Elias Pronunciation

[duckblossom]

I like the name Elias, but am concerned people would pronounce as ELias, not eLIas. Really don't want to saddle a child with a name they always have to correct the pronunciation of. Thoughts?

Eh-lye-as, like Elijah as a pp said.

Eh LEE as is the only way I’ve heard it pronounced

Me too

Like Eliot (not E ly ot)

I would say Ell-EYE-us with the stress on the middle syllable.

@duckblossom , all the pronunciations are pleasant but the responses suggest there would be some variation in the pronunciation.
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I dislike Eli and Elias often gets shortened to it.

I'd say Eee-LIE-us but did hear it recently as EEE-lee-is

I thought it was pronounced Eh-lie-us and Eeeee-lie for short.

I’ve known Eh - lie- uss and an Eh -Lee-uss

I think I prefer the second, which sounds like Elliott

I agree. Worst still, I know an Elijah who lives in the Midlands and his mates call him Eli pronounced Ee-loy. Aaarghh . . . .

I don’t know how to pronounce and sorry but I still don’t know after reading your OP but would probably have guessed
Elly - ass

@NigellaDelia , the Welsh ones get shortened to 'Lias. Eli (elly) is the welsh word for ointment.

It's a well known hebrew/biblical name and as such is pronounced Eh-lie-us. Just like Elijah is pronounced Eh-lie-jah. You wouldn't pronounce Eli as Elee or Elijah as EEleeejah would you? I've never heard that in my life and it's totally incorrect.

@ginasevern , Eli and Elias are in the Welsh Bible and they are said as Elly and El-EE-as. It's perfectly correct.

The Hebrew versions are EL-igh and Elly-AH-hoo.

could be like Elliot. Short El at the beginning. So like Alias.
although could also be like Elijah which is different.
so I’d be confused. 😂

I would pronounce Eli as Elly.

Like the beginning of Eliot or Elinor. Eli

Whaaaaaat? But why?

Eli is a pretty well known name, and always pronounce Ee-lie 🙈

This is a name that crops up in more than one country so there are varied pronunciations of it. So yes, your child will spend their life correcting people I’m afraid.

Yes I would always say Eli as Ee-Lye.
But I know someone who wanted to call her son Eli but was worried about him being called Ellie, so she spelt it Ely. Which I would automatically pronounce Ee-Lee, like the city, if I didn't know better. So I think she created a worse pronunciation hazard!

I'd say ee-lee-us

I’d guess at El-eye-as

Thanks all for your feedback and input!

@LittleSpeckleFrog , Eli is a name that is in the Bible in many languages, and many languages are phonetic. Not everyone will use the standard English pronunciation.

David is popular for boys where I am and is 'Daveed' not 'Day-vid'. The boys come from families where the language at home is not English.

I know an Eh-lie-us and an Ellie-us. The Ellie-us pronunciation is an Eastern European child, if that makes a difference? I've written it like that, rather than Eh-lee-us, as there's no pause between the first two sounds the way they say it. It's literally like the name Ellie, with us on the end.

I would choose a different name as you'll always get someone that pronounces different to the way you want

I would choose a different name as you'll always get someone that pronounces different to the way you want