Comments (Pronunciation Only)
I pronounce this the same way you pronounce Lina.
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LAY-nə.
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Everyone is saying how it's pronounced 'LEN-ah' and Lina is 'LEE-nah' but seriously, pronounce it how you want. Just because you think it's 'LEN-ah' or 'LEE-nah' or 'LAY-nah' doesn't mean it is. Also, you may think it is the correct pronunciation, and it may be for you, but there are so many different origins that all have diferent pronunciations! Don't be narrow-minded!
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I just had my daughter 6 weeks ago and her name is Lenna pronounced LEH-nah with the e being a short vowel sound. I played around with the variations of her name and decided I liked this variation better. I also decided to add another n to her name to hopefully get people to say her name correctly.
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This name is pronounced LEE-nah for English speakers and in most English speaking countries, that is how I have been addressed. However, when I lived in the American Southwest, people would often pronounce it LEH-nah due to the influence of Spanish speakers in the area. Since relocating to the North East, I am usually addressed as LEE-nah and occasionally LAY-nah-- I am fine with either of those pronunciations but every time someone calls me LEH-nuh, I cringe and look into changing my name to something easy like Meg, Jane, Kate or Kelly. Hopefully, Lena Dunham's fame will help me!
I have a friend who spells her name LINA and she also experiences pronunciation problems. She pronounces it LEE-nah but often gets called LYE-nah.
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I have a friend who spells her name LINA and she also experiences pronunciation problems. She pronounces it LEE-nah but often gets called LYE-nah.
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I noticed a lot of comments about pronunciation. I don't think there is an incorrect pronunciation of this name, just differences in language nuances. This is a family name, I named my daughter Lena, and it has been pronounced Lee-nah by each generation, even back as far the immigrating generation (that's as far as I am able to know with any accuracy). I noticed people saying that this pronunciation is only spelled Lina, but that is not correct.
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In the USA the name LENA is usually pronounced as LEE-nah. Of course the way Lena is pronounced in other countries will vary due to the uniqueness of their languages. Also, please be advised that there is also the name LANA, usually pronounced as LAY-nah.
Really in the end, no one is wrong. It all just depends on where you live and what language you speak.
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Really in the end, no one is wrong. It all just depends on where you live and what language you speak.
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I don't think there is a correct way to pronounce it. My daughter's name is Magdalena so we pronounce it Lay-nuh. There is another little girl in town who's mom is Swiss and they pronounce it the same, but it's not short for anything, but most people seem to pronounce it Lee-nuh.
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It's pronounced LEN-ah in Germany, and LYEN-ah in Russia. And those are the correct pronunciations. Not LEE-nah or LAY-nah.
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As has been pointed out the name is used in various countries and has various pronunciations. It can be LEE nuh, LEN uh, or LAY nuh. None of these are 'wrong'. Mine is pronounced LEE nuh, as in Lena Horne or Lena Olin. In a case where there are multiple acceptable pronunciations, it seems almost rude to tell someone they are pronouncing their own name 'wrong'. Much more polite to simply say, "I prefer the other pronunciation.".
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Lena is a very popular name in Germany and pronounced LEH-na or LAY-na (it really depends on how you read phonetic transcriptions but I actually think the people who say it's LEH-na and the ones who say LAY-na actually pronounce it the same and just don't know how to write it down best in phonetics). Lina is pronounced LEE-na. Lana is LAH-na.
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My middle name is Lena and I love it! I pronounce it Lee-nuh. I think Lina should be pronounced like Lie-nuh. I think the name Lena goes very good with my first name, Kathryn.
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My name is Lena, and in my case it's pronounced "LEH-NUH". I believe this is the correct pronunciation. There's only one 'E', it's not Leena or Layna/Lana! But for the most part, it's a very nice name, and I'm not biased by the fact that I have this name.
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I pronounce it "Lay-nah", the German way. At least, that's how I heard it pronounced on a TV show. Personally, I like it best pronounced like this!
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Many people pronounce it LEE-Na but it is supposed to be LEH-NA in which is the original and appropriate pronunciation. Lee-na is LINA not LENA. I like like LAY-NA though but I think LEE-NA sounds wrong and can't stand it.
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Lena can also be pronounced LEN-ah and LEE-nah. I personally like LEN-ah best.
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I believe that it is supposed to be pronounced LEE-nah, not leh-nah, although I do prefer the latter. *wipes away a tear* mine is spelled the former.
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Lena is not "supposed" to be pronounced "lee-na". It is pronounced differently in different countries/languages. Lena is pronounced as "Leh-nah" in Scandinavian and other languages. Lina is pronounced as "Lee-nah".
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Very popular in Germany, pronounced Lay-nah.
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Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.
• https://nl.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lena (in Dutch)
• https://nl.forvo.com/search/Lena/nl/ (in Dutch)
• https://youtu.be/xq1nXgSOwE0 (in Dutch; the narrator is Dutch and the name is said at 0:07 and 0:20)
Converted to IPA, it should be: /'le:.na:/ [noted -ed]