Hi I have an unusual phonetic question?

Names are exempt from rules of pronunciation (which aren't too reliable anyway.) A name is completely idiosyncratic and entirely under the control of the person named. Whichever way the person wants the name to be pronounced is the definitive way to pronounce it.

However, I will say that English speakers would tend to Anglicize this name as they do other foreign words. The long-term tendency would be for this name to be pronounced "ill-ee-AH-na."

I think this would happen because English resists long vowel sounds as initial syllables or in unaccented syllables maybe?

A lot of people who see the name written before they ever hear it pronounced are going to try to pronounce it "why-lee-AH-na.

During WW I, British and American soldiers pronounced the French town of Ypres as "wipers."

Whenever I see words or names that are obviously not English, I attempt to pronounce them for the original language. Even though I may be far off the mark with the pronunciation, I don't try to make it sound English.

My pronunciation of the name would be ee-lee-ah-na

Ylem Pronunciation

There really are no native English-language words or names that start with Y as a vowel sound, so there can be no rule. You just have to go by what is the pronunciation in the language of origin.

In French, the "Y" is called, "Igrek," literally Greek I, but in English it takes many forms, including sometimes being an "i" substitute. As a result, any rule for how to pronounce "Y" as the first letter is liable to have many exceptions. The best indicator is how the person whose name starts with "Y" pronounces it her or himself.