We all have these names we love … in theory! But sound terrible in our accents. I’m looking at you [name_m]French[/name_m] names!
Seriously though. I can’t do "th"s and names ending in -t I soften to almost a “sh” sound.
I’ve noticed others having problems with the letter A - so we have [name_f]Zaira[/name_f] instead of ZAH-ra
[name_f]Onna[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Anna[/name_f].
Anyone else?
Hmmm… [name_f]Talia[/name_f] comes to mind. I struggle to say it because I have a sort of slow twang but also talk fast, so it just gets butchered terribly lol.
[name_f]Aurora[/name_f] is another. I don’t love this name, but I butcher it just the same. It comes out OH-ROW-RAH not ah-roar-rah.
I hesitate over the pronunciation of one of my favourite names ever: [name_f]Anouk[/name_f]. I feel like I sometimes sound too exaggeratedly [name_m]French[/name_m] saying it, or else too exaggeratedly English to compensate. It’s such a shame because I’m pretty sure this would be top of my list otherwise (and it’s still way up there, must work on this!)
[name_f]Aurora[/name_f] for me. It doesn’t sound right in my accent, which is a shame because I quite like it. Similarly, [name_u]Rory[/name_u], which sounds like ‘[name_f]Ro[/name_f]-ee’ when I say it. Not a fan. sigh maybe one day…
Many [name_m]French[/name_m] names, there are many I do say right but I question myself because I don’t speak [name_m]French[/name_m] (I only know the basics). So that is why many of them are GP’s (plus pronunciation problems with other people). Clémence, Mélisande, [name_f]Ana[/name_f]ïs, & [name_m]Maxence[/name_m] for example.
[name_f]Lottie[/name_f]! I love it either as a nickname for [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] or just on it’s own, but in my American accent it sounds much like ‘Loddie’. I also have this issue with [name_f]Lettie[/name_f] sounding more like ‘Leddie’.
I think [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] is cute but I literally just can’t say it… [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] is the same.
Liked Foxwell for a hot second before realizing it sounds like ‘f***s well’ when I say it out loud!
[name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] is also lovely and though I say it with T’s anybody in my area who says it fast would say it ‘Oddily.’ I just wish it was pronounced with an ‘oh’ sound instead LOL
Basically every name I like, cause I’m not a native and my mother tongue’s syllable system is different from English. That means my absolute favorite name [name_f]Kaia[/name_f] is three syllables in my accent, I don’t know the differences between B and V (I’m not sure if I’m pronouncing [name_f]Vivienne[/name_f] like Bibienne or not), and not sure if I’m pronouncing the simple [name_f]Rose[/name_f] correctly. So most names sound terrible in my accent, haha
This isn’t too bad of a case, but [name_f]Keri[/name_f]. It’s one of my all-time favorites, but apparently it’s not supposed to sound alike to [name_f]Carrie[/name_f]? I’m not sure then if it’s [name_f]Keri[/name_f] or [name_f]Carrie[/name_f] that I’m saying differently, I pronounce them both like “care-ee”
This means that [name_f]Keri[/name_f]/[name_u]Kerry[/name_u]/[name_f]Carrie[/name_f] get mixed up all the time around here.
[name_f]Fleur[/name_f] and Eilonwy. I absolutely love them, but being an American, I just can’t seem to pronounce them correctly.
[name_m]Hal[/name_m] and [name_f]Hallie[/name_f]. English is not my first language and I can’t properly pronounce THs or Hs in English.
[name_f]Romilly[/name_f] for me I feel like it sounds too harsh in an american accent
[name_f]Aurora[/name_f] as well for me, when I’m talkng normal it’s fine but when I’m in talking fast it sounds like or-vor-va.
I have a Greek accent, but it’s barely noticeable to be honest
Sometimes, I have a hard time pronouncing words that end in hard sounds, like [name_m]Drake[/name_m] and [name_m]Doug[/name_m], so I usually avoid those
Also, I avoid Greek names since their pronunciations in English are really weird and confusing!
For example, [name_f]Eurydice[/name_f] is pronounced yu-RID-ih-see (at least according to nameberry and a few other sources), whereas in Greek (its language of origin) it’s pronounced eh-vree-THEE-kee (the th sounding like the one in “the”)
[name_f]Tamara[/name_f]. [name_m]Long[/name_m] a short a? I can’t correct other people when I’m not even sure how to pronounce it. I have the same issue with Clara, though I love both of those names I’d hesitate to use them.