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”.
I’m sure there’s some I’m pronouncing wrong, but just don’t know it 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.
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.
I really don’t know where to start…
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.
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! 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!
I’ve also always said it as [name_f]Emma[/name_f]-line!
This feels like a Nameberry sin but I prefer “my” pronunciations for these names.
[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
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
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
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…
Wait, what were you saying?
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.
I use [name_f]Emma[/name_f]-leen, but I’m pretty sure either pronunciation can be correct!
Oh, okay!
Oh yes, same with these!
Reading this thread is making me realize how many names I say wrong.
Adelais: I thought it ended in -lace, but I think it’s -lay or -lye. Took me a while to get on board with the correct pronunciations but I like -lay now.
Cassia: the pronunciation is pretty intuitive (CASS-ee-uh) but for some reason, I thought it was cuh-SIGH-uh, which I LOVED. I still prefer my pronunciation, I think it flows better in combos, especially as a middle, but I love the name enough that I can be happy with the correct pronunciation.
Colm: I thought it was cole-m, one syllable (similar to “helm” I guess?). I love the name but don’t love the correct pronunciation because it just sounds like column.
The name [name_u]Rhys[/name_u] …pron: Reece
For years I pronounced it [name_u]Rye[/name_u]-zz (like Rise)
Evelyn -i know it’s ev-uh-lin or Ev-lin but I always want to say Eev-lin
Emmeline - i say line not leen
Calliope - ca-lee-oh-pee rather than ca-lye-oh-pee
Idris as eye-dris rather than Ih-dris
Isaiah - i want to say ih-zy-ah
So I just found out from this comment I’ve been pronouncing [name_u]Augustine[/name_u], [name_m]Matthias[/name_m] and [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] wrong for ages lol. I probably won’t stop, they’re too ingrained in my brain the way I know them @katinka
@Greyblue I thought it was CALL-ee-ope, whoops!
Also this isn’t “wrong” per se, but I only pronounce [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] “aw-nuh-staw-zee-uh” which is unusual where I live.