I pronounce them the same while others pronounce them the same.
Eg. I have two nieces named Kiana and Kianna, which is pronounced Key-ah-nuh, but seldom is Kiana called Key-aw-nuh while Kianna is not.
Correction: while others pronounce them differently.
Emily Elizabeth - That is why I wrote "-ana" and "-anna" not "ana" and "anna".
Lady Tabitha
Favorite Answer
Usually I do pronounce them differently. If the person introduces themselves as "key-AN-uh", though, and there name's spelled key-AW-nuh, then I'll say it the way they say it lol.
Rebecca*
It depends.
In Spanish, "ana" is pronounced "ON-ah." If I know a family is familiar with Spanish phonetics, or the name appears to be Spanish, I would say ON-ah when i see Ana or -ana.
However, it's used pretty frequently in English names interchangeably with Anna, and I know that. So if I see an English name in an English family, I tend to assume that -ana is the same as -anna. For example, Anabel, Liliana, etc.
Bottom line: I have a guess in my mind before I try to pronounce the name, and if I'm right, great. If I'm wrong, then I correct it and move on. But I recognize that people can pronounce them differently.
I would definitely pronounce Kianna as key-ANNA, while Kiana could potentially be key-ON-ah, or it could be key-ANNA as well. I would have to ask the person to be sure of the right pronunciation.
Yevgeni Yevchenko
In Spanish emphasis is at the end not the beginning of the word. My friend is a native Spanish speaker and a Professor of Spanish and pronounces the name ana like anna. Their family is from Spain and in Spain the language and accents are different than central/south America.
I think you pronounce it the way the owner of the name says you should otherwise it would be insulting to them and their family. Furthermore, many words in English and other languages are not always pronounced by some exact phonetic formula which can never be broken. English is flexible.
Ana originates from Hebrew not Spanish. Hebrew is an Afroasiatic language while Spanish or really Castilian is an endo-European language. Both lead to different results if you need to be technically precise. But it's not really a question with only two answers. There are probably many ways to prounounce the name if you consider all langauges and the passing of time. English is not rigid. There are no formulas or some oracle who decides.
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Ana Anna
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Different.
Anna=Ann-Uh
Ana=On-uh