This may be sort of a “can’t have your cake and eat it too” situation, but I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts!!
Essentially, I have fallen for the name [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] (pn exactly like [name_f]Ada[/name_f] and [name_f]Mary[/name_f] together, AE-duh mare-ee). She feels vintage, sweet, and is a great subtle honor for an [name_m]Adam[/name_m], who is a very close relative of mine
However, there’s a small issue with [name_f]Adamary[/name_f], and that is that there is a very good chance she may grow up in an area where (American) [name_f]English[/name_f] is not widely spoken, and the AE sound does not really exist.
Therefore, most people in these areas would likely pronounce it like ADD-uh-mare-ee.
To me, this sounds a little bit too much like [name_m]Adam[/name_m] and [name_u]Merry[/name_u] combined, and I don’t love it.
However, I do really enjoy the pronunciation Add-uh-muh-REE (Like [name_u]Adda[/name_u] and [name_u]Marie[/name_u] combined). I don’t like the spelling Adamarie (it just looks a little too cutesy), and since she’d have American family, I would want them to say her name like AE-duh-mare-ee rather than AE-duh-muh-REE
So I guess this is the question - could I spell the name [name_f]Adamary[/name_f], getting the AE-duh-mare-ee pronunciation in [name_f]English[/name_f] and the Add-uh-muh-REE pronunciation in the other language?
I think it really depends on the language! For example, in my language, most people would put the stress on the last syllable, but I think Greek (and something like French) is an exception in that aspect, and most languages wouldn’t.
Although I’m also wondering about the mare-ee sound? Most languages that don’t have an “ae” sound also don’t have an A pronounced like that. I would assume most Europeans, for example, would pronounce it add-uh-mar-ee, not add-uh-mare-ee. But again I don’t know the language you’re referring to so I can’t say!
As for using different pronunciations with different people (your American family vs other people in your area) I think that’s fine!
I think so I’ve met a few people who’ve had slightly different pronunciations of their names depending on who they’re with/what language they’re speaking.
I’d say it might be worth speaking to people around you/close to you, in America and the country where you are, to see how they’d say it, see how they’d respond to that?
It will depend a lot on the language you’re dealing with for sure! I think it’s fine if your name is pronounced differently in different contexts (our entire family has names that are pronounced differently in Finnish and [name_f]English[/name_f], for example, and I don’t find it to be much of an annoyance).
Speaking from experience though, it is hard if not impossible to fight people’s intuitive pronunciations of names in their own language, like even if they try to correct themselves, people tend to accidentally use the more intuitive pronunciation all the time (this is something I’ve come across both in my personal life and at work). So it comes down to whether or not you love [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] enough to deal with the pronunciation you’re not a fan of. You will be pronouncing it the way you like, and that might be enough for you to fully enjoy and appreciate the name, even if others pronounce it differently.
I think [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] is perfectly fine and it’s absolutely normal for a name to be pronounced differently depending on the country. [name_f]My[/name_f] daughter’s name is pronounced differently at school, by my family and by my in-laws since it’s all different languages. It has never been an issue.
I think it’s fine to have a name that’s pronounced differently in two different languages. I have bilingual/multicultural friends with whom I use the [name_f]English[/name_f] pronunciation of their name and when they are speaking with someone from another country, they use the native pronunciation of their name in that language.
I think there actually could be an issue if you insist on one pronunciation amongst all languages. As language learners, we acquire the ability to discriminate, distinguish, and produce certain sounds in our critical period of youth where we are picking up on language(s) for the first time. After this part of our childhood, most of us have acquired the sounds of the languages we hear and actually aren’t able to distinguish certain sounds in other languages, at least not without a lot of practice. This is why ESL speakers from native [name_u]East[/name_u] [name_f]Asian[/name_f] languages have a hard time with L and R sounds in [name_f]English[/name_f] - because these are not distinct in the languages they originally speak so they literally struggle to hear and produce a difference, even though it seems innate for us as [name_f]English[/name_f] speakers. Anecdotally, I went to college (in America) with a girl named [name_f]Ariadna[/name_f] who was from a Spanish-speaking country. She had a difficult time with her name because she insisted everyone pronounced it the Spanish way - but unfortunately, despite our best efforts, our American ears and tongues just could not produce the sounds the same way. I get her frustration, because her name is her name and she wanted it to be pronounced how it should be in her native language, but at a certain point it’s beyond the control of others when you’re in a place where those sounds are just different. I guess all that to say is that it’s perfectly fine to have one name pronounced differently in two places.
I know my name is pronounced differently: my family says UH-mih-thuh and everybody else says uh-MEE-thuh. It’s normal. It annoys me sometimes, but it’s not an issue.
I agree with @Luminen: it depends upon how much you love the name.
[name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I are from different parts of the uk. I’m from [name_u]West[/name_u] [name_u]London[/name_u] and he is from [name_u]West[/name_u] Lothian so 400 miles of a difference roughly. I would say TorTUSS and he says TorTOYSE and yet both of us are referring to the same animal. A friend of mine pronounces her name in her native tongue with an E sound as in eggs but most people in the uk that I’ve met instinctively pronounce it EE so [name_f]Evy[/name_f] sounds like [name_f]Evie[/name_f]. Depending on where you are and people’s native tongue names will always get pronounced differently.
You can definitely have two different pronunciations; however if an “ey” sound exists where you live, I still think you can use that pronunciation, especially if you have the American family background.
you’re gonna hate me … but on instinct [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] = ADD-uh-mair-ee and Adamarie = AY-da-muh-ree
I think because Adamarie registers as a smoosh name more than [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] does? either way, id be easily corrected and not surprised if I were to be. I totally understand having different pronunciations in different languages—ive thought about this myself with [name_u]French[/name_u] names. it makes sense to me!
This for me too. And to be even more exact, I actually I want to say [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] like Customary, but with [name_m]Adam[/name_m] in place of custom.
[name_f]My[/name_f] brain is breaking thinking about this. Wont she just introduce herself or you will with a certain pronunciation and then they will try to copy it as best they can? Im not sure the spelling matters much.
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I’ve met a few people who’ve had slightly different pronunciations of their names depending on who they’re with/what language they’re speaking.
… but on instinct [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] = ADD-uh-mair-ee and Adamarie = AY-da-muh-ree
This for me too. And to be even more exact, I actually I want to say [name_f]Adamary[/name_f] like Customary, but with [name_m]Adam[/name_m] in place of custom.