We are thinking of naming our half-Japanese half-American girl Airi (pronounced eye-ree, not air-ee), which is Japanese. I foresee English speakers having a problem pronouncing this name, as it looks more like air-ee instead of eye-ree. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think this will cause issues?
[name_m]How[/name_m] else would you spell this so that the pronunciation is clearer? [name_f]Irie[/name_f]? I like the spelling of Airi better than [name_f]Irie[/name_f].
I have a Japanese name and have lived with many years of people mispronuncing it, and it’s not a big deal to me anymore since I just correct them and it’s fine from then on, especially since people are more culturally aware nowadays.
Airi is sweet and I’d stick with the traditional spelling. [name_f]Irie[/name_f] might get mispronounced less but it has completely different origins.
Airi could easily be corrected and since the ‘ai’ as an ‘eye’ sound features in very familiar names like [name_u]Kai[/name_u] and [name_f]Maia[/name_f], I think people would get used to it quickly.
Thank you! I think you’re right and we will likely go with Airi. But I keep seeing that [name_f]Irie[/name_f] means getting high in Jamaican or something to the effect of Hakuna Matata. I’ve literally never heard of this in my life but I’m not sure if I should be dissuaded from a name just because it sounds like something in another culture that I’m not a part of. But if enough people have that association I think it’s something we need to consider.
Does anyone else get the “high” vibe even if it’s spelled Airi?
I also love Airi and encourage you to keep the Japanese spelling. I definitely would not have the association of getting high if I heard it in real life. I’ve seen it spelled like ‘Eyrie’ before, which is the name of an eagle nest (or other large birds of prey). That doesn’t sound like a bad association to me since it’s like a safe haven.
There was a foreign exchange student from Japan I went to high school with named Airi. She was in my history class and on the first day of school the teacher went through the attendance list and when he got to her name he pronounced it as air-ee. She corrected him on the pronunciation of her name and from then on it was said correctly. Yes, people will probably mispronounce it, but all that has to be done is correct them and it should be enough. I love the name and would definitely use Airi, if I were you, rather than [name_f]Irie[/name_f].
I knew how to say Airi and don’t have any connection to Japan, but I’m not American, so I don’t know if that helps. Not a fan of changing the spelling to [name_f]Irie[/name_f] as that could be mispronounced, too.
I’ve never heard of the ‘high’ reference. I like Airi and I would go with Airi spelling, I don’t think it would be too hard to explain how to say it if need be.
I wouldn’t care whether people mispronounce it or not, once you correct them, they will know. Often times, I would have to correct my own name to people and it is extremely common. Airi is perfect and I pronounced it eye-ree first time seeing it. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if you spelt it as [name_f]Irie[/name_f], people could still mispronounce it as ear-ree or something else, so I wouldn’t change the spelling because of that, change the spelling because YOU want to. Anyway, Airi is prettier in spelling though.