The Baby Name Wizard

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Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Alannah!

Comments and insights on the name Alannah: | Edit

My almost 18 year old daughter is named Alannah (pronounced a-LAN-ah). I love her name and chose it because it was unusual, feminine and difficult to shorten into a nickname. My daughter loves her name, too, so I think we hit the jackpot. She attends a high school of two thousand students and there is not another girl named Alannah.

Personal experiences with the name Alannah: | Edit

My name is Alannah. My mother is of Irish descent and wanted to give me an Irish name. One of the pronounciations for Alannah is A-LAN-na. I like the the sound of this pronounciation- it sounds nice and soft. I have lived in South Australia my whole life and unfortunately people here, almost always, pronounce Alannah so it sounds like A-LAR-na...very hard and grating name to my ears! People here hear the "a-n" sounds in Alannah as the "ar" sound when I say my name.

South Australians use the "long a" as opposed to "short a" e.g. words like graph (gr-ar-ph), chance, demand, dance. So if you live in a city which uses the same phonology as South Australia BEWARE- I would not recommend calling your child Alannah if you want it pronounced A-LAN-na. Even so, it doesn't matter where you live- it's just one of those names which can be pronounced various ways so you can't count on it that people will say it 'your' way. It can also look like Alannah (or Alana) and be pronounced like a-lay-na. or al-an-a

My boyfriend has a friend called Grant and he complains that people in South Australia pronounce his name gr-arn-t instead of gr-an-t. He shares the exact same frustration as me.

Nicknames for Alannah: | Edit

Alie
Lanny
Lulu
Lannah
Lan
Lu
Liggles
Aggles
Lou
Lana

Meanings and history of the name Alannah: | Edit

I'm Irish and living in Ireland, and the name "Alannah" does NOT mean "little rock". It comes from the Irish term of endearment for "O child" or "A leanbh" in the Irish language. "Bh" in Irish is always a "V" sound, but in some parts of Ireland it's silent. So "A leanbh" is pronounced "a-LAN-av" in Ireland, but the name has actually ended up as just "A lanah" the "bh" or "v sound" at the end not being pronounced in the Christian name. The emphasis should be on the "lan" part of the name, as in "a- LAN-ah

Famous real-life people named Alannah: | Edit

Alannah Myles (Singer)
Alannah Hill (Fashion Designer)

Alannah in song, story & screen: | Edit

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