Hi everyone!
I’ve mentioned this before, but I absolutely love the name Ell-en-uh.
However, I’m unsure how to spell it. However, my favourite spelling is Eleanor, and I pronounce Eleanor, Elena, and Ellena the same way.
I live in Australia, and for some reason, most of the people that I’ve met pronounce Eleanor like Ellen-OR / Ellen-AW rather than Ellen-uh, which is funny considering that we’re pretty non-rhotic accent wise (e.g. pronouncing Peter as Pete-uh, Connor as Con-uh, and Taylor as Tay-luh).
This is a shame since I prefer the Eleanor spelling to Elena which could also be said as Elaina and also gives a completely different vibe for me. Also, Ellena isn’t particularly established and would often seem to be misspelled.
Helena is okay, but I just really love Ell-en-uh.
What spelling do you think works for me best?
Is Ellen-uh enforceable even with the Eleanor spelling? (I do have a slight British accent though, definitely more than the average Australian).
Thank you!
a [name_u]Brit[/name_u] living in Australia here!
I have come across Eleanors over here, most of them have been Ellen-OR but I have seen 1 exception (who wasn’t [name_f]British[/name_f] either) so I think it’s definitely possible to enforce your preferred pronunciation for [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]!
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I think [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] is your best bet.
We’re also in Australia and planning to use [name_f]Elena[/name_f] if we have a girl one day with Eh-LAY-Nah pronounciation.
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I honestly think Ellen-AW sounds nicer than Ell-en-uh. Because Australians have a bit of a nasal accent, I find it more comfortable to say the AW than the UH. When I say Ellen-uh, I rush over the 'l’s and it ends up sounding like Elw-na, whereas I am forced to pronounce Ellen-Aw clearly because of it’s clear-cut syllables. I doubt this made any sense whatsoever.
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Thank you! That’s good to know. I knew of an Ellen-uh once with my pronunciation, but I never actually saw her name written down so I don’t know how it was spelt. She was [name_f]British[/name_f], so potentially [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], although I assumed it was [name_f]Elena[/name_f] at the time.
That’s awesome!
More Australians here than I thought 
That’s an interesting point! I can kind of see that, especially if I try to say it really fast.
Perhaps I could warm up to the naw pronunciation in time, but I feel [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] with the Ellen-uh pronunciation sounds nicer.
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Personally I would pronounce them as
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]- [name_f]Ella[/name_f] nor
[name_f]Elena[/name_f]- [name_f]Elle[/name_f] ay na
[name_f]Ellena[/name_f]- [name_f]Ellen[/name_f] uh
So I am [name_f]British[/name_f] and have a relatively strong [name_f]British[/name_f] accent. I live in [name_u]South[/name_u] [name_f]Africa[/name_f] and people always can tell I am [name_f]British[/name_f] by my accent, [name_f]Ellena[/name_f] is my favourite but I’m biased cause I really love the name. But pick which makes your heart happy. I am [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] [name_f]Olive[/name_f] often mispronounced for [name_f]Amelie[/name_f] or [name_f]Emily[/name_f] [name_f]Olive[/name_f]. But now I am just [name_f]Millie[/name_f] [name_f]Olive[/name_f] but so many names are said wrong it is rather easy to correct.
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I’d go with [name_f]Ellena[/name_f]! I’ve known one and it has literary ties (The Italian by [name_f]Ann[/name_f] [name_m]Radcliffe[/name_m] 
)
Still, I think [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] with your pn could work, if she always introduces herself as such
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