Have you ever loved a name and then realized you were pronouncing it wrong?

When I was a kid, I read a book with a character named [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] in it, and I fell in love with the name – but I thought it was pronounced “THAY-lee-uh”. It was one of my all time favourite names for years and years, until in the past 5-ish years I realized the correct pronunciation is more like “TALL-ee-uh”, which I just don’t love. I still feel sad that “THAY-lee-uh” isn’t a naming option for my future daughter!

Anybody have any similar stories? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you just move on and forget about it, or did you try to create a new name that matched the pronunciation in your head? Alternatively, maybe you heard a name and loved the pronunciation, and then were taken aback when you learned how it was spelled?

Heloise. I pronounce it ‘Hell-oh-eez’ but I think it is actually ‘[name_f]Ell[/name_f]-oh-ezz’ like [name_f]Eloise[/name_f] with an ‘h’.
I also mispronounced [name_f]Thalia[/name_f], saying ‘Thall-ee-uh’ because I clearly don’t understand when the h’s are silent!

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Calliope. I loved it when I thought it was pronounced [name_f]Callie[/name_f]-ohp-ee. And I had the same experience with [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] too, although I actually prefer [name_f]Talia[/name_f]!

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Haha, yes! I recently discovered that [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] is generally pronounced like [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], which I don’t love. (I was saying it more like [name_f]Emily[/name_f]-with-an-a.) I don’t hate it now, but I certainly don’t love it with that pronunciation. :confused:

Haha I really like [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] as well - but I thought it was pronounced Thar-[name_u]Lee[/name_u]-Uh!

Evelyn - technically it can be pronounced this way and is for boys but growing up I always thought it was pronounced [name_f]Eve[/name_f]-[name_u]Lyn[/name_u] not [name_u]Ever[/name_u]-[name_u]Lyn[/name_u]. I still love it though

Amabel - growing up i thought this was pronounced am-a-bel and loved everything about this name, and then learned that it is pronounced Aim-a-bel which is how we get the name and pronunciation [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] and [name_f]Amy[/name_f] because [name_f]Amabella[/name_f] comes from the word ‘amiable’ again I’m still a fan but prefer the [name_u]French[/name_u] pronunciation [name_f]Amabelle[/name_f]/Amabella to Aimabelle

Esme - when I was younger I thought it was es-me and then learned it’s es-may

Endymion - I thought the Y and I were long vowels… turns out they’re short, and it just doesn’t have the same charm to it anymore :pensive:

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Calliope; I used to pronounce it [name_u]Cal[/name_u]-ee-OH-pee until I heard someone pronounce it [name_u]Cal[/name_u]-EYE-oh-pee. Was so disappointed :joy:

Same with [name_f]Imogen[/name_f], I always thought it was Ihm-OH-jen rather than its actual pronunciation IHM-uh-jen.

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I would put weird emphasis on the middle syllable of [name_f]Anthea[/name_f] to make it way more dramatic-sounding than it is. An-THEE-uh instead of AN-thee-uh. I think it sounds better the correct way.

I would also say one of my favorite names, [name_f]Aoife[/name_f], as “Eefie” instead of “Eefa”. Like [name_f]Anthea[/name_f], I like it the correct way.

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YES! [name_f]Clara[/name_f]! And [name_m]Jacoby[/name_m]!

I wasn’t really pronouncing them “wrong”, I was just using the British pronunciations that no one in the U.S. uses, so I was technically pronouncing them wrong in the U.S. But, yeah, “clah-ruh” over “clare-uh” and “jack-uh-bee” over “juh-ko-bee”.

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About 4 years ago, I loved [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] but thought it was pronounced im-uh-gen (gen with a hard G like in good) and then found out it was im-ih-jen which I thought sounded so stupid. Now I like the correct pronunciation much better and think the way I was pronouncing it before was just bizarre lol.

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Same, but just found out a few months ago the correct pronunciation actually is cal-ee-OH-pee. It’s pretty much just the US who pronounces it cuh-LYE-oh-pee (although I honestly much prefer that pronunciation over the correct one).

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I always thought it was Cahl-ee-oh-p. It would remind me of cantaloupe and I would always think “Why would anyone name their kid Cantaloupe?”. Thanks for setting me straight.

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:joy::joy::joy: that’s too funny!

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Lachlan

I called this guy Lak-lan for years and he was too shy to tell me that’s not how you say it. He was a friend of a friend who introduced him as that. I didn’t find out until I heard one of his parents say it differently.

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Isaiah. I thought it was ih-say-uh.

I’m so glad I’m not the only one!! I actually love the pronunciations of [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] (ihm-uh-jin) and [name_f]Calliope[/name_f] (cuh-LYE-uh-pee). I don’t know that I ever knew how to pronounce [name_m]Endymion[/name_m] or [name_f]Amabel[/name_f], so your guys’ guess would be as good as mine! It’s funny because some of these are definitely regional differences, like some people say that [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] are pronounced very differently, but they are exactly the same to me.

When I was younger, I met someone named [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f] and called her “sye-oh-ban”… I was very embarrassed when she corrected me, and I like the correct pronunciation much better!

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When I first met a [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f], I called her Shabang the first time I met her and was MORTIFIED. :joy:

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Me too! I still far prefer JACK-uh-bee.

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Wait, really? I was saying “ah-mah-belle” or “ahm-uh-belle”. Ugh, I don’t like ‘aim-a-bel’ at all.

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