Hi Berries! We’re expecting a baby girl in a few weeks and just settling on our final names.
One of our faves is [name_f]Alana[/name_f] or [name_f]Alannah[/name_f].
I prefer the first spelling and hubby prefers the second spelling. [name_f]My[/name_f] concern with the spelling [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] is that people will pronounce it with a hard a like [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], rather than [name_m]Al[/name_m]-arn-a
What do you think? (We’re in the UK if that helps)
I’m not from the UK, so my pronounciation may be different, but I would say both spellings like [name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. If I was told otherwise, that would make sense too, but my instinct would be to say it with the hard A.
My instinct is pronouncing it rhyming with [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], I know a few Alanas’ and they all pronounce it like that, but if someone told me that it was pronounced differently then I wouldn’t have any issue correcting myself. I am kind of confused on how you want it pronounced, would the spelling [name_f]Alaina[/name_f] or [name_f]Alayna[/name_f] help?
I think this is one of those names with a few correct pronunciations.
I’m in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] and I would pronounce them both rhyming with [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], especially the [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] spelling.
The other way I would pronounce [name_f]Alana[/name_f] would be like [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-lon-ah, since to me [name_f]Anna[/name_f] is [name_f]Ann[/name_f]-ah but [name_f]Ana[/name_f] is On-ah.
If having to correction the pronunciation is going to really bother you maybe consider other options? If not, it’s a lovely name!
I would pronounce both spellings the way you prefer. I’m from the UK and went to school with an [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] who pronounced it this way. You might get some people who say it like [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] with this spelling but it should be easily corrected.
I would pronounce [name_f]Alana[/name_f] and [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] (my preferred spelling, though both are lovely!) the same. “ Al-arn-a” as it were, or vaguely rhyming with [name_f]Madonna[/name_f], maybe? A great name, no matter how you spell it.
I can see why some might think [name_f]Alannah[/name_f] could rhyme with [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], but I don’t personally see that as being a big potential issue; that might just be my personal/regional accent talking, though.
Thanks everyone, helpful comments! Especially hearing from those in the UK
The pronunciation we prefer is [name_m]Al[/name_m]-arna with a long vowel sound in the middle.
Our other faves are [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] and [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] so we’ll see what feels right when she enters the world in a few weeks time!