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Nena - Pronunciation
How is Nena pronounced? It is listed as a variation of Nina, so is it pronounced the same or with a different first vowel? If it is pronounced differently than Nina, can you think of any names that end with the same sound (that Nena could be a nickname for)? The ones I found on a search for *ena names all seem to be pronounced like Nina. Thanks for your thoughts!
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I have a friend with this name. She is Croatian and pronounces it NAY-nah
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It was a popular name here (Croatia) in the 1970s and 80s. It started as a nn for Nevena, Nevenka and we pronounce it 'NEH-nah'.
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Thanks all for your comments... I heard this name in church yesterday, as the name of a little girl. It was pronounced NEH-nah as Profe Esteban says the Spanish word for 'baby girl' is pronounced. I'm not sure, but now I'm wondering if this is a nickname for this girl, perhaps from the Spanish word.
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In Portuguese it could be a nickname for Filomena, Madalena or Helena (in all of which -ena is pronounced sorta like ayna). I've never seen it used, but I'd say NAY-na.
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It's normally pronounced the same as Nina. However, I could see it being pronounced NAY-na too if that's how someone wanted to pronounce it. Some names that end in -ena that would be pronounced that way (AY-na) are Elena, Helena, Magdalena, Madalena, and Malena. There are a few others I saw when I searched for *ena that I think would be pronounced that way too, but wasn't sure.
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In Spanish, Nena means "baby girl", we pronounce it "NEH - nah" and it is not used as a girl name.
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