I’ve always really liked my middle name, more so than my first, and until I was 21 or so, I wanted to go by my middle name instead of my first. I still love the name [name_f]Alana[/name_f] and now that my partner and I are TTC, I’m considering adding it to the list, however I have a few different concerns:
a) It’s a spelling variation of my middle name, is that weird? I purposefully wanted to go with a different spelling so it wasn’t too similar to my own name (although I really like my [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] spelling too), and literally no one has referred to me as my full name in years, but is it still weird?
b) [name_u]Will[/name_u] it constantly be mispronounced? [name_f]My[/name_f] own middle name, when people say it, often gets butchered, but every time I personally have seen [name_f]Alana[/name_f], the pronunciation is the same as what my middle should be. I’m not quite sure how to explain the middle syllable, but in my accent it comes out more as Ah-law-nah as opposed to Al-anna.
c) I can’t really decide on spelling - I don’t want to use [name_f]Alanna[/name_f] because that’s the pronunciation I want to avoid, but between [name_f]Alana[/name_f] and [name_f]Alannah[/name_f], I’m not sure which one I like better.
Thanks!
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I don’t think so! It makes sense to use a slightly different spelling if you want to.
I can’t say for sure, but I instinctively say Alana the way you do, whereas I definitely would have pronounced Alannah to rhyme with Hannah (if I didn’t know better). So I think you’ll get the correct pronunciation more often than not.
Alana looks more streamlined to me, and I definitely think it would help with the pronunciation.
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I think [name_f]Alana[/name_f] probably works best. I knew a girl named [name_f]Alana[/name_f] who pronounced it how you do. Her name was constantly mispronounced as [name_f]Alayna[/name_f], but it’s an easy correction & people usually remembered after 1-2 corrections. Honestly, I don’t think there is a spelling that would completely avoid any pronunciation issues.
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A) I don’t think that’s weird. I would consider using [name_f]Nell[/name_f] or [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] which is linked to my middle
B) I’d pronounce it as you do, though I’m sure some might mispronounce it
C) [name_f]Alana[/name_f] looks good to me
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a) I don’t think it’s weird!
b) I don’t think so, but there is a chance. I would pronounce [name_f]Alana[/name_f], [name_f]Alannah[/name_f], and [name_f]Alanna[/name_f] all like you do (ah-law-nuh) but I do think there’s a chance people might not look closely and would occasionally say al-anna, or even uh-lay-nuh or eh-leh-nuh, even if that’s not the spelling at all. I don’t think it will happen frequently enough to be a real annoyance, though.
c) I have both [name_f]Alana[/name_f] and [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] on my list, so I might not be the most helpful in deciding on a spelling, lol. I really like both. But, I do think [name_f]Alana[/name_f] will probably be clearer pronunciation-wise.
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I’ve heard of people giving their children their middle names for their children’s first names before so I don’t think it’s weird. I think it would be kind of sweet actually plus it’s a name you really like. If you’re worried about pronunciation, I would go with [name_f]Alana[/name_f], but I think most people would pronounce [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] the same. Either one would work and I agree, it’s a nice name. 
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