As you might know, I ask a lot of questions about names’ pronunciation because:
I’m worried
I have a hard time to find names that I love and have the same pronunciation in English and in [name_m]French[/name_m].
It happens that I absolutely love the name [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u]. We pronounce it as [name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-ear, that’s how we like it (we really don’t like [name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-her), and how my family and friends in [name_f]France[/name_f] would say it. We moved to [name_f]France[/name_f] 4 months ago, but we will still spend our summers in [name_u]America[/name_u], and we do not exclude the idea of moving back to [name_u]America[/name_u] in a few years. From my previous polls, I know that Berries mostly pronounce it [name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-her.
Would people -that are not name lovers/who don’t know about names- also pronounce it [name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-her? As [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] is not very popular, do you think people around us would just copy our pronunciation and say it [name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-ear, or would I have to hear [name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-her for the rest of my life? Would it cause any issues to my child? I’m scared of being tired to correct people all the time. Can I still consider the name?
But if I spell it [name_m]Zafeer[/name_m], absolutely nobody would write it or pronounce it right in [name_f]France[/name_f]. Plus it looks like a made-up spelling, which I’m not a fan of
I would say go for it, I have the name [name_m]Zephir[/name_m] in my sig as a variant of an Arabic name, but pronounced Zef-fear. I actually prefer it to the Zef-fer pronunciation. If you live most of the year in [name_f]France[/name_f] where it will be pronounced the way you want then I don’t really see the problem. For the most part people will be hearing the name more than seeing it, and if they get it wrong you can always correct them. I also don’t think the name is popular enough for people to know how to pronounce it, when I first saw the name I instinctively pronounced it Zef-fear, so it may not be as much of a problem as you think. I know I kind of babbled on, but hope this can help!
I love the name [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u]! I’ve always pronounced it ZEF-fer but I’m not sure which way is technically/historically correct. There may be somewhere online that can tell you since it’s a Greek mythology name. I actually think a good way to avoid the pronunciation issue would be to go with the [name_m]Zephir[/name_m] spelling. But that does take away from the mythological meaning/name of [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u].
Ultimately I don’t think it would cause too many problems for you to spell it as [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] and use your preferred pronunciation, since you said most of your family and people around you now would pronounce it the way you like it anyway. I think you should just use [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] and pronounce it your way. It’s a great name and I don’t think there will be as many issues as you think, and I don’t think the potential issues will be worth giving up a name you love.
I’ve always thought [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] was pronounced “zeffer”
Here is the dictionary entry on the word zephyr: ([name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]Oxford[/name_m] American Dictionary)
zephyr |ˈzefər|
noun
1 literary a soft gentle breeze.
2 historical a fine cotton gingham.
• a very light article of clothing.
My instinct would be to pronounce it ZEF-her, but since I’ve never met a real person named [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] I would copy whatever pronunciation I was told.
I think you can definitely keep considering it.
I think this would be problematic in the US. “Zeffur” is the pronunciation I learned for this word in school and have always heard everyone use. I would automatically pronounce the name [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] as “zeffur”. Of course after hearing someone say their name is “[name_m]Zeff[/name_m]-eer” I would use that pronunciation, but myself and the vast majority of other people here would think “zeffur” at first I think.
Oh I didn’t see that I got more comments! Thank you so much!
I just hope people would catch the pronunciation. Anyways, it doesn’t matter our choice, the [name_m]French[/name_m] and English pronunciations would never be the same I think
Thanks
I hope people will say it Zefear more often than Zef-her. I feel like people who are not into names don’t really know how to pronounce it. . I have the feeling that Zef-her is more the “official pronunciation” on Nameberry. But, I might be wrong.
