how would you pronounce Elias?

curlyhairedboys

I just want to ask the masses to get an idea as to whether or not I want to go down this route with this name.  I hate it when there is a question on pronounciation.

MCMoo23

E-lee-ahs

anna7602

I know two, one pronounces it like PP said, with a long "ee" sound in the middle and the other pronounces it with an "eye" sound in the middle.

I think it's just a matter of picking the pron. you prefer and sticking with it. It's not such a popular name that people will automatically say it one way v. the other, IMO.

strangebird

I'm shocked to hear that it is sometimes pronounced ee-lee-us . . . I've never heard it any way other than ehl-lye-us.

forensicmama

Ee- LYE - uhs

forensicmama

iallrd8itWed196457:

strangebird:

I'm shocked to hear that it is sometimes pronounced ee-lee-us . . . I've never heard it any way other than ehl-lye-us.

this 

This. Except ee-LYE-us (but close enough).

ColindaP

Eh-LEE-ahs. 

Not many Spanish speakers on this board. 

ablou

Steel-mai-luh-nch-munney,

HappyMrsK

strangebird:

I'm shocked to hear that it is sometimes pronounced ee-lee-us . . . I've never heard it any way other than ehl-lye-us.

This. I like this name a lot.

elemar

Ell- eye - us

rsquaredr

MCMoo23:

E-lee-ahs

This.

veganxangel

mj.reilly:

Honestly, it depends.

Sometimes I say Ee-lie-iss and sometimes I say Uh-lie-iss

I am also shocked to here people say Ee-lee-ahs. Weird. I have never heard that before.

This. 

LIAngel

I've heard it pronounced- Ee- lee- us.

However the only Elias I knew in real life, pronounced it:  Ee-lee-uh.  The S was silent.  But he was Greek, so I'm not sure if that's a regional thing.   He has since passed away, so I can't ask him.  People usually called him Eli anyway.

biblionerd

strangebird:

I'm shocked to hear that it is sometimes pronounced ee-lee-us . . . I've never heard it any way other than ehl-lye-us.

ditto

vans or violets

E - lie - ass

 

HAFranklin

ee-LYE-us

 

alliejo725

I worked with someone whose LN was Elias. He pronounced it eh-LIE-us. So that's how I "intuitively" pronounce it. I do know that as a FN it's more often "eh-lee-us" or "ee-lee-us," but the above is my knee-jerk reaction.

strangebird

ColindaP:

Eh-LEE-ahs. 

Not many Spanish speakers on this board. 

I do speak Spanish, but Elias is an English name with Hebrew origins, there's no reason it should be read or pronounced with a Spanish accent.

I've never met anyone of Hispanic or Spanish descent with this name, but wouldn't it then be spelled El?as (with the accent over the I, to change the pronunciation)?

alisonemma

ee-LIE-us

LMS05

Ee-lie-us

curlyhairedboys

Thanks everyone for their input.  We pronounce it EE-LIE-US and that seems to be the more popular way (but not by much).  I still think I'm going to put this on my list

Oh, and... 

strangebird:

I do speak Spanish, but Elias is an English name with Hebrew origins, there's no reason it should be read or pronounced with a Spanish accent

I've never met anyone of Hispanic or Spanish descent with this name, but wouldn't it then be spelled El?as (with the accent over the I, to change the pronunciation)?

 I did pick this name from an Hispanic boy name list.  It does say that it is hebrew in origin.  I think it's funny that it's on the list and it really isn't Hispanic.  It sounds like it should be Hispanic, though.  And there was no accent mark or anything.

starlight_24

This is my son's name. We pronounce it Eh-lee-us.

ErinC1014

eh-LYE-us

anna7602

ColindaP:

Eh-LEE-ahs. 

Not many Spanish speakers on this board. 

Just going back through responses after mine and am glad you said this. Sometimes I wish I could start a splinter "Spanish Baby Names Board," but I feel like there would only be a handful of people over there.

MamiJam

It depends what language I'm speaking...if English: el-eye-us.  If spanish: el-ee-ahs.

anna7602

strangebird:

ColindaP:

Eh-LEE-ahs. 

Not many Spanish speakers on this board. 

I do speak Spanish, but Elias is an English name with Hebrew origins, there's no reason it should be read or pronounced with a Spanish accent.

I've never met anyone of Hispanic or Spanish descent with this name, but wouldn't it then be spelled El?as (with the accent over the I, to change the pronunciation)?

Most Hispanics in this country diss the accent marks, so the lack of one does not necessarily mean the parent means for the "ia" to be pronounced as a dipthong (making this name Ehl-yas, a pronunciation I've never heard). The one person I referenced above in my original answer is the son of two Spaniards in NYC. They don't spell it with an accent mark, but they also don't pronounce it the way an unaccented i followed by an a would be said. Given the name's relative popularity in the Spanish-speaking world v. the English-speaking world, it's not that strange for it to be read or pronounced with a Spanish accent. It's like the name Ariel being co-opted as a girl's name in this country when I still think it's a very reasonable assumption that this name with HEBREW origins is a boy's name given how solid its use is for boys both in Latin America and among Hispanics in the U.S. .