I've never seen that name before. My guess would be See-anna. (Emphasis on 2nd syllable.) I hope he has fun!

Well, if he's patient and doesn't blurt out "hi Cieranna, I'm (xxx) - she'll surely introduce herself - he'll just have to listen carefully

I agree with Strawberry #1. But it's a very uncommon name. I've never seen it.

I've never seen it, either, but agree with Strawberry :-) Wishing your son loads of fun!

ähnlich wie Siena mit nn - SI-ENNA

My son will be leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow ...

Tell him it'll be hot as hell this weekend and it's supposed to be raining next week. :-)

I would also say See-anna.

And welcome to L.A. :-)

Thanks to all those who replied. Well. he's somewhere above the Atlantic ocean now; too late to pack the umbrella.

... and you worry...

Yeah...

Do you know the ethnicity of his host family?

-- EDIT: Sohn in der Zwischenzeit schon gelandet. Bienvenido a Los Angeles! --
(Der Name könnte auch Afrikanisch-Amerikanisch sein.)

El Buitre.... no worries - he is bigger and more able than you realize... and life is one big adventure

Yes, thanks, he's arrived ok and even coerced his host family to take him to an In and Out Burger straight from the airport. As you probably know, they don't exist in Europe and are arguably the best hamburger chain around; at least of the bigger ones. We loved it last time we were in California two years ago.

And it seems that the majority here was right, it's indeed "Cee-anna". The family are of caucasian ethnicity.

Glad to hear that he got there safe and sound, El Buitre!

Yes, glad your son arrived safely.

FYI, the new hamburger on the block is Five Guys' Burgers. It's an East Coast chain that has recently moved into Southern California. Many of my students say it is better than In n Out - so it must be really good.

In other news, just this weekend they tore down the oldest In n Out stand, the one in Baldwin Park (birthplace of In n Out).

Thanks, Robert, I just forwarded to him your suggestion about Five Guys' Burgers!

And thanks everone else, I didn't realize I sounded THAT worried. It's just his lack of concentration and tendency to mislay things - normal for an almost 16 years old.

Btw - do I need to put hyphens into "16-years-old"?

It depends.
-normal for an almost 16 year old (no hyphen, no "s")
-normal for an almost 16-year-old boy (hyphen, still no "s")

Manche behaupten, dass "Tommy's" (Tommy Burger = slang) das Beste in LA ist. Auf alle Fälle ist es eher ein typischer LA Burger Joint. "with everything" muss man seinen Burger bestellen.

#15: ... normal for being almost/nearly 16 years old.

ginge auch, mMn.

Tommy's is good if you like chili. (I do) But it is as much about the experience as the food, so you have to go to the original stand at the corner of Beverly and Rampart in LA - preferably on a Friday or Saturday night when lots of people are there.

Dann ist es schon am schönsten (Fr., Sa. auf Nacht), aber ich würde es nicht unbedingt empfehlen. Nicht wirklich die beste Gegend, und auch nicht für 16-Jährigen. Am Tag, warum nicht, mit Gastfamilie. ;-)

You're right about the location. (A group of us used to go there after volunteering at the LA Rescue Mission on Saturdays - even as a group of adults we weren't always comfortable.)

If you're going for the food, then there are other locations to choose from.
http://www.originaltommys.com/tommy_loctions.php