See the results of this poll: Spelling
Respondents: 65 (This poll is closed)
- Eleanor : 43 (66%)
- Elinor: 22 (34%)
I prefer [name]Elinor[/name], but I’m in the minority here on NB.
At least where I live (Northern USA) [name]Eleanor[/name] is the only spelling used for [name]Eleanor[/name]/[name]Elinor[/name], so it would cause a lot less confusion.
I prefer [name]Elinor[/name].
If you pick [name]Elinor[/name], you’ll spend a lot of time correcting it. Besides, [name]Eleanor[/name] has an A in it, just like [name]Lilla[/name], and an E in it, just like [name]Vivienne[/name] does.
I do a lot of correcting as is [name]Lilla[/name] is [name]Lila[/name], [name]Vivienne[/name] is [name]Vivian[/name] (I hate [name]Vivi[/name]-[name]Ann[/name] so this is the worst). My main thing is if we pronounce it [name]Elinor[/name] shouldn’t we spell it that way? Or is it ok to say [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]El[/name]-i-nor. It’s also the short i sound in common among all of them I like not the similarity in vowels.
This is why I prefer [name]Elinor[/name]. Maybe I’m crazy, but I pronounce [name]Eleanor[/name] e-la-nor but [name]Elinor[/name] eh-li-nor. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s there.
That is my big thing. I pronounce it eh-li-nor, thank you for sighting the difference, you said it perfectly!
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Now if only there was a different spelling for [name]Pen[/name]-nell-o-pe vs [name]Pen[/name]-nell-i-pe. I guess I really just like the short i sound in girls names and have to put it in all my favorites.
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I had this same dilemma two years ago! We decided on [name]Elinor[/name]. It is a little less common without sacrificing its history. [name]Elinor[/name] is more common in Europe (so I read somewhere) and she was even a character in [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name]'s Sense and Sensibility. I’ve even meet a lovely [name]Elinor[/name] at the nursing home my husband worked at. [name]Don[/name]'t believe the lie that it is just a no good change to streamlined modern spelling.
[name]One[/name] more bonus… It have us easy access to our super cute nn [name]Nori[/name] 
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mamamo [name]LOVE[/name] that
Ooh, I like your taste in names! (As well as [name]Elinor[/name]/[name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Clare[/name], [name]Grace[/name] and [name]Rufus[/name] are great loves of mine).
Totally understand the pronunciation issue. For years I only liked [name]Elinor[/name], not [name]Eleanor[/name], because I would want it to be pronounced [name]El[/name]-in-or (equal stress on each syllable, and ‘or’ not ‘uh’ at the end).
However, I agree that [name]Eleanor[/name] is pretty and I think it’s fine if you’re going to pronounce the final syllable ‘uh’ (like most of the world… I’m just awkward!). The middle syllable is regularly pronounced ‘uh’, ‘eh’ or ‘i’ with this spelling, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I’d stick with it
I personally prefer [name]Eleanor[/name], but if you’re looking for the short I sound, [name]Elinor[/name] fits better. [name]Both[/name] are beautiful!
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I prefer [name]Elinor[/name]. Also, it seems as if you do, too. As a mom of an [name]Annabel[/name] not [name]Annabelle[/name], the little extra headache of having to correct the spelling is well worth it for the name we love. [name]Annabel[/name] has an entirely different feel than [name]Annabelle[/name], at least to me. I see [name]Elinor[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name] the same way. [name]Elinor[/name] is also the spelling [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] used for [name]Elinor[/name] Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility.
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I went with [name]Elinor[/name] which I love because I adore Sense and Sensibility and that is the spelling used. Sometimes I wonder though if that’s the only reason I prefer that spelling because I like the more common [name]Eleanor[/name] too. Tbh, you can’t really go wrong either way. If you do go with the [name]Elinor[/name] spelling there should be little to no pronunciation issues as it should be fairly obvious and if anyone spells it wrong they can be corrected easily enough.
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Totally 
I’m with you. [name]Both[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Elinor[/name] are ‘el-eh-nor’ to me. I really don’t understand the ‘el-en-a’ pronunciation. I think most of the world says it ‘nor’.
I like the classic [name]Eleanor[/name].
I much prefer [name]Eleanor[/name]. I know [name]Elinor[/name] is an accepted spelling for [name]Eleanor[/name] but I don’t know if it’s as familiar. I don’t know if it would be worth the extra hassle in correcting the spelling of [name]Elinor[/name] only to stick to an “I” theme among sisters.
So many good thoughts. Thanks berries, now to talk it over with DH, wish me luck!