[name_f]My[/name_f] best friend has chosen Vieve for her baby girl’s name, which she wants pronounced like the [name_m]French[/name_m] ending of [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f].
So it will be said Vee - ev. She is considering using the grave ([name_f]Vi[/name_f]ève) but feels that might be a bit pretentious as she is not [name_m]French[/name_m].
I have been looking on nameberry for posts about this name - most see it as a nickname for [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], and describe the pronunciation as Veeve.
[name_m]How[/name_m] many of you would intuitively use the [name_m]French[/name_m] pronunciation? If you wouldn’t can you suggest a spelling alternative which would more likely get the desired outcome.
Thanks
Automatically, I would say veev. I would definitely use the grave. I don’t know why, but Viev automatically makes me think it is pronounced vee-ev.
I did think Veev automatically. I don’t really think anyone knows that [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] is pronounced differently in [name_f]France[/name_f] unless they’re huge [name_m]Rush[/name_m] Hour 3 fans… [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] is so much better with that pronunciation though. But in [name_u]America[/name_u]? It would never happen.
I pronounced it {vee-ehv} at first; being a fan of [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], that may just be from my knowledge of the name. I do prefer it with the spelling [name_f]Vi[/name_f]ève; not only because I think it’s prettier, but it might make people think twice before saying {veev}. It’s not all that bad; at the moment I’m equating it with given names [name_u]Charlie[/name_u], [name_f]Jen[/name_f], [name_f]Kate[/name_f], [name_m]Tom[/name_m] and so on. Only slightly harder to pronounce : )
I speak [name_m]French[/name_m] and recognized Vieve as the ending of Geneviève, but still wouldn’t pronounce it that way. Vieve isn’t short for Geneviève, it’s a hotel in the Philippines. If she lives in the U.S., she won’t be able to use the grave for legal purposes anyway, which is required to achieve your friend’s desired pronunciation.
The word she has chosen rhymes with sieve, though most everyone here will say VEEV.
A forum post on commonly heard diminutives for Geneviève: http://www.familles.com/v4/forums/forums-familiaux-prenoms-de-filles-diminutif-pour-genevieve-t789030.html
I’d say veev. Most Americans would probably say veev, no matter if your friend adds the grave or not. Since there are no accents in English they tend to just confuse people. I’ve never heard [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] pronounced any way other than jen-a-veev, but then again I don’t speak [name_m]French[/name_m].
I automatically pronounced it “Veeve”. But [name_m]French[/name_m] being my second language may have had an influence on it.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. We are actually in NZ, and [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] is not common here at all, so I dont think there will automatically be an association with that name and its english/american pronunciation. I only used it to highlight the two possible pronunciations. Vieve is her full first name so if [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] is not mentioned there may not be the pre-conception??
I guess she will have to take some time initially to let people know how it is said