[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! [name_u]Baby[/name_u] girl on the way and we love the nicknames [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] and [name_f]Lena[/name_f] so it seems to make sense to name her [name_f]Elena[/name_f], but I know El-ee-na is not one of the normal pronunciations for that name (which is so confusing because [name_f]Lena[/name_f] on its own is most commonly pronounced Lee-na though) Have also considered [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] & Elaina…thoughts??
Have you thought about using Ellie or Lena on their own? I don’t think they need a full name!
I do think Lena pronounced lee-nah might be a bit weird for Elena - same for Eleanor & Elaina, where I’d expect the nickname to be Lainey, Lain, or Laina.
What about Elina? I think it would solve your problems with Elena! You could also do Elinor if you like Eleanor, the nickname Lina/Lena feels a bit more intuitive then.
[name_u]Love[/name_u] the idea of [name_f]Elina[/name_f] posted above!!
I also love the idea of [name_f]Elina[/name_f]! I think [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] and [name_f]Lena[/name_f] can stand alone, too!
I like the look of [name_f]Lena[/name_f] better than [name_f]Lina[/name_f], but yes I have considered that spelling. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think that would ever get mistakenly pronounced El-line-a though?
I like the [name_f]Elina[/name_f] suggestion, but yes I do think a few people may pronounce it El-line-a at first. But that could be easily corrected if you don’t mind that. You could technically name her [name_f]Elena[/name_f] and tell people you pronounce it El-lee-na, though that seems like the more confusing option of these two.
I truly don’t see an issue with the name [name_f]Elena[/name_f] or [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] and nn [name_f]Lena[/name_f]! Then you could have your pick of [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] or [name_f]Lena[/name_f] as nicknames.
[name_m]Even[/name_m] though [name_f]Lena[/name_f] on its own is pronounced differently from the -lena in [name_f]Elena[/name_f], lots of nicknames have the same letters with different pronunciations from the original name, think [name_u]Alexis[/name_u] nn [name_u]Alex[/name_u], [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] nn [name_f]Mia[/name_f] / [name_u]Mel[/name_u] / [name_f]Millie[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] nn [name_f]Meg[/name_f], Willliam nn [name_u]Liam[/name_u], [name_u]Henry[/name_u] nn [name_m]Hank[/name_m] / [name_u]Harry[/name_u].
Other suggestions if [name_f]Elena[/name_f] or [name_f]Elina[/name_f] isn’t the right fit… [name_f]Leonora[/name_f], [name_f]Leonore[/name_f], [name_f]Magdalena[/name_f], [name_f]Lavinia[/name_f] (May be a stretch), [name_f]Helen[/name_f], [name_f]Helena[/name_f] (but again this -lena is not pronounced like Lena), [name_f]Helene[/name_f] (this is pronounced more like Lena).
[name_f]Elina[/name_f] perhaps, or [name_f]Eliana[/name_f] might give you both! Maybe even [name_f]Evelina[/name_f]?
[name_u]Or[/name_u], you could make a choice between [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] and [name_f]Lena[/name_f] for this baby and save the other in case you have another?
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] is gorgeous
Agree with all of this! Love the idea of Leonora nn Lena, too.
However I do think Elena nn Lena works even with the slight different sounds. As @ajo says there are many nicknames which aren’t part of the original name.