african name, Eline, is pronunciation a problem?

[missytequila]

We like the name Eline, for a girl, elle for short...

But the correct way to pronounce it is 'ellen-nay' NOT 'ee-line' or 'ee-lee-na'

Do you think this is too difficult? What are your opinions on non-english names and unusual spellings?
Husband is west african, we will live in London...

people will miss pronounce anything, so chose a name you like especially if it reflects your cultural heritage.

fwi it sounds lovely to me

mispronounce of course

sounds beautiful but I suspect it will be pronounced Ee-Line. THat is how I read it anyway.

I certainly wouldnt see it as Ellen-nay.

couldn't you put one of those ~ type of things (not sure which is correct) over the e? would help a lot of people to pronounce correctly

i personally don't get the big deal about mispronunciation, they get it wrong... so you put them right... job done

its not often that anyone gets my dd's name right but she's very good at correcting people

but it's also a dutch name and is then pronounced e-lee-nah

if yiou don't like that pronunciation then either avoid the name or spell it so it won't get mispronounced?

Spell it phonetically, maybe Elennae or Ellenay.

I think it's a lovely pronunciation and you should go for it.

Thanks for the responses! the more i think about it, many names get mispronounced, even ones that I think are simple!

Dear Gladders,
is it really a dutch name too?? is it common for girls?

On my mothers side I am dutch... could this be a name that covers my dutch side and my hubby's west african side? this might be the name then after much debate..... but still not sure

It's a gorgeous name, no matter where it came from.

I would read it eh-leen, and if someone said it i would spell it Ellenay.
BUT i really wouldn't worry about spelling and pronunciation, it really is just a few seconds of your life you'll spend correcting people occasionally, but a lifetime that your daughter will enjoy being called Eline, and it's beautiful. It's worth spelling out, it's a talking point, people always say to me 'oh how pretty is it Welsh?' etc.
So i would go for the African spelling rather than a phonetic one. Especially in London.