I’ve never heard a native anglophone say [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] with a hard S.
I say to [name_f]AUD[/name_f]-ree
I alternate between English and [name_m]French[/name_m] pronunciation, so [name_f]AUD[/name_f]-ree and O-dre (?). I suck at writing down pronunciation, but that’s roughly how it sounds to me.
I still can’t hear a difference in these pronunciations, sorry. I’m from the deep South, though. We run a lot of our consonants together.
This is me! Some how, in my accent, “dr” sort of turns into djr, somehow. It happens with [name_m]Drake[/name_m], [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], drive, etc., etc. I don’t know, I think it may be one of those accent things where many Americans turn their crisp "T"s into more rounded "D"s, too. Like with [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] and [name_f]Hattie[/name_f] and [name_u]Mattie[/name_u], and I think it’s sort of hard to avoid, somehow? Like for me, the idea of lou-EE-sah is nice (although I do like the “Z” ending–[name_f]Luisa[/name_f] might get you closer to the pronunciation you’re wanting, though?), but I can’t make my mouth go from “oo” to “ee” without hitting the “W” in between. Same with the “d” sound to the “r” sound without the “j” sound getting in there. I don’t say oj-ree, though, without any hint of “D”. If that makes any sense? I think the “J” sound might just be a bit of a lazy way of saying it?
I appreciate all the feedback! I don’t understand how some of you don’t see a difference between a D and J sound, haha.
I think [name_f]Fiona[/name_f] is our best bet. I detest the J sound in [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], and can’t get past it!
Wow, never noticed before but I do pronounce it with a J. I’m Southern so it might be my drawl. It’s hard to say ‘aud-ree’; it comes out as ‘aw-jshree’. It’s odd because I have no problem saying [name_u]Andre[/name_u]; it doesn’t come out as ‘awn-jshray’ (but I have heard people pronounce it that way)