[name_m]Hi[/name_m] nameberries, I need your help! I had to cross off my list my very favorite baby name [name_f]Giselle[/name_f] because after asking around I realized most people pronounce this the American way, “Jih-[name_m]ZELL[/name_m]” wheras I only knew about the spanish pronunciation “Jih-SELL”. I really dislike the American pronunciation. I have been struggling ever since to find a name I love as much and that works for us and can’t find one and am at my witts end! I’m going to ask about this one more time before I give it up for good.
Could you be trained to say Jih-SELL if I explained it to you? If I spelled it [name_f]Gisel[/name_f] or Ysel, would that help separate it from the name most people know “[name_f]Giselle[/name_f]” with the pronunciation Jih-[name_m]Zel[/name_m]?
I don’t know. I feel like spelling it not [name_f]Giselle[/name_f], in the US, people would be confused as how to say it, you’d tell them Jih-SELL…and then they’d probably still call your baby Jih-[name_m]ZELL[/name_m]. Honestly I think it would be less confusing to spell it [name_f]Giselle[/name_f] so you’d only have to deal with pronunciation instead of pronunciation and spelling.
I don’t think the [name_f]Gisel[/name_f] spelling would work—if people assumed it was an alternate spelling of [name_f]Giselle[/name_f], they’d probably just pronounce it the way they pronounce [name_f]Giselle[/name_f]…or else they might try to rhyme it with “chisel.”
I think you’d have better luck coaching people to pronounce it correctly. And if [name_f]Giselle[/name_f] introduced herself with the pronunciation you prefer, hopefully people would latch onto that!
Ok, you’re both probably right that changing the spelling wouldn’t help. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think people could be coached to use an alternate pronunciation than the one they are used to? I realize it may be hard for some people to hear the difference between the S and Z sound.
I would think if you spell it [name_f]Gisele[/name_f], it would get the pronunciation you want. That’s how I would say it upon first seeing it spelled this way.
I automatically pronounce [name_f]Giselle[/name_f] as Jih-[name_m]Zell[/name_m].
however, if someone corrected me with the actual pronunciation, I’d have no problem switching over! I actually like the sound of Jih-sell a lot more. I think its beautiful.
I agree that [name_f]Gisele[/name_f] might get you closer to the pronunciation you want, but [name_f]Giselle[/name_f] could work to! [name_m]Just[/name_m] might have to correct people sometimes.
If that doesnt bother you much though, I think it’s a very pretty name.
(just in case this info helps, I live in [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m]! while I’d probably pronounce it wrong the first time, I’d have no issue hearing the difference between the ‘s’ & ‘z’ sounds.)
I’d say [name_f]Gisel[/name_f] like chisel with a G, so still a Z sound. [name_m]Just[/name_m] correct people with [name_f]Giselle[/name_f], that spelling is so much prettier.