I find that Princess Anne is the least fussy of all the Queen’s children, and Anne definitely raised the least fussy of the Queen’s grandchildren. Zara and Peter Phillips don’t have titles, but they were still raised as royal-adjacents. Being royal-adjacent has some perks: you’re still in the line of succession, just very far down. You get invited to fun royal family stuff (like weddings) but you don’t have to attend the dull stuff (endless memorial services). You also get to have fun with names. I’ve always thought it was so cool that Anne named her daughter “Zara,” an unexpectedly exotic name from the unfussy princess. Zara in turn named her first daughter something very common: Mia. A simple, pretty and popular name, but the name fits the little girl so well. Her full name, for the record, is Mia Grace Tindall.
Well, Zara and Mike Tindall welcomed their second daughter a few weeks ago, and it was just a really nice piece of news: Zara had a devastating miscarriage in December 2016, but she carried to term with this pregnancy and gave birth to a very big and healthy baby. And now we have a name!
Introducing Lena Elizabeth Tindall! After welcoming their second child on June 18, Zara and Mike Tindall announced the name of their newborn daughter on Wednesday — and she shares a middle name with her great-grandmother!
The newest addition to the royal family is the seventh great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth and the fourth grandchild for Princess Anne, the Queen’s daughter. The new baby is 19th in line for the throne.
Lena Elizabeth fits well with Mia Grace. If Zara was a princess or a duchess, I doubt she would be allowed to name her daughters such popular names. The only surprise I have here is that Zara didn’t fit her mother’s name in there at all, but did you know Zara’s middle name is Anne? It’s true. Lena Anne would have sounded nice, but it’s also touching that Zara would use her grandmother’s name.
Also: Mike Tindall wants us to know how they’re going to pronounce “Lena.”
Pronounced like Lay-na
— mike tindall (@miketindall13) June 27, 2018
Which is unexpected! I was saying Lee-na to myself this whole time, because that’s how every Lena I’ve ever met pronounces her name. But Lay-na? Interesting.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Is it pronounced like in German?
I didn’t know Lena was supposed to be Lee-na until I heard Lena Dunham’s name being pronounced.
“until I heard Lena Dunham’s name being pronounced.”
Dont say it three times in a row.
But seriously I heard that version too. Its not really “Lay” but like “Lehnaa”, the “e” like in “pet”.
Found a youtube video pronoucing it in a german way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1veOJ_M7cs
In German we pronounce the first syllable of Lena like the ‘Le’ in the English word leprechun with the ‘e’ slightly prolonged (ˈleːna).
So as a German I can’t explain, why they would opt for this pronounciation.
We learned during Education that it is often pronounced that way in the United States
It’s the way the French would pronounce it. Léna. Prettier name than Leeena. It’s the way I’d also pronounce it in my head
That is how we pronounce Léna in French.
Well I’ve lived in parts of the US South where it’s pronounced “Lee-ner” so at least it’s not that.
Yes, Lay-na is pretty close to the German pronounciation.
Mia Grace is such a common first name-middle name combo in the UK, it’s everywhere.
Perhaps it’s an USA thing, but in the UK, where I work/live every (admittedly rare) Lena I’ve met has pronounced it “Lay-na”, similar to the way I pronounce it (I’m from Latin America).
Lena Elizabeth is a sweet name and goes with Mia Grace perfectly.
My old Italian grandmother’s name was Elena (middle name Marie), and she was called Lena (LAY- na). She would have gotten a kick out of this. Her daughter (my aunt) named her own daughter Marie-Elena, and she’s also called Lena. I never had kids, but when I thought I might, Elena with Lena for short was right up there!
My daughter’s name is Elena, Lena (LAY-na) for short! She is named after my husband’s grandmother 🙂
Safe to say I’m a big fan of the name!
I’m Italian, and love the name Elena. As the Italian language is phonetic, there is only one way to pronounce the letter “e”,and it is always pronounced “eh” as in *egg*, so, rather than “Lay-na”, Italians would say “Leh-na”. My sister is called Lina, but not as in Leeena. The “i” is short, as in *ink*. Moot point, because in her case, Lina is short for Michelina.
Yay! Do you think royals (from her rank) have any influence on how people name their children? Will this mean a lot more Lena named this way in the UK this year?
I would highlight that Zara Philips absolutely could have been a Princess had her mother chosen that route for her. Princess Anne’s children have just as much right to be Prince and Princesses as the Princesses Eugenia and Beatrice.
Being Britt, I feel sorry for anyone who has to constantly pronounce and spell their name for people daily. My children are Hunter and Ruby. We also have to spell and pronounce our surname.
I think if it’s Lena pronounced Lay-na, people are going to get it wrong always. Maybe not because she’s the Queen’s great-granddaughter but still. It’s quite annoying when people call you you Bridgette or Chris or Bright…
Funny that the Queen’s only male great-grandchildren so far are from Will and Kate. Lots of cute little girls!
Fun fact regarding Zara’s name, since it was mentioned in the article: Prince Charles is said to be the one who suggested it to Anne.
I like the name but also say “lee-na.” Oh well, I’ll adjust, lol.
Looking forward to seeing Mike and Anne around these two little girls. Anne especially softens up around her passel of little granddaughters.
Grace is the meaning of the name Anne.
Hot damn, I would love to be “royal-adjacent” lol
I’ve literally never heard it pronounced that day, but eh. Just lots of headaches when she’s dealing with American, lol.
Well, Mia is pronounced “Mye-a” rather than “Mee-a,” so they clearly like that sort of thing.
Wow, I had no idea they were pronouncing Mia as Meye-a. I love Lena if it’s pronounced Layna. Lovely couple and beautiful family.
Who actually supports this family? Are they recipients of royal funding or from Anne? Live off what they earn? Just wondering how it works this far down the line.
Actually, no. He clarified that a couple of days ago on twitter. From the Hello story about it:
‘Mike Tindall has revealed how you really pronounce his daughter Mia’s name – after years of uncertainty as to whether it’s ‘My-a’ or ‘Me-a’. In response to a fan who questioned the correct pronunciation, asking, “And Mia is My-ah, right … not Mee -ah?” Mike wrote: “No Mia is Me-a.” He also confirmed the right way to say new baby daughter Lena’s name, saying, “Pronounced like Lay-na.” Mike and his wife Zara Tindall welcomed their new little girl on 18 June, at Stroud Maternity Unit.’
I stand corrected, nota! I had always been informed that it was My-a.
The posh like having pronounciations that bear no relation to the words as they would normally be pronounced in Britain by English speakers, just like Cholmondeley (pronounced “Chumley”), Featherstonehaugh (“Fanshaw”), Marjoribanks (“Marchbanks”), Brougham (“Broom”), and Beauchamp (“Beecham”) 😉
Sooooo pretentious to name her Lena instead of Layna IMO
Our prime minister here in New Zealand just had a baby girl and named her Neve – a beautiful Irish name phoenetically spelled so she will have an easier time, many people are not familiar with Celtic and would struggle with Niambh
Welcome, little Lena! I can get behind that pronunciation, maybe because I’ve studied French for so long that it seems natural to me. My kids all have very easy Celtic names and people still screw them up, so I won’t say anything about Zara and Mike’s choices in spelling.
Like Zara, I gave birth to an almost 10-lber. I was gigantic like Zara at the end of the pregnancy too LOL. Giant babies! Congrats to them
….recently Ive been thinking more along the lines of…’so many Royals jostling to get on the tax payer gravy train’…there should be a rule that whenever a new one joins ie Meghan someone else should be dropped ie the Wessexes….