Forgive me if this has been posted before, I didn’t scroll through all eleven pages of past threads.
I was thinking it might be helpful if the name entries had a pronunciation guide, maybe just written out phonetically somewhere on the page? It might not be the easiest especially with some names, but I find it so frustrating to find a new name I like but then have to search elsewhere to find the pronunciation. Happened to me this morning with [name]Pelle[/name].
[name]Just[/name] a thought.
I agree with this. I also think you should have the pronunciations that English speakers might use, and also the pronunciations the name would have in it’s original language. I speak Greek and a lot of people say Greek names wrong on here, or nameberry has the wrong pronunciation (Such as Thaylia is [name]THAY[/name]-lee-uh in Greek, but a lot of English speakers say thu-lee-uh and nameberry lists it as tal-ee-uh/tal-yuh)
I agree with both of you. It gets frustrating to some degree when a names’s prn issues could be settled in one comment but it goes in for pages because everyone is unaware are how it’s said and the focus is no longer on the name. Not that everyone doesn’t have the right to keep debating it though.
My only fear is that NB might post some mispronunciations.
Im so happy this thread is here—I was wishing too for some pronunciation help—would be a great addition to your site.
I’ll revive this thread. I definitely feel that there nb should try to start adding an across the board pronunciation guide. I’m an American English speaker, and fairly well-read, but there are times that I have doubts about even relatively simple names.
For example, this morning I’m wondering about [name]Declan[/name]. In my head, I’ve always said de-KLUN, but having never met a [name]Declan[/name] or knowingly heard the name aloud, I imagine that it could be DECK-lan, or DEEK-lan, or [name]DEE[/name]-klan. [name]Just[/name] the other day, I asked on the boards whether [name]Rosalie[/name] was pronounced [name]ROSE[/name]-uh-lee or [name]ROZ[/name]-uh-lee.
And I agree that it should be noted if there is a difference in the original language pronunciation and that which is regularly used in English speaking countries.
Thanks for a great site!
A prn guide would be great.
I’m sure that if NB made a mistake on such a pn guide and you let [name]Pam[/name] and [name]Linda[/name] know that it would be fixed.
I tend to go to behindthename.com for prn but it is rather annoying when one must do so.
[name]Hi[/name] everyone – Adding a pronunciation guide is a request that comes up a lot but for now, it just doesn’t feel practical to us as a place to devote our time and energies. When questions have arisen over the pronunciation of names, we’ve tried to address on the page, and there are so many names that most people know how to pronounce.
It seems a bit ridiculous to me, for instance, that Behind the Name (which I think is a great site) gives the pronunciation guide for [name]Elizabeth[/name] and not for [name]Declan[/name]: Meaning, origin and history of the name Declan - Behind the Name
And then I think the pronunciation keys themselves are so confusing.
As to [name]Declan[/name], it’s pronounced DECK-lin (or lun or len – is there really a big difference?) I’m going to add that to the pronunciation page.
And [name]Rosalie[/name] is like [name]Rosa[/name] [name]Lee[/name], though I’m sure there are those who pronounce it rahz-ah-lee.
[name]Hi[/name] [name]Pam[/name],
Thanks for addressing the question, and I completely understand your logic. Given that you apparently do not have a regiment of Nameberry elves working on the site, it wouldn’t be a good use of your time. [name]Even[/name] when I read your books, back before the Internet, I realized that I wouldn’t want the layout cluttered with a pronunciation for every single name. Actually, your approach to responding when there is a need is a great way of dealing with it.
Thanks for [name]Declan[/name]. As far as whether small differences in pronunciation matter…I think that’s in the ear of the namer/name holder. I grew up in the South, but now live in the Midwest. I knew several [name]Jennifer[/name]/[name]Jenny[/name]'s growing up…but there wasn’t really any discernable difference between an ‘en’ and an ‘in’ sound. So those girls I knew, pronounced their name ‘[name]Jinny[/name]’. Now in the Midwest I’ve had to work hard on developing that short e sound. I have a friend [name]Jenny[/name] who cringes every time I slip and pronounce her name ‘[name]Jinny[/name]’, which my friend says is ‘[name]Ginny[/name]’ and a totally different thing. Similarly, I grew up hearing ‘i’ and ‘a’ together, as in [name]Julia[/name] and [name]Vivian[/name], pronounced as ‘yuh’, jool-yuh and viv-yun. I always thought they were horribly ugly names. Then I started hearing them as jool-ee-uh and vi-vee-an and realized they were very attractive. But that’s a whole other thread.
Thanks for the response.
If I really wonder about the pronunciation, I go to forvo.com.
They have native people pronouncing many names (among other things) and if there’s currently no entry for the name in question, you can add it to the database and get an email when someone has added a pronunciation. And it’s all audio rather than typing it out. I did this with obscure saint name Yrieix, it took a week and I got an email saying a proper Frenchman had pronounced it for me. I’ve also used it a lot for people who wonder about the Norwegian pronounciation of Scandinavian names like [name]Signy[/name] and Synneva.
Some of the names on Nameberry does have pronunciation guides, but it’s often less than accurate. I like forvo.com because it’s audio.
[name]One[/name] thing I think Nameberry could spend time on is a list of useful resources for name lovers. That’s just a list of links to sites providing services Nameberry at present does not. Nameberry’s database is big, but there are a lot of name sites out there which dig more into a specific type of names. nordicnames.de is wonderful on Nordic names, comprehensive and correct, very useful! I’m sure there are other sites for more on Irish, Greek, Japanese or Eastern European names for those who just need more names to choose from. Pronunciation guides like forvo.com or sites with statisics for those who need that. Translators for those into word names from different languages. ([name]Kirsikka[/name] is Finnish for ‘cherry’ and it’s just so sweet!)
BUMP! Good idea!
I made a pronunciation guide for another site. You’re more than welcome to use it 
It needs some sounds adding to it but basically it’s a list of all the vowel sounds, only vowels since that’s what people tend to trip over the most.
Sheet for Describing Pronunciation
Ok, since people here often seem to struggle with explaining the pronunciation of a name I decided to make this guidance sheet for the vowels. If everyone refers to it when sounding out a name we’ll know exactly what they mean every time. Yes, it’s pretty simplistic, but it gets the meaning across. Let’s look at an example.
‘os’
‘os-tray’
‘os-tray-lee’
‘os-tray-lee-a’
More Examples:
A name like Aurelia would be written as: oww-ray-lee-a
A name like Benedict would be written as: behn-eh-dihct
A name like Louis could be written as: loo-iss OR loo-ee
[u]Chart[/u]
A: ay (capital letter)
A: ah/ar (like ‘car’)
A: a (like ‘cat’)
Au: oww (like ‘ouch’)
Au: aw/or (like ‘maul’)
Au: o (like ‘hot’)
E: ee (capital letter)
E: eh (like ‘let’)
I: eye (capital letter)
I: ih (like ‘it’)
I: ee (capital letter)
Ie: ee (capital letter)
O: oh (capital letter)
O: o (like ‘hot’)
Oi: oy (like ‘noise’)
Oo: oo (like ‘boot’)
Ou: oo (like ‘boot’)
Ou: oww (like ‘ouch’)
Ow: oh (capital letter)
Ow: oww (like ‘ouch’)
U: you (capital letter)
U: uh (like ‘nut’)
U: oo (like ‘boot’)
Y: why (capital letter)
Y: ee (capital letter)
((Work in progress, let me know if any sounds are missing!))
Nice start! : D
Y is probably never going to say why in a name. The letter name has a W sound at the beginning. Here are translations using your system. I also think letter name is clearer than capital letter.
Oo has another sound, not sure how to write it, but there’s oo like in boot and oo like in book (or for a name, [name]Brooke[/name]). oow might be one letter translation.
Oo: oow (like in [name]Brooke[/name])
Y: ee (letter name E)
Y: ih (like in [name]Lydia[/name])
Y: eye (letter name I)
Then there are more letter spellings of some of the sounds:
Ay: ay or eye
ai: ay or eye
Ei: ee or eye or ay ([name]Neil[/name], [name]Eileen[/name], and [name]Reina[/name])
Ey: ee or ay
etc. Not sure you need to capture them all.
the international phonetic alphabet is really the easiest way to solve all this on some levels, although it requires compatible browsers to display correctly, and access to a key.