Help me out... with pronunciation!

Hey everyone!

First a little background. I’m 12 weeks pregnant (yes, roll those eyes) and we do not know the sex of our baby. We do, however, have names picked out. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I have agreed on our boy name for a couple years now, and just recently decided (although still tentative on my part) on a girl’s name.

Of course, now that I think more and more about actually HAVING a baby, it’s even more meaningful to me to figure out what the heck we’re going to name him/her.

Which leaves me with lots of questions, most especially about our long-ago picked boy’s name.

[name_m]Alaric[/name_m]. And not the fancy ‘original’ version of the pronunciation, either, but the sinfully wrong “Uh-Lar-[name_m]Ric[/name_m]”.

And therein lies my question. There isn’t a chance in the world I’m going to name my baby “[name_m]Al[/name_m]-A-[name_m]Ric[/name_m]”, no sir. And I think, being Americans, and living in the midwest (where we watch scandalous television shows) most people would say what I’ll refer to as my version of [name_m]Alaric[/name_m].

Is using the ‘incorrect’ pronunciation wrong? Have any of you known any Alarics, and how did they pronounce their name? Also, I just wanted to point out again, we did choose this name before TVD and said it then the same way we say it now, just like they do on the show, “Uh-Lar-[name_m]Ric[/name_m]”.

What do you think?

PS: I’m not so good with that whole “write out what you hear” stuff so if you are having problems even knowing what I’m talking about I’ll try to clarify more.

Oh, and also…
[name_m]Alaric[/name_m] [name_m]Josiah[/name_m], possible nicknames being [name_m]Ric[/name_m] and [name_f]Lark[/name_f].

Well, I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] the name [name_m]Alaric[/name_m]. I do watch TVD though so of course i would pronounce it the same way you would. [name_m]Alaric[/name_m] [name_m]Josiah[/name_m] is so nice I would use it in a heartbeat. As far as I know the name was pretty unheard of before TVD and I don’t think you will have too many problems with it being mispronounced or misspelled.

Well, names are ever changing and constantly evolving so you’d not be the first one to alter the pronunciation of a name:) However, your preferred pronunciation seems a bit… backwards to me and not very intuitive. On the other hand, I live in a completely different part of the world and as you say, your version might be the intuitive where you live so it might work out totally fine. Best of luck! :slight_smile:

I naturally pronounced it uh-la-ric aswell . (I’m not from the US) I like the name and if you are worried about the pronunciation, I don’t think it will be too much of an issue…I don’t think you think it would be an issue either by the sound of things!

As an American from the midwest, I’m not sure you’d get the pronunciation you’re looking for.

We have an [name_m]Alaric[/name_m] at my son’s school, and he’s [name_m]AL[/name_m]-uh-rik, the pronunciation I think you don’t want. (First syllable emphasized and sounding like [name_f]Alison[/name_f] or [name_m]Alan[/name_m], and a soft, short “uh” in the middle.) I don’t know what TVD is, so I don’t know how widespread that character’s influence would be, but “Uh-Lar-[name_m]Rik[/name_m]” is unintuitive to me, and I would never guess your preferred pronunciation on my own. [name_m]Even[/name_m] before meeting a RL [name_m]Alaric[/name_m], I figured it was “[name_m]AL[/name_m]-uh-rik.”

Opting for a non-traditional pronunciation can be a risky choice, particularly if you really dislike the traditional one.

I’d pronounce it [name_m]Al[/name_m]-ar-ic. You’re probably going to have to correct people for awhile, which is something to consider.

I think it sounds like a lovely name… I however am not from the Midwest and have no idea what the show is you’re talking about I don’t watch tv lol. But I would pronounce that [name_m]Alaric[/name_m]
Uh La [name_m]Rick[/name_m], I know someone named [name_f]Lark[/name_f] that’s a great name too :slight_smile: if you’re worried about association and its really bothering you and you can’t see the baby when you think of that name you could always give him a different first name and he could have these as a middle name :slight_smile:

Congratulations :slight_smile:
I love [name_m]Alaric[/name_m]! I pronounce it [name_m]Al[/name_m]-a-ric, but I like either pronunciation

I thought it was uh-LAIR-ic or uh-LAH-ric for a long time before learning it was [name_m]AL[/name_m]-uh-ric. I think you can pronounce it the way you like, especially considering that pronunciation is already in use. It is uncommon enough in the US that people will likely follow your lead anyway, i think.

Thanks so much, everyone! This has definitely helped ease my mind. [name_f]My[/name_f] DH and I are both pretty set on this name (although the rest of our family will just have to get used to it!) and I do fully understand that our pronunciation is not the traditionally ‘correct’ one. I think I am super checking everything because this is our first, and I really don’t want to screw it up.

I am also pretty appreciative that not very many of you know anyone with this name, which is something personally I’m going for. I know that no matter what name we choose for our child someone somewhere will have an opinion, especially if we choose to use an ‘incorrect’ pronunciation.

One thing to keep in mind is that the name is slowly growing in popularity. If, for whatever reason, it takes off and is pretty popular in the next 5 years, you may resent not using the correct pronunciation.

I’m an American in the Northeast… I’d say [name_m]Al[/name_m]-a-ric. (the correct way) It just seems intuitive to me, and I wasn’t aware that there was any other pronunciation. If you want uh-lar-ric, I go with
[name_m]Ulrich[/name_m]
That way you are avoiding the TVD references, and it’s much more obvious how you want the first vowel to sound. [name_m]Ulric[/name_m] is also an accepted spelling, if you don’t like the -ch. However, I would strongly encourage you towards [name_m]Ulrich[/name_m] as your best option.
[name_m]How[/name_m] cool would it be for your baby’s name to start with U?! He’d be the only one wherever he went, yet it’s a historical and dignified name! :slight_smile:

[name_f]Fancy[/name_f] original? We’re talking about ‘[name_m]AL[/name_m]-a-rik’/‘[name_m]AL[/name_m]-uh-rik’ right? (short a like cat)

Yes. And it feels like you know it too just from reading this sentence :confused:

I think what I’m saying is, that if you hate the correct pronunciation this much then I’d avoid using the name altogether.

I thought it was pronounce “uh-lair-ick” like rhymes with [name_m]Eric[/name_m]… I am still not certain how it is properly pronounced, I have a hard time understanding other people’s phonetic breakdowns :frowning:

edited- nvm i found a recording of the correction pronunciation :wink: I get it. but I like the way I was saying it better, darn.

Eeh, I think it’s a bit like pronouncing [name_f]Niamh[/name_f] as [name_m]NYE[/name_m]-am. It doesn’t reflect well, if you know what I mean. Particularly if you actually do know the correct pronunciation, but are choosing to ignore it. I mean, it’s obviously not as bad as [name_f]Niamh[/name_f]=[name_m]NYE[/name_m]-am, but it’s the same kind of thing as I see it.

I’m from the Midwest and would have pronounced it [name_m]AL[/name_m]-uh-rick. However, I prefer your pronunciation and do like the name. Its the kind of name that is going to be pronounced differently by different people. I say pronounce it the way that you want, especially if its in trend with a tv character. Also I love [name_f]Lark[/name_f] as a nickname.

According to behind the name the English pronunciation is: [name_m]AL[/name_m]-ə-rik
However, I too prefer [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-LAHR-ic and would pronounce it that way. Honestly I think I might even smooth the two and say Ahl-ARE-ic. However, I don’t think the differences between the variants are so great that it’s really an issue where someone is going to point out to you that you are “doing it wrong”. (For those who know me this is weird because I definably say [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] and [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] differently and insist on spelling them the way they sound).

However, I do love [name_m]Alaric[/name_m] and would have kept it on the top of my list if my DH and I hadn’t systematically decided against A names. (We both have names that start with A - it would have to be all or nothing and I don’t like enough A names.)

In [name_m]German[/name_m] I’d pronounce it A-LAH-ric but it’s really not used here and only intuitive.
The emphasis isn’t that huge on the second syllable but I definitely don’t say ALL-la-ric.

[name_m]Ulrich[/name_m] / [name_m]Ulric[/name_m] would only be UL-ric, has one less syllable and the emphasis clearly on the UL.
However let us assume the name would be Uluirch or Ularich, my emphasis would naturally wander to the second syllable.