Elin?

JenK008 · December 2015

Hi All,

We are team green due in Jan. I have a son named Ben.nett. I have been working on girl names and have my top 3 choices, our last name is one syllable, and middle names are family names...

First Choice - Elin Josephine

2 - Elise Sophia

3 - Hannah Sophia

I am wondering;

1 - Will Elin be mispronounced? (I am assuming most people would pronounce it Eee-Lin which is the way I would want it, not Ellen) Will she be forever correcting people on how to say her name???

2 - We are not of Scandinavian background, is it strange using Elin as a FN?

3 - Would you spell Elin differently?

4 - Are my second and third choices more solid and hassle free?

I appreciate the feedback!

bbiutmcph · December 2015

Love Elin!

Our friends are Scandinavian and named their daughter this. They have very few issues and if so its a one time correction that people get. I would certainly not spell it differently. I would assume you had heritage ties with the name but I guess it's not a deal breaker although I personally wouldn't use it without ties. Hannah Sophia is my second pick.

TheBorg7of9 · December 2015

When I saw that name, I did pronounce it as "Ellen"

SmrBrd2012 · December 2015

I think it will get mispronounced a lot. It also reminds me of the Tiger Woods scandal. It might be a stretch but it's just what I'm thinking! I think your other two options are just as nice as well as hassle free in terms of pronunciation.

MamaWren919 · December 2015

I like Elin and would have pronounced it correctly, but I see how many people would say Ellen instead (probably assuming it was a yooneek spelling). Elise and Hannah are beautiful and definitely more hassle free.

Knottie1442268460 · December 2015

Love it. Clearly ee -Lynn!

keri0426 · December 2015

Elin Josephine is beautiful! Not having Scandinavian ties I don't think is a big deal. It is like if I were to name my child Anthony without Italian ties, who cares? Like PP stated people may mispronounce but it would be a one time thing. I know someone who names their daughter this and I did think Ellen at first but now I know.

Sarcasm101 · December 2015

I love Elin, but I am 100% Swedish so the name is pretty normal to me.

ETA: However it does remember me to Tiger Woods' ex wife who hit him with a golf club.

Aspen1223 · December 2015

I thought Ellen when I saw it and thought you were just being creative with the spelling. If I saw Elynn I would not think Ellen but E-Lynn. It's a really pretty name. I like your other choices as well.

klirwin82 · December 2015

Would never think people would pronounce it Ellen, English pronunciation rules dictate that without a double consonant following it, the first vowel will be long. I would think people pronouncing it Ellen have a hard time with reading in general.

I like it. Go for it.

penelope4612 · December 2015

klirwin82 said:

Would never think people would pronounce it Ellen, English pronunciation rules dictate that without a double consonant following it, the first vowel will be long. I would think people pronouncing it Ellen have a hard time with reading in general. I like it. Go for it.

This may be technically true, but it's not consistently true in the English language.

How do you pronounce:

Eliot?

Eric?

Elephant?

Exam?

Edible?

Edit?

Educate?

Etc.

JenK008 · December 2015

Thanks for the opinions! I will have to keep thinking on it, but I maybe leaning more toward option 2 or 3 now.

JadaBlue · December 2015

I think Elin is lovely and would just require a one time correction. Hardly worth abandoning your favorite over IMHO. Good luck!

Sassenach1743 · December 2015

Elin is a very nice name but I definitely thought to pronounce it 'Ellen' so yes, I think it will be mispronounced quite often. I also (personally) wouldn't use a name that I didn't have cultural/ethnic ties to.

Honestly, of the names you listed... I really like Elise Josephine the best.

LCRbelle · December 2015

As most have said my first reaction is to pronounce it Ellen. If you don't mind correcting people I'd say, go for it.

tripledaggerWed95976 · December 2015

When I saw it I pronounced it as Ellen. I would have only initially pronounced it the other way if it was spelled Eelin.

tripledaggerWed95976 · December 2015

klirwin82 said:
Would never think people would pronounce it Ellen, English pronunciation rules dictate that without a double consonant following it, the first vowel will be long. I would think people pronouncing it Ellen have a hard time with reading in general.

I like it. Go for it.

@klirwin82
I find your comment very rude, and I'm hoping that you weren't honestly suggesting that those of us who pronounced it Ellen have a "hard time reading." Before you decide to make a blanket statement about people's reading comprehension maybe first refer to the fact that more than half of the posters said they would pronounce it "Ellen".. Or does that just mean we ALL "have a hard time with reading in general"?

TheFlannagans92014 · December 2015

I absolutely love Elin, and she would share a name with a fantastic current author (Elin Hilderbrand)! I wouldn't have thought to pronounce it as Ellen.

g8trkim · December 2015

Love Elin! But yes I do think people will mispronounce it. I don't think it would stop me from using it. I don't think the descent thing should matter either. Please don't spell it a different way.

daystardreams · December 2015

I knew the pronounciation but only because of Tiger Woods' ex-wife. I like it though!

libby+nate · December 2015

Ditto knowing pronunuciatio due to Tiger Woods scandal BUT that doesn't bother me. It's a nice name. I say go for it and I love Josephine

nurse714 · December 2015

I'm another one that only knew the pronunciation due to the Tiger Woods scandal.
Elin Josephine is nice.

little_bren · December 2015

The only Elin I've heard of is Tiger's scorned ex wife. Also the only reason I knew it wasn't "Ellen" mispronounced. Elin Josephine sound nice together though.

southerngirlgetsfit · January 2016

I love it! The only reason we aren't using it is because DH doesn't love it.

Knottie1442268460 · January 2016

Love it!
Elin (ee-Lynn)
I didn't think of tiger woods.

LizaKate1213 · January 2016

I love the sound of it but to your question about an alternative spelling, maybe consider Elyn? Might decrease the mispronunciations. Not sure if that would be considered "speshul" or not.

cortney227 · January 2016

I think it would prob get mispronounced a fair bit in the U.S.--especially now that everyone is creatively spelling names. I can see people assuming you were trying out a new way to be special with the name Ellen.

That being said its a beautiful name and other than roll call the first day of school how often is a name being read out loud and butchered? Usually you tell people your name before the see it on paper.

vilaro · January 2016

I love the name Elin. It will get mispronounced often, so if that bothers you, it's something to really think about. Strong Skandinavian ties to that name but if you love it, go for it. It's not that big of a deal.

jenniferamcooper · January 2016

I went to school with an Elinh who was Vietnamese. Personally I love the name.

jennyenny323 · January 2016

We have an Elin (she'll be 4 next week). Her name gets mispronounced quite a bit, but we don't mind because we love it. Everyone else loves her name too when they hear it. Her middle name is Grey.

alcrimmins · January 2016

I like the name, but when I was reading the original post I stopped b/c I wasn't sure if it was pronounced E.lin or El.in. I do instantly think of Tiger's ex and she's beautiful! Go for it if you like it!

BlueJuice · January 2016

I also mispronounced it in my head, but as long as you don't mind a one-off correction now and then, I think it's a lovely name and wouldn't hesitate to use it, heritage notwithstanding.

KaLikeAWind · January 2016

I'm another who knew the pronunciation because of Tiger Woods. Me personally, I wouldn't use it without having some sort of Scandinavian tie. Specifically because of the spelling / pronunciation issue. When people see it spelled out, they may mistake as Ellen. When they hear it verbally, they may still also mistake as Ellen, at first. Either way, you're going to get a lot of people who go "huh. That's an interesting name. How'd you find / choose it?" To which you'll reply "its Scandinavian". And then they'll ask "Oh, you're Scandinavian?" And you're like..."no..."
I just think its a name that will start conversation about it, which isn't a bad thing, but you may be constantly having to admit it isn't part of your heritage. Maybe not, but I think it will be a common enough occurrence.

For that reason, I'd go with Elise. I like it better anyway. Tho other than the potential weirdness over heritage, I like Elin ok.

WildWhat · January 2016

Love Elin and definitely think it's well enough known that most people will pronounce it correctly. If not, one simple correction will do the trick!

Jessie42613 · January 2016

klirwin82 said:
Would never think people would pronounce it Ellen, English pronunciation rules dictate that without a double consonant following it, the first vowel will be long. I would think people pronouncing it Ellen have a hard time with reading in general.

I like it. Go for it.

Ruuuuuuuude.

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