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Helen

Helena!

Helen, all the way. Mostly because I really like its stripped-down elegance, but also because of the pronunciation issues with Helena.

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In South Africa, Helena gets used by Afrikaans families and is pronounced heLEEAna. The centre syllable is like the word 'leer' if the R isn't sounded: long e and a schwa. Not good, except in its home language. Which is surely the point.

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Myself, I expect it to be pronounced HElena, like Helen with an a. No doubt in a country with a tradition of Spanish naming, there would be good reasons for doing it differently.

Helena prn "heh-lay-nah"

I strongly prefer Helen to Helena, and I only like Helena when the first syllable is accentuated.

I prefer Helen.

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I prefer "heh-LAY-nuh" for Helena.

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(I really prefer Helene "heh-LAYN," though. :) )

Helen.

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I'm biased, though, seeing as it's my name. :)

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I pronounce Helena like heh-LEH-nah

Helena. hel-ay-nuh

Helena for sure! I can't stand Helen.

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:)

Helena.

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Just prettier, IMO. (:

Helena...

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I prounounce Helena as HEL-en-uh. Like Helen with uh at the end.

This message was edited 6/30/2010, 4:17 PM

Helen

Helena, pron. 'heh-LEH-nuh'

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To me Helena is 'heh-LEH-nuh' and Elena is 'EH-leh-na'

Helen

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I pronounce Helena like the Montana city. (HEH-leh-nah)

Both are pretty, but I prefer Helena. I tend to pronounce it HEH-leh-na, but I think I like heh-LEH-na the best out of the different pronuciations. I like heh-LAY-na and heh-LEE-na too.

I'm torn: they're both nice. Helena (HEL-en-uh) is a family name, but Helen is simpler and friendlier. I think maybe Helena as a middle name and Helen as a first name.

Helena

I pronounce it heh-LAYN-nah.
I love it. (My high school years were heavily influenced by My Chemical Romance.)

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I find Helena a lot classier and less dated than Helen.

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This message was edited 6/30/2010, 2:38 PM

Helen.

Helena pron. HEH leh nuh nt x

I prefer Helena, pronounced 'heh-LEH-nah'.

Helena. Helen puts too much emphasis on the first syllable.
I think Helena is pronounced "huh-LAY-nah", but I don't know.

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Helen. Helena is too frilly for my tastes.