These are a handful of names that I really like, but am confused on the pronunciation.
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - is it [name_f]Claire[/name_f]-ah (like hair, dare, fair) or Clar-rah (like far, car, jar)
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] - I always pronounced it Is-o-belle, with the ‘o’ sound, however nameberry is saying you pronounce it exactly like [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] or [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], with the ‘a’ sound.
Zephryine - I’m uncertain if this is 1 syllable or 2? Zeph-er-in or Zeph-reen?
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] - I really like this name for boys, but is it pronounced [name_u]Bay[/name_u]-sil (like hay, day) or [name_m]Baz[/name_m]-il (like jazz)
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] - is it [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-vi (like see, bee, and high, sigh) or Leh-vy (rhymes with heavy)
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] - is it Nigh-o-me (like high, sigh) or Nay-o-me (like hay, day, say)
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] - is it pronounced like jail (pail, hail) or Yay-elle? Or [name_u]Jay[/name_u]-elle?
What do you guys thinks? I would really appreciate the clarification and your personal opinions. Does it matter if I pronounce it differently than how it “should” or “traditionally” is said? I would hate to lose a name I really like because I’ve been pronouncing it wrong
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] — claire-ah (rhymes with fair)
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] — the same as [name_f]Isabel[/name_f], iz-a-bell
Zephryine — zeph-reen
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] — bazz-il (my cousin has this name, otherwise I’d probably say it like the herb.)
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] — lee-vi
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] — nay-oh-mee
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] — jay-elle
I would say that the easiest thing to do for a child is to name them something and spell it/pronounce it the same way majority of people do. However, some of these names ([name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_m]Basil[/name_m], and [name_f]Naomi[/name_f]) have to do with accents.
I had this same question a while back and I still haven’t gotten an answer. I’ve decided it’s [name_f]Claira[/name_f], though Clar-uh a prettier
I’ve always pronounced it like [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]. Though we have a dog named [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] with a long I because my older sister insists its the correct Spanish pronuniation so what do I know.
Not sure. I learned recently that I’ve evidently been pronuncing [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] wrong so can’t help you. Zeph-we-in is prettiest though
I’ve always heard Bayz-ul
[name_u]Lee[/name_u]-vi
I’ve always heard Nigh-o-me
I think it’s a little like YAY-elle but I’m not sure on that. Supposedly in Hebrew J is pronunced like Y. I do know that [name_u]Yael[/name_u] is a different spelling.
I wouldn’t name a kid [name_u]Jael[/name_u] and mispronounce it because of how tied it is with Judaism. Names like [name_f]Clara[/name_f] or [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] are fine. I pronounce Anaxandra, [name_f]Alessandra[/name_f], and [name_f]Cassandra[/name_f] all “wrong” because I pronounce the “and” as “ond”
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - clar-rah. I know Americans who say clair-rah, but it’s strictly AR over [name_f]AIR[/name_f] where I am.
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] - is-O-bel, but I pronounce all [name_f]Isobel[/name_f]/[name_f]Isabel[/name_f] and its variants interchangeably from is-O to is-A. The syllable is said so quickly I don’t really notice either way.
[name_f]Zephyrine[/name_f] - zef-fer-een. [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] is pronounced zeffer, so it seems most logical to me.
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] - bah-zul. I think this, too, changes depending on location. I know the Outdaughtered family from [name_u]America[/name_u] pronounce it bay-zil (they call their child [name_f]Hazel[/name_f] [name_m]Basil[/name_m]).
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] - pronounced lee-vi, no ifs or buts here.
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] - I say nay-oh-me, don’t see how you’d get ‘nigh’ from ‘na’.
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] - it’s pronounced yah-el, it’s Hebrew where the J is Y.
ETA: I think as long as you are not butchering a name (e.g. calling a kid Saoirse and pronouncing it ‘say-orrs’ instead of ‘seer-sha’) or picking a name tied to a religion and pronouncing it wrong (I would find that to be offensive, may be wrong), then I think you’re fine. But I would always pronounce a name the way it is supposed to be because I think it comes across ill-educated.
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] is Leh-vy like Heavy
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] is [name_u]Jay[/name_u]-elle but Juh-el is how I say it. Some thing with [name_m]Basil[/name_m] I say it like Buh-seel
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - it has always been Clar-ah around me, I’d never even heard of it being said [name_f]Claire[/name_f]-ah until I spoke to some Americans on a different site. Like eoxima I am British, and that might be why it’s only ever been Clar-ah. I think Clar-ah is much nicer.
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] - I think it’s probably fairly close to how I would say [name_f]Isabel[/name_f]/[name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], but there’s definitely more of an O sound there. Like Is-oh-bell where the ‘oh’ is like log or dog. And it’s said very quickly, with little emphasis so could easily be heard as just [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f].
Zephryine - I’d go for 3 syllable Zeph-er-een.
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] - [name_m]Baz[/name_m]-il (like jazz). [name_u]Bay[/name_u]-zil is definitely American.
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] - it is [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-vi.
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] - I say it as Nay-o-me because it was my mum’s name and that was how she said it. I have met a Nigh-o-me though, I just think Nay-o-me makes more sense and sounds a bit nicer.
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] - I’ve only ever met one, and others have said it Hebrew and pronounced Yah-el, more like it it were spelled Ya’[name_f]El[/name_f] not [name_u]Jael[/name_u].
I think in most cases saying them slightly differently wouldn’t be a big deal. I might be a little thrown off if I met a [name_f]Claire[/name_f]-ah or a Jah-elle, but I could probably get used to it.
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - in the UK, this (and any other ara name) is pronounced ar is in car. To get the ‘air’ sound, we’d use [name_f]Claira[/name_f], which to us would be a completely separate name
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] - Although I read it with an ‘o’ or an ‘a’, they sound identical to me. Same as [name_f]Emelia[/name_f] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f]. If I heard someone saying them out loud, I wouldn’t be able to tell which spelling was used.
Zephryine - I’ve never come across this before but I’d say [name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-err-reen
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] - Bazz-il
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] - Only ever heard this pronounced [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-vi
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] - I knew a girl called [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] who pronounced it Nay-omi.
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] - I’d say [name_u]Jay[/name_u]-elle
CLAH-ruh, rhyming with jar etc. (which is my preferred pronunciation, I hate [name_f]Claire[/name_f]-uh)
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f]: I actually love as EE-so-bel, but I wouldn’t be surprised at Iz-uh-bel or Iz-o-bel, they don’t sound all that different when I say them.
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - [name_u]CLAIR[/name_u]-uh, though I think it just depends on where you’re from
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] - Iz-a-bel
[name_f]Zephyrine[/name_f] - Ze-fer-EEN, but I guess it could be Ze-fer-EN
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] - I want to say [name_u]Bay[/name_u]-sil, though I’m not too sure on the pronunciation myself
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] - [name_u]LEE[/name_u]-vy
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] - [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] is NAY-o-me, [name_f]Nyomi[/name_f] is [name_m]NYE[/name_m]-o-me
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] - I’ve always thought it was prn. like [name_u]Yale[/name_u], as in the university, but I can’t verify that. However, I do know that the J is said with the ‘yuh’ sound.
NOTE: Like I mentioned at the top, I’m American and we pronounce things a little different, so some of these, such as [name_u]Jael[/name_u], might be slightly off. I try to pronounce names as they’re said in their origin country or religion, but in the case that I don’t, I might not even realize I’m doing it and apologize.
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - I’ve always heard it pronounced claire-uh so that’s how I immediately pronounce it.
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] - For me, it’s somewhere in between an ‘a’ and an ‘o’…I’m sure that’s helpful hahaha
Zephryine - I read this as [name_f]Zephyrine[/name_f] at first, which I would pronounce zef-er-een, but if it is spelled Zephryine, I would pronounce it zef-reen. Either way, it’s pretty out there…
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] - I’ve never seen it used irl but I would pronounce it bay-sil if I saw it
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] - I’ve only ever seen it pronounced lee-vye
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] - I’ve heard nay-oh-mee more often
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] - I’ve never seen this one either but my first reaction would be to pronounce it sort of like jail.
I would think that choosing a fairly common name but pronouncing it differently would give your kid a lifetime of correcting people on the pronunciation. I don’t think it’s worth it. On your list, though, I love [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and [name_f]Naomi[/name_f]!
Unfortunately, a lot of these do have multiple pronunciations, some depending on where you live and some just personal preference!
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - I’ve heard both claire-ah and clar-rah, I personally prefer the latter
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] - I would say it is-o-bel with the O sound too, but like a PP, it’s said so quickly they sound pretty similar
Zephryine - Are you sure this isn’t a typo for [name_f]Zephyrine[/name_f], which would be zeph-er-een? (I actually read this as [name_f]Zephyrine[/name_f] at first and was wondering why the pronunciation was so ambiguous. I would guess zeph-reen but I’m really not sure and I think you could use either, since most people wouldn’t know which one was right anyways!
[name_m]Basil[/name_m] - It’s bay-zil in [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_u]America[/name_u] and bazz-il in the UK. (I’m Canadian and I confirmed this with a friend who’s British.)
[name_m]Levi[/name_m] - It’s definitely lee-vi, like the jeans brand
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] - Nay-o-me is technically the correct pronunciations, but I’ve heard Nigh-o-me as well. I think it’s one of those names that’s mispronounced so often that a lot of people actually think the mispronunciation is correct.
Wow, thanks for all the helpful suggestions!! You guys are amazing
What I’ve picked up is that for a lot of these it depends on where you live and your accent, especially for [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and [name_m]Basil[/name_m]. (I think I prefer [name_f]Clara[/name_f] like car to [name_f]Claire[/name_f]-a, not sure which I like better for [name_m]Basil[/name_m] yet)
Haha thank you to all of you who caught my typo Yes I meant [name_f]Zephyrine[/name_f]! I do prefer the two syllable zeph-er-ren as well.
[name_f]Isobel[/name_f] seems to be a tricky one, I guess that is more of a personal preference.
I had always pronounced [name_m]Levi[/name_m] as [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-vi but heard a friend say it like heavy and got confused. Thanks for the clarification.
[name_u]Jael[/name_u] is a tricky one. Maybe I need to find someone who speaks Hebrew to help me out
But thank you so much you guys you are really amazing and helpful!!!