See the results of this poll: Which do you prefer?
Respondents: 37 (This poll is closed)
- Graham: 23 (62%)
- Graeme: 14 (38%)
I voted for [name]Graeme[/name] because I’m also drawn to this spelling and pronunciation. However, I have to say that [name]Graham[/name] would be the easiest and less annoying version for your child. I’m all for educating people about appropriate and legitimate spellings but … I don’t know. I guess I’m not helping much, am I?
I voted for [name]Graeme[/name]. It just seems the most “proper” and authentic spelling. Although, honestly, I would probably wuss out and spell it [name]Graham[/name] b/c it is most common in [name]America[/name].
Either way, the name is fantastically handsome!
Best-
[name]Tara[/name]
[name]Graeme[/name] looks like it would be pronounced “[name]Gray[/name]” “Me”.
I would have no idea how to pronounce [name]Graeme[/name]…
I haven’t voted, because i’m not sure.
I think on paper i do prefer the spelling [name]Graeme[/name] - however, would always instinctively spell [name]Graham[/name] as [name]Graham[/name]. Contradictory i know. Maybe thats because [name]Graham[/name] is the more popular spelling and thus [name]Graeme[/name] looks a little fresher x
[name]Graeme[/name] looks to me like it would be Graym, one syllable. Looks like you’ll have trouble with that spelling outside of [name]Britain[/name].
I voted [name]Graeme[/name]. It’s purely a choice of what looks better for me, because in Australia both are pronounced with two syllables ([name]GRAY[/name]-uhm). I’m definitely not a fan of the one syllable pronunciation.
Thank you for the opinions! Another question now. If I spelled it [name]Graham[/name] and pronounced it [name]GRAY[/name]-uhm and lived in the US, would that make sense? Or would it sound pretentious?
I couldn’t agree more.
I voted for [name]Graham[/name]. I personally have been loving this name for the last little while. I would use [name]Gray[/name] as a nickname myself. I think [name]Graham[/name] is the better choice. [name]Graeme[/name] just looks way to trendy in a trying to hard kind of way. [name]Graham[/name] is classic and you really don’t hear it a lot.
I dont know that it would sound pretentious, but you would have to correct people a lot. You might try spelling it a new way to get that same sound. Like “Greham”, “Greyem”, “Greyum”, or “Greyam” (or something else to achieve the same sound). If you didn’t mind correcting people often, then I’d say go with the standard “[name]Graham[/name]”.
PS. I lived in [name]London[/name] for about 6 months and have a friend there called [name]Graham[/name] (pronounced [name]Grey[/name]-em) and I thought it was a wonderful name! :o)
Honestly, I don’t think it will make that much of a difference. It sounds similar enough and the people closest to you will only need to be told once or twice to pronounce it the correct way. Once he’s old enough to respond to his name, your family and close friends will be able to pronounce it the way you want. As for school, people will pronounce it as one syllable and just correct them. Either they’ll get it or they won’t. It’s not like you’re naming him [name]Graham[/name] and trying to pronounce it some off-the-wall way like Jrah-m.
Unfortunately, I think you’ll have a really hard time getting other Americans to pronounce the name with two syllables. It would definitely sound pretentious, in my opinion. [name]Graeme[/name] would be very confusing to people, and I think you’d end up with some scary mispronunciations.
I prefer the traditional spelling of [name]Graham[/name]. My name is not spelled the traditional way and I’ve had a hard time with that all my life…no one spells it right and it would be so much easier if I had a traditional spelling. I agree with some of the other posts that most people won’t know how to pronounce [name]Graeme[/name]…kind of looks like it could be pronounced “Grammy.”
I prefer [name]Graeme[/name], just because I know a couple Graemes, and I met a [name]Graham[/name] once and didn’t know how to pronounce it. (I was kind of younger) I thought it was pronounced like [name]Gram[/name] or Grah-[name]Ham[/name], but thats just me…
Personally I prefer [name]Graeme[/name]. [name]Every[/name] [name]Graeme[/name] I’ve known (a few) spelt it that way with [name]Graham[/name] more commonly used as a last name. But I’m English and pronounce it gray-um so…