianna as "Eh-lee-an-a" (short a, as in Ann). I don't know how universal that is though.