Helena or Seren?

[watermelonsoda]

Just that really
have been set on Seren for baby girl die end of April for a while but for some reason this past week I’ve been second guessing it.. I think I’ve started to prefer Helena

if you had to choose which would it be?

We’re not Welsh so it’s not popular here, I came across the name because we like Soren until we realised that is definitely a boys name 😂 I wasn’t sure if my not being able to gel with it recently was hormonal but I don’t remember feeling like this when we chose our first daughters name so now I’m being the annoying partner taking us back to the drawing board after 30 weeks set on a name 😂 luckily my OH was pretty open to Helena when I mentioned it yesterday!

@Arlanymor Would you call a child Rainbow?
Look at the replies - how many of them say 'Seren, it's Welsh for Star'?
How many people would say 'Stella, it's Italian for Star'?

I wouldn’t call a child rainbow but I’d call a child Enfys.

I wouldn’t call a child Snow but I’d call them Eira

I wouldn’t call a child Hill but I’d call them Bryn

lots of names don’t work so well in English but are well established names in Wales. Seren isn’t a naff name because it means Star

@LittleLabrador , Seren isn’t a naff name because it means Star. It's the 'Seren, it's Welsh for Star' that is naff.

Nobody says 'Craig - it's Gaelic/Welsh for rock' or 'Bryn it's Welsh for Hill', do they? They do seem to say 'Nevaeh - it's Heaven backwards' though.

I'd call my child Enfys yes. My point was that Stella and Seren mean the same thing and no one would bat an eye at Stella. They mean the exact same thing in English!

Totally agree.

Seren is lovely if you won’t butcher the pronunciation! Helena if you have a thick English accent 😂

😂 I have quite a strong Yorkshire accent so maybe that seals it!

Love both but Helena would be my choice. Agree Helene is beautiful.

Some more S options...

Saffron
Sorrell
Soleil
Siena
Sierra
Sorcha
Sara

Serena is one of my favorite names.

Would you think about putting a second 'n' in Helenna to better ensure the pronunciation of Helen-a?

I voted Helena assuming you were pronouncing it Hell-lane-uh.

I'm in Wales, Seren is a bit dull and normal here, I imagine it will stand out in a nice way in parts of England though. It does have a unfinished feel to me too as others have said. Shame the husband doesn't like Serena as that's the best of both worlds!

@LetTheWindBlowBackYourHair , but that introduces a different pronunciation, and one with a spelling that's not obvious.
Hel-enn-a, not Helen-a.
She'd be Helenna-with-2Ns

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying?

Personally I think you are much more likely to get Helen-a from Helenna than Helena.

I think you are perhaps saying the emphasis may either be on the 'enn' or the 'a' with Helenna but to me the difference is minute.

To be fair, the OP also says she has a Yorkshire accent I believe, which changes things a lot, it's a world away from my accent!

@LetTheWindBlowBackYourHair , it would rhyme with Jenna not Eleanor (assuming non-rhotic pronunciation)

Do other people see/hear Seren and not instantly think Sarin terrorist attacks?

I think Reward Chart with Colourful Star Stickers

Oh I see. Well uncle Bryn does in gavin and Stacey 😆

Helena for me - it’s more classic, elegant and timeless (Helen was popular years ago but for some reason Helena has never been, so it’s hard to guess a Helena’s age).

It’s a Shakespearean beauty with lots of nn choices if she wants them (Nell/Nellie/Elle/Ellie/Leni/Lena). People mention the pronunciation issues but if you are in England then I don’t think it’s a big issue - most people seem to use the Shakespearean “Helen with an A” pronunciation just like Actress Bonham-Carter. If you are planning on that pronunciation then I think you’ll only have to correct people occasionally.

Seren is very pretty sounding but much more trendy - I don’t know any personally over 30. There’s also less diminutive choice, and there feels like there’s less “history” to the name to me (I don’t think it was used as a name much before the 60’s/70’s , only as the Welsh word for Star).

Helenna looks like the parents can't spell and ruins the lovely name.

From a teacher's perspective, I've only ever taught Helenas who were Helen-a's.

HELL-uh-nuh

Helenna looks like it would be pronounced Hel-EN-uh.

Hel-AY-nuh and Hel-EE-nuh is more popular in Continental Europe. In Yorkshire (near me and presumably where OP is based) I suspect the Helen-a pronunciation would be most common.

No because it's not pronounced or spelt the same way as Sarin. Sarin is like SAR-IN? That's not how you pronounce Seren. SEH-REN. (Although it's hard to explain the rolling R phonetically).

@Ponderingwindow , It's SERR-enn. Serr like the Ferr in ferry, en like the en in pen. Stress is on the Ser.
Outside Wales, will probably get said as Serrun.

The R sound is rhotic.

@LittleLabrador , Oh, does he? Not seen it.

How about Serena?

Seren 👍