Interesting… I’ve never met anyone in real life who pronounces it with “Ex” at the start. I’m in Australia, not sure if that makes a difference, as the second half of the name sounds a little different here too (ZAY-vee-uh).
I pronounce it ex-ay-vee-ur, but i know an [name]Xavier[/name] who pronounces his name Zah-vee-ay
I say it x-zay-viour (like the ending of saviour) so I voted for the x pronunciation.
In my younger years, I babysat a baby boy named [name]Xavier[/name] whose parents pronounced the name Zav-ee-ay. His father was from [name]England[/name], so that might have influenced how they pronounced his name.
I voted ex-ay-vee-er because that’s how I say it. I don’t like it said Zay-vee-er because it sounds like its missing something to it, in my opinion.
I completely agree with this. I don’t know why, but the ex-zay-vee-er pronunciation is a huge pet peeve of mine. I think [name]Xavier[/name] is a great name, but it would drive me absolutely crazy if people pronounced my son’s name X-Men style.
I have only heard St. [name]Francis[/name] [name]Xavier[/name] pronounced EX-ay-vee-er; I suspect that those posters who think that EX-ay-vee-er is somehow “wrong” have little acquaintance with Catholic tradition.
That said, ZAY-vee-er sounds completely normal to me, too.
@[name]Cressida[/name] - I grew up as Catholic in [name]Canada[/name] and [name]Francis[/name] [name]Xavier[/name] was always pronounced with a “z” by the nuns and priets and never with an “x”.This difference may be a British/Australian/Canadian pronunciation (Z) vs. American/French (X).
[name]Xavier[/name] is pronounced Ex-ay-vee-er. My father-in-law’s brother’s name is [name]Xavier[/name]. I couldn’t imagine calling him Uncle ZAY-vee-er. That’s so funny!
I used to work for a zah-vee-ay and I have a cousin named zayv-yer. But mostly I’ve pronounced it eks-zayv-yer.
My instinct has always been to say it “ZAHV’yey” and I was 19 before I realized this was not the only pronunciation. I learned it in Catalan next, and it was still a bit before I learned about the English pronunciations.
In English, I’d say ZAYV-yur, but’s it’s definitely not my first pick or how I’d choose to pronounce it if given the option.
I’d never go for eks-ay-vee-yur.
I don’t think one pronunciation is more correct than the other. It seems like both have been in use for a long time.
I usually go with the ex- pronunication first but I’ve heard both so if someone told me their name was pronounced with the zay- pronunciation, I wouldn’t have trouble adjusting.
Neither, I pronounce it as zah-vee-ay.
Thank you all for your input. I think the difference in pronunciation is turning me off of the name 
Back to the drawing board. As of right now our only alternative is [name]Gabriel[/name] and I’m not sold on it due to popularity…
I personally say Zay-vee-er, but will occasionally use the other pronounciation too
@mischa - This made me laugh. I also grew up in Canada, though not as a Catholic. However, in writing this, I was thinking particularly about St. Francis Xavier University, which is alwalys pronounced with an x.
ETA: It is possible, I suppose, that anglophone Maritimers have adopted more of a francophone pronounciation of this name…
I say it more like Ix-aie-vier. Then again I’m sort of weird.
I’ve always pronounced it like Zay-vyer as pronouncing the X just sounds wrong to me.