Pronunciation blues: how would you pronounce this?

The only [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] I know pronounces it [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-[name_f]Hannah[/name_f].

I’ve heard it both ways, with and without the H sound pronounced.

I also know a little girl who’s name is [name_f]JoHanna[/name_f] and it helps with the issue of how her name is said because the capital H makes it stand out.

Me, personally, I don’t like the H to be pronounced unless you are using the Germanic form of the name (yo-hah-na). Too me the H sound makes the name sound like something made, like someone just stuck attached the “jo” part to the beginning of [name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. I like the more traditionally American version that is spelled [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] and pronounced as [name_f]Joanna[/name_f].

However, I think it is a minor issue, one that won’t need to be corrected as many times are some other names with pronunciation issues.

I’ve always thought you could pronounce it as [name_f]Joanna[/name_f], [name_f]JoHanna[/name_f] or [name_f]Yohanna[/name_f]. It just depends on how the person wants it to be pronounced.

I live in Germany and will be using this name as a mn for our second daughter (due in the [name_f]Spring[/name_f]). It is quite a popular name here and is a family name on my husband’s side (he is a [name_m]German[/name_m] citizen). Despite the fact that I am an English native speaker I still prefer to pronounce this name [name_f]Yo[/name_f]-Hahn-ah (if that makes sense). The J is soft and [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] is pronounced the same way as the “han” is pronounced in [name_m]Johann[/name_m] (as in [name_m]Johann[/name_m] [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] [name_m]Bach[/name_m] etc). We tried to pick names that are pronounced similarly in [name_m]German[/name_m] and English for our girls but [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] is a name that I will be pronouncing the [name_m]German[/name_m] way, even though there is an alternate English pronunciation. I just think it sounds better. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if you live in an English speaking country I think you could get away with pronouncing it the [name_m]German[/name_m] way because no one says the hard J in [name_m]Johann[/name_m] or [name_m]Johannes[/name_m], even in [name_u]America[/name_u]…the soft “[name_m]German[/name_m]” J is pretty commonly known in English speaking countries.

If I were to use an English pronunciation I would go with [name_m]Joe[/name_m]-[name_f]Hannah[/name_f]…definitely pronouncing the H.

I would instinctively say [name_f]Yo[/name_f]-hanna, but if someone else pronounced it [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-hanna I wouldn’t be surprised.

This post made me somewhat sad to read. I knew one [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] growing up and she was a sweet and energetic girl whose name was pronounce [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-[name_f]Hanna[/name_f]. Until this post, I thought that pronunciation or [name_f]Yo[/name_f]-[name_f]Hanna[/name_f] were the only accepted versions. I love this name with the H pronounced. Without the H, it’s just a creative spelling of [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] :frowning:

I’ve known three Johannas and two Joannas. All of them pronounced the name [name_u]Jo[/name_u]-anna. That is how I would pronounce it if I just saw it spelled. However it’s not that big of a difference in pronunciations. It’s not like [name_m]Henry[/name_m] (prounounce Ahn-[name_f]Ree[/name_f]) vs [name_m]Henry[/name_m] (pronounced [name_f]Hen[/name_f]-rE), which sound like different names. A [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] would likely not be confused or have a hard time if she was sometimes called [name_f]Joanna[/name_f]. If the pronunciation of [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] as [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] is going to drive you nuts you may want to look at a different name. You can choose the name for your child, but you can’t choose how the world will interact with name. People might call her [name_u]Jo[/name_u], and that might drive you nuts, some people will likely pronounce the name in a way you don’t like. I think most people would adapt and call her the pronunciation of her name that she prefers. If you love the name keep on the list. :slight_smile:

I say [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] with the H, and [name_f]Joanna[/name_f] without, obviously. lol

I also know both a [name_f]Sosanna[/name_f] and a Soshanna, and same with them.