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I would pronounce Kehlani like Keilani. (kei-LA-ni)

Probably sort of in-between Kay-Lani and Keh-lani.
Thing is, it's not an actual genuine Hawaiian name; the eh combo doesn't appear in the Hawaiian language. So this is probably someone's attempt to sound Hawaiian, but I believe there are actual Hawaiian names Kailani (long i sound) and Kalani (ah sound) and probably Keilani, which would be the kay sound.

I would say eh (in my accent, eh is basically between a and ay but so close it's hard to distinguish anyway). That makes it seem like Kalani to me not Kailani (which I would say as kie not kay).

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If I was supposed to say ee or ie or ay, I imagine it would have been spelled differently or that Kehlani can correct me herself so that it's beyond doubt.

This message was edited 10/19/2024, 5:18 AM

As long as the stess is on the middle syllable, the first one will be essentially a neutral vowel, which means that you could imagine it looking like an e or an a - it will sound the same. Think of the a in Elizabeth!

I've heard it pronounced key lah nee too

I've heard it said kay-lah-nee, rhyming with Lonnie.

kay-LA-nee