At this point I’m pretty convinced that if we have a daughter in [name]December[/name] we will name her [name]Louisa[/name]. I have been pronouncing this name lu-EES-uh all along but it just occurred to me that others might try to pronounce it [name]Lu[/name]-EEZ-uh…
[name]How[/name] would you pronounce it? If you naturally say it with a Z sound would you find being asked to say it with the S sound obnoxious? I strongly prefer the S sound myself.
BTW the full name would probably be [name]Louisa[/name] [name]Marguerite[/name] (possible nn [name]Lou[/name]-[name]Lou[/name]) and our boys name would likely be [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Russell[/name] (definite nn [name]Theo[/name]). [name]Just[/name] in case you wanted to share your thoughts on either of those too! ([name]Russell[/name] is my dad’s name and [name]Marguerite[/name] is the name of a special great-grandmother.)
I also say [name]Lu[/name]-eez-ah. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard it pronounced the other way but I’ve always wondered why the “s” can make a “z” sound. I think most people will say the “z” sound after they’ve seen it written, but that will not be a problem for some time probably. If you prefer the “s” sound, just introduce her name that way.
It is [name]Lou[/name] EES a for me too. I had a long thread about this, maybe in [name]December[/name]?, if you search NB it may show up, I think there were like 40 or 50 responses?
Some accents voice (turn to z) all s’s between vowels. So gasoline is gazoline, houses is houzes, etc.
S makes z sounds all the time across (nearly?) all dialects in some words, i.e., scissors, dogs, lose, losing, etc.
[name]Both[/name] prn’s are very standard. If people know a [name]Louise[/name], or have a voicing dialect, Louiza is more likely. If they’ve known a [name]Louis[/name], [name]Luis[/name], or [name]Lois[/name], [name]Louisa[/name] is probably more likely.
I also am most familiar with the name through Ms. [name]Alcott[/name] and feel like I always heard her name [name]Lou[/name] EES a, but others in my old thread swore they were taught [name]Lou[/name] EEZ a (but I wasn’t alone for [name]Lou[/name] EES a, either).
I wouldn’t mind someone correcting the ees sound as long as they werent rude about it, but I can see how it’s a correction that could come off wrong. (like hearing a “Not Ahn-dray-a, [name]Anne[/name]-dee-a!”)
I love this name – it’s recently risen very high on my list. When I say EES-uh and EEZ-uh, they sound almost identical and I find it very difficult to prn it so that it’s clear I’m using the EES-uh prn. [name]IMO[/name], if you’re going to use this name, you might have to be okay with both pronunciations because some people won’t understand how to say it with the EES-uh prn you want. I’m reminded of a friend I had in high school whose name was [name]Kerry[/name] and she always corrected people who said “[name]Karrie[/name]” and insisted they say “Keh-ree”, but for the life of me, I could never say it the way she was saying it and I think it always secretly annoyed her. (For the record, I am from the [name]East[/name] Coast and do not have any discernible accent.) With totally different pronunciations of names (like [name]Ann[/name]-dray-a vs. Ahn-dree-a) I totally endorse correcting, but with pronunciations that are so similar like this, I think you might just have to be okay with it.
I look at [name]Louise[/name] and say [name]Lu[/name]-EEZ but I’ve always read [name]Louisa[/name] as - lu-ees-uh…the difference sounded obvious to me before but now that I’ve read it pronounced differently, I realize the two pronunciations are not all that different. While I do still strongly prefer the soft s sound and will certainly be pronouncing it that way myself, I suppose it wouldn’t bother me much if people used the z pronunciation. I know DH and my family will say it my way!
Some linguistics reading for those who are interested:
Not distinguishing [name]Carrie[/name] and [name]Kerry[/name] (and more remarkedly, [name]Mary[/name]/merry/marry) is technically an accent, it just happens to be the mainstream American one : D. If people grow up in an area where this distinction is maintained, they may manage to be surprised at the number of us who don’t.
I don’t have the distinction but have learned to hear and say it (like, for fun, not while actually speaking).
I once had a friend who wanted her name her daughter [name]Isabel[/name] and have it be pronounced IS-abel instead of IZ-abel. I will tell you the same thing I told her… If you have that sort of expectation for a common name, people will constantly be irritating you by saying it “wrong.” While it’s fine for you to pronounce it one way, just know that other people will inevitably say it “wrong” and you will constantly be having to “correct” them. This can be annoying for the one being “corrected” AND the one doing the “correcting!”
I do think it’s a bit unreasonable to expect everyone to pronounce it one certain way when obviously there are two perfectly correct ways to say [name]Louisa[/name]. As long as you aren’t hateful about it, (and you seem very friendly in your original post!) I’m sure people will work with you. But I do think you’re in for a long road of corrections and confusion. Believe it or not, there are some people out there who won’t be able to hear the difference in what you’re trying to say - s vs. z sound. (I have ample experience with this phenomenon as I’m a speech therapist and taught phonetics lab.) These people are going to be very confused to say the least!
My advice is to say it the way you like it and encourage others to follow suit, but to have realistic expectations. And don’t be overly harsh to people who pronounce it differently.
On another note, I think [name]Louisa[/name] [name]Marguerite[/name] is absolutely stunning! Loving your choice in names. Best of luck!
Everything she’s said has made perfect sense. Also, I could say it either way, [name]Lou[/name]-EEs-uh or [name]Lou[/name]-EEz-uh. I love your name choices, [name]Louisa[/name] [name]Marguerite[/name] and [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Russel[/name]. They’re stunnign1
I think most people will say the “z” sound after they’ve seen it written, but that will not be a problem for some time probably. If you prefer the “s” sound, just introduce her name that way.