Names you pronounce wrong

General Name Discussion
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What names do you pronounce wrong?

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I recently found out [name_f]Saga[/name_f] is pronounced either SAW-ga or [name_m]Say[/name_m]-ga. I don’t know what to think of this.

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I say [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] as [name_f]Emma[/name_f]-line, instead of the correct [name_f]Emma[/name_f]-leen pronunciation

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I’ve always said emma-line too, I didn’t know emma-leen was considered the correct one!

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I just learned that! [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] is a [name_u]French[/name_u] name, and in [name_f]France[/name_f] anything with line in it is said as “leen”.

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I’m sure there’s some I’m pronouncing wrong, but just don’t know it :woman_shrugging:t2: I do pronounce [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] as jen-uh-veev instead of the [name_u]French[/name_u] (so I guess technically correct) zhawn-vee-ev. I used to pronounce [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] as im-uh-gen with a hard G instead of im-uh-jen.

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Augustine! I intuitively say AW-gus-teen, although apparently it’s usually aw-GUS-ten or even ah-GUS-ten.

Matthias: mah-THY-us (rather than mah-TYE-us or mah-TEE-us)

Endymion: I thought it was en-DYE-mee-un until we did an accent challenge a couple of years ago. It’s en-DIM-ee-un.

And I still read [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] EL-oh-wen, even though I know it’s supposed to be eh-LOW-en.

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I really don’t know where to start…

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I like [name_m]Quillan[/name_m] as quill-an, which is incorrect, and I don’t care, because it sounds better.
NB says that [name_f]Iolanthe[/name_f] is yuh-LAN-thuh, but I pronounce it eye-oh-LAN-thee. Like [name_f]Io[/name_f], or [name_f]Ione[/name_f], which it is objectively more similar to.
[name_f]My[/name_f] pronunciation of [name_f]Cassiopeia[/name_f] changes every other week, but I think all of the options are wrong.
[name_f]Eleftheria[/name_f] is supposed to be el-ef-teh-REE-uh, but I think it sounds nicer as el-ef-TEH-ree-uh, and that’s a little more intuitive.
I always read [name_m]Inigo[/name_m] as IN-ih-go (pretty much just [name_u]Indigo[/name_u] without the d), even though it’s in-EE-go.

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I also said [name_u]Augustine[/name_u] as AW-gus-teen when I first saw the name, but when I made an acquaintance with an [name_u]Augustine[/name_u], I learned the correct pronunciation! :smiley: And I feel the same way about [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] too.

Btw, for those interested, I created another accent challenge with names and with words!

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I’ve also always said it as [name_f]Emma[/name_f]-line!

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This feels like a Nameberry sin but I prefer “my” pronunciations for these names. :sweat_smile:
[name_f]Selene[/name_f] - I say suh-LEEN (like [name_f]Celine[/name_f]) instead of seh-LEE-nee
[name_f]Cosima[/name_f] - kuh-SEE-ma instead KOZ-ee-ma
[name_f]Sunniva[/name_f] - sun-EE-va instead of SOO-nee-va

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I do all of these. Once I get a pronunciation in my head, it’s stuck like that, lol. Another one I do is [name_f]Maia[/name_f]. I pronounce it as may-a, but apparently, it’s like mia/mya

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I was pronouncing [name_f]Isla[/name_f] wrong forever. I’ve never actually met one. What is that S even doing there? Is-la sounded nice to me :smiley:

I once me a guy named [name_m]Eugenio[/name_m] and I was just totally confused. I could not wrap my head about the 5 syllables and kept getting them out of order until he said it was like [name_m]Eugene[/name_m]. Oh… :woman_facepalming:

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Wait, what were you saying?

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I’ve always said suh-LEEN too!

I also always say [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f] like “oh-HEN-ya” (or “eh-oo-HEN-ee-uh” if I’m saying it slowly) which is definitely not the default [name_f]English[/name_f] pronunciation.

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I use [name_f]Emma[/name_f]-leen, but I’m pretty sure either pronunciation can be correct!

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18

Oh, okay!

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Oh yes, same with these!

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Reading this thread is making me realize how many names I say wrong.

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