How would you pronounce Elena?

[Goscat]

Latin family loving in the UK. We want to use this name but are unsure how Brits (Scots specifically will pronounce it?)

It should be Eh-LEH-na

Hahaha love this. We have an Emilio and he is eh-me-lee-oh (4 syllables) in the UK, but we stick to eh-meel-yo in the house especially when fired up 🤣

I also love they pronounce Ofelia in Spanish. Think it's beautiful and I would absolutely name my child that name.

But the English version is Ophelia and pronounced different and i don't love that one at all

Scottish!

Eh-lee-nah

I prefer Elana - Eh-la-na

@AllProperTeaIsTheft

Yes, it is the normal way of pronouncing it in England.
Huh?
Literally no one but two people in here are saying it is pronounced with no second 'n' sound

@AllProperTeaIsTheft
Actually make that one person. You. The other person has replied that theirs was a typo

I'd say it how told to say it!

I know several Elenas pronounced differently.
Eh-len-ah
Ell-ay-nah
Elnah

Once baby is old enough to tell people will be fine.

<Sigh>. People who don't know the phonetic alphabet often transcribe that sound (which is known as a 'schwa' in linguistic terminology) as 'uh'. It's hard to know how to write it down, especially when doing so for a bunch of people who all have different accents!

I don't know how you personally are hearing the 'uh' in your head when you read my post. Maybe like an 'ooh' sound? That's not what it is. Anyway... if you listen to the Beatles singing Eleanor Rigby, you won't hear 'or' on the end of the name. You'll hear what I mean by 'uh'. I've lived in England all my life, have known and taught umpteen Eleanors and they all pronounced it like that. Except the one Scottish one I knew.

Sorry - my last post was meant to quote @tipsandtoes I'll bow out now - sorry for the unintended derail, OP. It's a lovely name whichever way it's pronounced imo!

Thank you! And I agree anlbout the English pronunciation! Hadn't thought about it, but my cousin's from Cambridge say Eleanor exactly like you're describing (slightly more aw sound at the end that ah, but sounds very similar!)

Scottish people will probably pronounce it Ell en ah.
or maybe Elaine Ah.

Remember it’s a popular name in many counties and is pronounced in many ways. People can’t guess how you want it pronounced, you will have to tell them and then remind them. If that will bother you, choose a different name.

She will almost certainly get called Ellie by the kids at school .

I'd pronounce it as it's written: El eh na

I cannot see where some posters are getting an AY sound from.

I had a Greek housemate at uni, who pronounced it “eh-lee-na”, not met another Elena in real life.

This

e-lay-na

Eh - lay - nah

Because that is how it is pronounced. Youre thinking eleanor.

Ell en a

Many (most?) European countries pronounce “E” more like “A”. Hence Eva sounding like Ava in many European countries. Whereas in the UK, we say “ee-va”

El-aynah

Ellen-a

I read it as Ell-ay-na but I've taught a lot of Eastern European girls with it pronounced like this.

But where I come from (in the UK) you'd get Ellen-na. Which I don't is anywhere near as nice.

eLEnah
gorgeous name
happy pregnancy 🫶🏼

Ell-eena

El e nah

My 6 year old Elena would go bananas if anyone called her Ellie - the audacity, I can see her face she would pull before haughtily correcting them ‘er, it’s Elena?! 🙄’ 😂 (no one calls her Ellie)

El-AY-na.