Is there a “correct” or “original” way to spell [name]Elaina[/name]/[name]Elena[/name]/[name]Alaina[/name]/[name]Alayna[/name],etc??? Any thoughts???
As far as I know, [name]Elena[/name] is the proper spelling, and [name]Elaina[/name], [name]Alaina[/name], [name]Alayna[/name], [name]Alana[/name] and so forth are variations. It’s a pretty name.
[name]Elaina[/name]- Uh- lay- nuh
[name]Elena[/name]- Uh-lee-nuh
I say them differently.
[name]Elena[/name] is a form of [name]Helen[/name]. Oh Nameberry has [name]Elaina[/name] as a form of [name]Elena[/name].
[name]Elena[/name] (I also say this with a “lay-nuh” ending) is my favorite.
Tough one. Personally I’ve always said [name]Elena[/name] as uh-lay-na and prefer this spelling to the others.
Thanks for the feedback! I guess I pronounce them all about the same, uh-[name]LAY[/name]-na. [name]Don[/name]'t really know if that’s correct though. Maybe [name]Alaina[/name]/[name]Alayna[/name] are uh-[name]LAY[/name]-na, and [name]Elaina[/name]/[name]Elena[/name] are more ee-[name]LAY[/name]-na??? I don’t really know, so I would like to hear what you all think. I kind of prefer the [name]Elaina[/name] and [name]Alaina[/name] spellings (both pronounced uh-[name]LAY[/name]-na), but I’m curious to hear your thoughts…
[name]Elena[/name] is the Spanish variant of [name]Helen[/name]. It is pronounced Eh-lay-nuh. To me [name]Elaina[/name] looks misspelled.
I’m an [name]Elena[/name], [name]El[/name]-len-uh, but I do often get [name]El[/name]-ay-na. I know nameberry has [name]Elena[/name] down as Spanish, but as far as I know, it is also greek pronounced the way I pronounce it. So, personally I prefer [name]Elaina[/name] if you pronouncing it like that.
good luck 
I like [name]Elena[/name] the best
[name]Elena[/name] is the original version, and all the other spellings, especially the ones starting with A, are just tryndee. [name]Ellen[/name]-a is the Spanish and Italian (and Greek?) pronunciation, but most Americans pronounce it e-lay-na.
I prefer [name]Elena[/name]
We are leaning toward using [name]Elena[/name] if we have a girl. Classy.
I like [name]Alaina[/name] best (my sister’s name). It has Gaelic origins and transferred into Irish.
I don’t know of a correct spelling but I prefer [name]Elena[/name].
I like [name]Elena[/name] and [name]Alena[/name] almost equally.
The [name]Elena[/name] that I know pronounces it [name]El[/name]-en-uh. I know some people pronounce it [name]El[/name]-ay-nuh so it could definitely work. For me, I like [name]Alaina[/name] best to get the sound that you want.
[name]Elena[/name], definitely.
I prefer [name]Elena[/name] as it seems the simplest and most beautiful. I do pronounce some of these slightly differently, though.
[name]Elena[/name]: eh-[name]LAY[/name]-nah
[name]Elaina[/name] (which does look spelled wrong to me): ee-[name]LAYN[/name]-uh
[name]Alaina[/name]: uh-[name]LAYN[/name]-uh
[name]Alana[/name]: uh-LAN-uh
I’ve known people with the names [name]Elena[/name], [name]Alaina[/name], and [name]Alana[/name] who have pronounced them the ways I’ve described above. And for some inexplicable reason, even though I pronounce [name]Elena[/name] eh-[name]LAY[/name]-nuh, I instinctively want to pronounce [name]Alena[/name] uh-[name]LEE[/name]-nuh, even though the one woman I know who pronounces her name that way spells it [name]Alina[/name]. I realize that makes no sense at all – just throwing out my thoughts. [name]Hope[/name] it helps!
Exactly the reason why I don’t like the name.
I’d go with [name]Elena[/name] (though it could be said ‘ellen-a’) or [name]Elaina[/name]. Ninety percent of the time you’ll get the right pronunciation with either of those I think.