My husband and I are TTC. We had our boy name picked out for a year - [name]Joseph[/name] [name]Walker[/name]. [name]Walker[/name] is my maiden name and [name]Joseph[/name] because we like [name]Joe[/name] but wanted a long version. He has a late uncle [name]Joe[/name] who died young. His name was [name]Joe[/name], not [name]Joseph[/name].
I floated the idea of getting to [name]Joe[/name] with [name]Josiah[/name] instead of [name]Joseph[/name]. It’s just got a bit more style and a better rhythm. [name]Joseph[/name] [name]Walker[/name] Hatten is kinda flat, with the same syllables and accents in all three names. [name]Josiah[/name] sounds better, and we can still call him [name]Joe[/name]. Plus I think it’s a gorgeous name.
Surprisingly my husband agreed! I sold it as kind of an old school cowboy name.
Anyway how do you think [name]Josiah[/name] should be pronounced? With a z sound or an s sound? Which is better and which is more intuitive?
I honestly think it can go either way - like even by the same person. The way I pronounce it can go either way. It’s like an “S”, but I think my accent whistles it a bit like a “Z”
The one [name]Josiah[/name] I know pronounces it [name]Jo[/name]-sigh-ah, and often goes but just [name]Si[/name]. I like [name]Josiah[/name] better than [name]Joseph[/name], I think it’s a much more interesting name, and sounds better with [name]Walker[/name].
I love this idea! Great name. Actually, when I pronounce it with an “s” and then with a “z”, they sound identical. I don’t consider myself to have an accent at all. I live on the [name]East[/name] Coast of the U.S. and grew up here as well, if that helps.
I say with more of a s sound however when I tried to say it with a z sound instead it sounded exactly the same (to me anyway).
I have to say I much prefer [name]Josiah[/name] to [name]Joseph[/name].
I guess I’ve said it with a z sound because I think of [name]Isaiah[/name]. [name]Isaac[/name], [name]Moses[/name], and even [name]Jesus[/name]. They all have an s pronounced like a z. But many Biblical boy names with z sounds are spelled with a z: [name]Lazarus[/name], [name]Ezekiel[/name], [name]Ebenezer[/name], etc. And names like [name]Asa[/name] and [name]Joseph[/name] are pronounced with an s.
I’ve heard it both ways but I think I am leaning towards jo-SIGH-uh. I do hear a difference when I say it differently. Maybe I just have an accent - I am from [name]Texas[/name].
