See the results of this poll: How to spell "Ellen-ah", NOT "e-LAY-na"
Respondents: 70 (This poll is closed)
- Elena : 22 (31%)
- Ellena : 26 (37%)
- Elenna : 11 (16%)
- Eleana : 0 (0%)
- Elinna : 4 (6%)
- Ellina : 7 (10%)
- Other -post below: 0 (0%)
[name]Hi[/name] there!
Ooh, this is a tough one! I went with [name]Ellena[/name] from your choices but I’m really not sure I would pronounce that one the way your hoping for. Maybe Ellenah? Or maybe that’s too much… tough call! I’m sure other Berries will have some great advice though 
Ellenna seems the most likely to get the pronunciation you’re looking for…double n prevents the lay or lee sounds, and double l keeps it with the [name]Ellen[/name] beginning, whereas only one L could lead to ee-lenna.
I think [name]Helena[/name] would be preferable, though. Same pronunciation but with an h…would still honor an [name]Ellen[/name], if that’s what you’re aiming for, since [name]Ellen[/name] is a variation of [name]Helen[/name]…and it’s a real, accepted name…and a gorgeous one, too.
I voted [name]Ellena[/name], but I wouldn’t go with any of them personally. Apart from [name]Elena[/name] (which I love but pronounce eh-[name]LAY[/name]-nah) they all look horribly mashed and made-up. My sister is [name]Eleanor[/name] and I don’t pronounce it with OR on the end, I pronounce it with an A on the end and so does everybody else. [name]Eleanore[/name] would have the OR on the end. I’m not sure if this is true for everyone, if it is true for the British only or if it is as select as being only in my county. I have this has helped, do some more digging and find out how people around you pronounce [name]Eleanor[/name] and how they personally would pronounce [name]EL[/name]-en-ah.
I would just stick with the classic spelling of [name]Elena[/name] and correct people if needed. The rest of the invented spellings may be mispronounced as well. I would pronounce the ones ending in “ina” as “eena” and [name]Eleana[/name] (ee-lee-an-ah).
I voted [name]Elena[/name] because I have a good friend in [name]Italy[/name] whose name is [name]Elena[/name] is she pronounces it the way you like. And it’s not an uncommon thing. That’s how they pronounce it there ([name]Milan[/name]) from what I can tell. And that’s how I would automatically say it if I saw [name]Elena[/name] written.
I went to college with an [name]Elena[/name] (pronounced [name]Ellen[/name]-ah). This seems like the truest spelling of the name and I (personally) am a traditionalist in terms of spelling.
Thanks for all the help!
I disagree. She would always be correcting people with the [name]Elena[/name] spelling. I personally prefer [name]Ah[/name]-lane-uh. [name]Elena[/name] is what I would use for that. If not, I would use [name]Ellina[/name].
I’ve known several Elenas and they all pronounced it ellen-ah like you want. I had never even heard of the ee-lay-nah pronunciation until I joined Nameberry.
[name]Elenna[/name] looks the best, but I put the emphasis in a diff place… eh-[name]LYNN[/name]-uh. I don’t know how to get the pronunciation you want… It’s going to be a problem her whole life!
Such a tricky problem. I think Ellenna is fool proof but looks bad. Maybe [name]Ellena[/name] is the way to go. I know [name]Elena[/name] will be pronounced elayna all the time
I voted for [name]Ellena[/name], but I don’t think any of these spellings would regularly get the pronunciation you like–you’ll just have to correct people. Have you considered [name]Helena[/name]?
I don’t mnd correcting people if the majority get it. But I think with elena I’m setting it up to be read as elayna 100% of the time. I don’t really like [name]Helena[/name]. But love it without the H!
[name]Elena[/name] will probably get pronounced as eh-[name]LAY[/name]-nuh. I could be wrong, though. That’s just how I have heard it be pronounced. I think the spelling [name]Elenna[/name] will be pronounced correctly most of the time (saying most of the time since some people are bad at pronouncing names; like me :-?) and it is definitley the prettiest way ever. I love it! Haha it made me like this name even more because of the spelling [name]Elenna[/name].
I like the look of [name]Elenna[/name] too! But I think that would be el-[name]LEN[/name]-ah instead of [name]EL[/name]-en-ah?
I went with [name]Ellena[/name]. The two 'l’s make it look more similar to [name]Ellen[/name] and therefore makes the EH-leh-nuh pronunciation more intuitive. I might still pronounce it eh-LEHN-uh though, on first reading. However, [name]Elenna[/name] makes me think eh-LEHN-uh even more so. I pronounce [name]Elena[/name] eh-[name]LAY[/name]-nuh, but that might be because I know one who pronounces it this way.
I pn [name]Elena[/name] as [name]Ellen[/name]-uh. I’d stick with the traditional spelling. Personally, I don’t get how the e = ay…
To me E-lay-nuh would be spelled [name]Elayna[/name].
I agree but most people pn it elayna
I voted for [name]Elena[/name]. What’s wrong with classics?