Madeleine or Helena

[FiFiER]

Struggling to find a girls name I love! Madeleine is probably my top at the moment but I wouldn’t say I love it. DHs favourite by far is Helena (pronounced Hel-ay-na) which i don’t hate, but again don’t love, I think as I don’t like Helen as a name. What are people’s thoughts on those?
I’d like something usual and not too ‘pretty’, plus something that works with Felix which is our DSs name - any suggestions welcome!

Where are you based? My name is Helena (pronounced Hel-ee-na, the Irish way). In England, most people tend to assume Helen-uh in my experience, so you and your DD may need to do a lot of correcting. I personally find it really awkward correcting people and for my own DC I have vetoed any names with any ambiguity in pronunciation. I do get called Hel-ay-na sometimes, and I know a Helen-uh who gets frustrated by being called Hel-ay-na, so your experiences might be better than mine! In the US, I think Hel-ay-na is more common, so it may be easier there.

In England people will say Helen uh

We’re in Scotland, likely will have a similar most common pronunciation as in England (which I guess would be Helen-ah) which I don’t like as much and I must say the fact that there are three possible ways to pronounce it is also putting me off a bit!

I like them both but I agree with the others the wanted pronunciation of Helena is going to be a problem.

What about:
Adeline
Adelaide
Emmeline
Diana
Beatrix
Theodora
Celeste
Caroline
Genevieve
Sylvie

Sorry, not keen on Helena. Then you have
Mada-Line or Mada Lane pronounciations.
How about -
Meredith
Maddox
Harper
Piper
Morven
Kyla
Dara
Viola
Iona

I’m English and would say Hel-ay-na. I love the name.

I’ve never been keen on Madeleine although I do realise I’m in a minority of one 😂

Looking at the pp list, I love Meredith

You’re in Scotland…Lilias is one of my favourite names ever. Not sure how it’s perceived in Scotland or how popular it is. I’ve only ever met one and thought it was beautiful.

Helena is on my list, I love it

Helena pronounced your way doesn't remind me of Helen, unlike the Helen-uh version.

I like it. Much nicer than Madeleine.

Yes she will have to correct the pronunciation, but loads of people do. Others will learn.

@StormingNorman It’s my nieces middle name (is a family name of my DH), not popular I would say, but used within the family already as I say

What about Violet? It’s maybe not quite on the same lines as Madeleine or Helena…

Really like Violet and prefer it over the others.

Helena can be Hel-ee-na, Helen-a or Hel-ayna. I prefer the simpler Helen.
Madeleine is nice but there are some who use a different spellling, and I'm not keen on Maddie.

I'm put off Violet because it would sound like Viler where I live.

I like Madeleine but only as a middle name as I don't like Maddie. I'm another who would pronounce Helena Helen uh.

Other ideas:
Elena
Francesca
Melissa
Imogen
Julia
Claudia
Philippa
Harriet
Lydia
Josephine
Adelaide
Rosalind

Madeleine is pronounced a number of different ways too OP.

I love Madelaine its my DDs middle name x

I much prefer Helena, it's elegant.

What do you think of the name Elira? Pronounced E-lirah just a suggestion x

I really like Helena but I think the pronunciation variations would bother me. I like Nellie / Nell for short though. Madeleine is nice too and I like Maddie. I also like Violet - I think that’s my favourite

Louisa
Imogen
Gabriella
Philippa
Dorothy
Juliet
Eloise
Leona
Eliza
Harriet
Thalia
Lydia
Natasha

Like Helena, though I would pronounce Helen-ah unless corrected. I prefer Helen.

I don’t like Madeleine or Violet.

Madeleine and Helena are both beautiful names, you couldn't go wrong with either of them really.

I am not at all keen on Violet, although I know it's popular now. But it still sounds a bit fusty and Victorian to me, plus it's very close in pronunciation to 'vile' and 'violent'. French Violette is nicer, or the Shakespearean Viola is lovely and a lot more unusual.

Out of two I prefer Helena. I don’t like Maddy and Madeleine reminds me of madeleines (French cakes)
I like Violet, Lydia and Natasha.

I prefer Helena. Madeline and Madison with all Mads, Maddi is very overdone here.

What about Elaine? Similar ring to both your names?