Preferred Elena prn?

east93 · November 12, 2012, 5:21pm

[name]Elena[/name] can be pronounced two ways:

Eh-leh-nuh/[name]Ellen[/name]-nuh
[name]Ah[/name]-lay-na

Which do you prefer?

entangler · November 12, 2012, 5:23pm

[name]Ah[/name]-lay-na definitely, but people never hesitate to remind me that the Eh-leh-nuh is the ‘correct’ pronunciation.

Sunshine.10 · November 12, 2012, 5:23pm

I love the second pronunciation! ah-[name]LAY[/name]-na is just so pretty! It does look like there are three different options though because Eh-LEH-nuh and [name]ELLEN[/name]-uh sound different to me.

ashthedreamer · November 12, 2012, 5:25pm

Number 2. [name]Love[/name] eh-[name]LAY[/name]-nah!

dindlee · November 12, 2012, 5:33pm

if you want the actual Spanish pronunciation, it’s Eh-leh-nah

lexiem · November 12, 2012, 5:40pm

this is my favorite as well.

southern_belle3 · November 12, 2012, 5:45pm

I would pronounce it Eh-lay-nu.

east93 · November 12, 2012, 5:46pm

Oh do they? They’re identical to me, sorry about that.

rgp19 · November 12, 2012, 5:58pm

I pronounce it as [name]El[/name] leh nuh :).

Amydomsmom · November 12, 2012, 6:23pm

I guess I pronounce it the Eh-leh-nuh way, but it sounds more like ee-[name]LAY[/name]-nuh when I say it. =]

brightheartx · November 12, 2012, 6:25pm

I prefer the eh-leh-na pronounciation myself.

sawdust_and_diamonds · November 12, 2012, 6:29pm

I hear [name]Ah[/name]-[name]Lay[/name]-Nah more often, and strongly dislike that pronunciation. I looooove [name]Ellen[/name]-uh though.

becaroo · November 12, 2012, 8:33pm

I thought e-lay-nuh was like the only pronounciation! but i [name]LOVE[/name] e-leh-nuh!! I considered [name]Helena[/name] but became a bit too much like hell in a… i wonder if i could get away with [name]Elena[/name]… hmm i just dont like it when there are two common pronounciations of one name lol!

aj_bear · November 12, 2012, 9:30pm

I pronounce it as Eh-leh-nuh.

[name]Athena[/name]

sodallas3 · November 12, 2012, 10:14pm

I like [name]El[/name]-lay-nah best but I know that based on that spelling, I would constantly be correcting people!

dizii · November 12, 2012, 11:52pm

Out of those [name]Ah[/name]-lay-nuh, but I actually pronounce it ee-lay-nuh.

obliviate1895 · November 13, 2012, 1:25am

Definitely Eh-leh-nuh for me! Whenever I hear [name]Ah[/name]-lay-na or Eh-lay-na, I instinctively think of [name]Alaina[/name]!

zillionzeldas · November 13, 2012, 1:55am

I pronounce it Eh-leh-nuh.

emiliaj · November 13, 2012, 2:07am

Eh-lay-nuh (like [name]Elaine[/name] with an ‘uh’ sound at the end)

[name]Ellen[/name]-uh has a much stronger second ‘e’ sound to me- like the e in ‘pen’

[name]Al[/name]-ah-nuh is more like [name]Alana[/name] to me (ah-lar-nuh)

system · November 13, 2012, 2:58am

This is how I’d pronounce them (seeing them in [name]England[/name] and using English pronunciation):

[name]Elena[/name]: ellen-a (like [name]Helena[/name] without an h)
[name]El[/name]éna: eh-lay-na

If I was in, say Spain/a Hispanic country where [name]Elena[/name] is always ‘eh-lay-na’ then the accent wouldn’t be necessary but in English if you want me to make the ‘eh’ into ‘ay’ then let me know by using an accent or spell it [name]Elaina[/name].