My husband and I have both decided we like [name]Casimir[/name]. Hurray, we agree! I didn’t really think of pronunciation at first - I read it as “Kaz-i-meer” (short a and short first i, long e sound for the second i). [name]Cas[/name], like raspberry, imir like [name]Vladimir[/name] is commonly pronounced here. Neither my husband nor I are of Polish descent, we just like the name and the meaning. I am wondering now if I am pronouncing it “wrong” and if that would be an issue. I tried to look it up online and it sounded like if we were in Poland the vowels would be a little different - the a should be an “ah” and both the i’s should be “ee”, but it didn’t sound drastically different. I mentioned the name before and I know there were a few berries with relatives named [name]Casimir[/name]/[name]Kazimir[/name], etc., and I’m wondering how they pronounced it and if the way I was thinking sounds Anglicized or “wrong”. Or if any berries in Illinois (where I hear you celebrate [name]Casimir[/name] Pulaski [name]Day[/name]) are familiar with the way we commonly pronounce it in the states? Any scientists who discuss the [name]Casimir[/name] Effect? What I’m trying to figure out is if there is a “common” American pronunciation. I guess some exotic names just sound different because of accents, and some are actually changed because of different sounds in different languages. If I just sound like an American saying the name that’s fine, but I don’t want to butcher someone’s language. Maybe I’m over-thinking this, but I’d rather figure it out sooner than later if there is an issue.
Thanks!
In Chicago it’s traditionally pronounced “Caz-meer” or “[name]Cass[/name]-mir”. In Poland, I’ve heard it pronounced “Caz-ah-meer” and “Caz-ee-meer”. I can’t tell you which one is specifically correct, as the pronunciation depends as much on country/city as it does on region/neighborhood of the respective country/city.
I read it the same way you described it in original post. I can only imagine some people reading it would think [name]Cashmere[/name]. It’s bound to happen but should be tolerably infrequent.
It is pronounced Kaz-meer, you don’t pronounce the middle ‘i’. It was my grandfather’s name, he was Polish.
[name]Casimir[/name] is our boy name as well and I too have been on the hunt for proper pronunciation!
Wildrose, is the “a” in “Kaz” long or short? I do like Kaz-meer better than Kaz-eh-meer, so thanks for that.
My great grandfather was [name]Casimir[/name], so I could ask my grandmother, but we keep our name choice a secret until the birth, so I don’t want to ask because I’m afraid it would be obvious why I’m asking. I do know that my great grandfather’s nickname was [name]Cass[/name]. We’re planning to use Kaz as the nickname because that’s my husband’s name spelled backwards. (But the spelling of baby’s full name will be [name]Casimir[/name]… if baby is a “he”, that is!)
Thanks for this thread!
[name]Alison[/name]