My hubby stumbled upon the name “[name]Alenna[/name]” and loves it. I love it, but he is pronouncing it “ah-len-na” with the “len” sounding like camera lens.
To me, this name would always be pronounced incorrectly as “ah-lay-na” or “ah-lean-na”.
What do you think?
When I read it I said it in my head as [name]Al[/name]-[name]LEN[/name]-ah. It’s unusual but rather pretty, where did your husband find it?
I would have gone with [name]Ah[/name]-len-a too. I think it’s the double n that steers me away from saying [name]Ah[/name]-lee-na or [name]Ah[/name]-lay-na.
I think as well with people being used to the more common [name]Allana[/name] (and it’s various spellings) being pronounced [name]Ah[/name]-la-na with a soft vowel sounds this should help your [name]Alenna[/name] to be pronounced with a soft ‘e’ at first glance.
I think you’re right on it getting mispronounced. At first I wanted to say A-len-na (b/c my daughter is [name]Alanna[/name] - A-lan-na), but then I second guessed myself and said maybe it’s A-lay-na
I asked my hubby where he heard it and it said he couldn’t remember because it was like 3 years ago…
I instinctively say this name ah-LEHN-ah. The double “n” clarifies the pronunciation. Nameberry name database has this one listed as a variation of [name]Alena[/name]. I love the way it’s sounds, plus it sounds like [name]Elenna[/name], one of my favorites. ([name]Elenna[/name] is actually a Tolkien name, it means “star-spray”.)
When I read it I pronounced it the same way your husband did. Pretty name.
I agree with others that I automatically said ah-[name]LEN[/name]-uh, probably because of the two n’s. [name]Alena[/name]/[name]Elena[/name] would have more pronunciation problems I think.
It IS a pretty name. If you take a moment to look at the spelling, it is fairly clear how it should be pronounced, BUT I do think you will get a lot of mispronunciations over the years. Any name like this that has a lot of variations is sure to spawn them.