I’m doing a bit of research into international variation on names, so if you could, tell me how you pronounce each of the following names and where you’re from (country, and city/region if you want to). I’ve deliberately used spellings I know can go multiple ways of pronunciation.
An-thuh-nee
[name]Gay[/name]-bree-el
[name]Jo[/name]-sehf
[name]Len[/name]-ard
[name]Stef[/name]-an (I would say that [name]Stephen[/name] is [name]Stef[/name]-an and [name]Steven[/name] is Stee-ven)
Boys:-
[name]Anthony[/name] - An-tone-ee (unfortunanly, people where I live pronounce it Ant’Knee)
[name]Gabriel[/name] - [name]Gay[/name]-bree-elle
[name]Joseph[/name]- [name]Jo[/name]-sef
[name]Leonard[/name] - Leh-nard
[name]Stephen[/name] - [name]Steve[/name]-en
In French [name]Adeline[/name] is prn “[name]Add[/name] eh leen” but you really say it more like “add leen” the E sound in the middle is barely prn and sort of comes out naturally if you say “add leen” outloud. Im not sure if that makes sense so here is an audio of it
I’d ask for some of these names because I wouldn’t be sure, but these are my gut instincts:
Girls:
[name]Adeline[/name]- add-uh-[name]LINE[/name]
[name]Andrea[/name]- on-DRAY-uh
[name]Eleanor[/name]- [name]EL[/name]-uh-nor
[name]Evelyn[/name]- EV-uh-lin
[name]Francesca[/name]- fran-[name]CHESS[/name]-ca
[name]Georgiana[/name]- jor-jee-[name]AH[/name]-na or jor-JYAH-na
[name]Johanna[/name]- jo-HAN-na, with the H.
[name]Madeleine[/name]- MAD-uh-lin
[name]Maria[/name]- muh-[name]REE[/name]-uh
[name]Marie[/name]- muh-[name]REE[/name]
[name]Susanna[/name]- su-[name]ZAN[/name]-na
[name]Vivien[/name]- VIH-vee-in, though I pronounce [name]Vivienne[/name] “vih-vee-EN”
Boys:
[name]Anthony[/name]- with the th, AN-tho-ny
[name]Gabriel[/name]- [name]GABE[/name]-ree-ul
[name]Joseph[/name]- [name]JO[/name]-suf
[name]Leonard[/name]- [name]LEN[/name]-urd
[name]Stephen[/name]- STEE-vin
Girls:
[name]Adeline[/name]- [name]AD[/name]-uh-lyn
[name]Andrea[/name]- AN-dree-uh
[name]Eleanor[/name]- [name]EL[/name]-en-uh
[name]Evelyn[/name]- EEV-lyn
[name]Francesca[/name]- [name]Fran[/name]-[name]CHESS[/name]-ka
[name]Georgiana[/name]- [name]Georg[/name]-AY-na (This is just personal preference, though. I know many people here who pronounce it [name]Georg[/name]-ee-ar-na)
[name]Johanna[/name]- [name]Jo[/name]-HANN-uh
[name]Madeleine[/name]- MAD-eh-lyn
[name]Maria[/name]- Ma-[name]REE[/name]-uh
[name]Marie[/name]- Ma-[name]REE[/name] or MA-ree depending on the person
[name]Susanna[/name]- [name]Su[/name]-[name]ZAN[/name]-a
[name]Vivien[/name]- [name]VIV[/name]-ee-uhn
Boys:
[name]Anthony[/name]- AN-toh-nee
[name]Gabriel[/name]- [name]GAY[/name]-bree-uhl
[name]Joseph[/name]- [name]JO[/name]-zef or [name]JO[/name]-sef (I use both pretty interchangeably)
[name]Leonard[/name]- LEh-nuhd
[name]Stephen[/name]- STEE-vuhn
[name]Adeline[/name] - [name]AD[/name]-eh-linn in English. At least I’ve never heard anyone here pronounce it any other way. It’s getting pretty common. My mom is French and in French it’s ah-deh-LEEN (the -deh- part is really short, hardly noticeable). But in an English speaking country I’d always expect it to be pronounced [name]AD[/name]-eh-linn.
[name]Andrea[/name] - I would pronounce it [name]ANN[/name]-dree-ah here. But I’ve heard many pronunciations from AHN-dray-ah over [name]ANN[/name]-dray-ah to OHN-dree-ah and OHN-dray-ah so I wouldn’t be surprised to be corrected.
[name]Eleanor[/name] - [name]ELL[/name]-eh-nor.
[name]Evelyn[/name] - EH-veh-linn. I actually like EEV-linn quite a bit but enforcing that pronunciation would be almost impossible, in my opinion.
[name]Francesca[/name] - frun-CHESS-ka. Ugh this is difficult to explain. The Italian way. I guess you could also say the first syllable sounds like FRAHN, but it is a short [name]AH[/name].
[name]Georgiana[/name] - jor-[name]JANN[/name]-ah. I also like jor-[name]JAY[/name]-nah and jor-JAH-na. It’s pretty uncommon so I think you could decide.
[name]Johanna[/name] - jo-HANN-a (like [name]Jo[/name]+[name]Hannah[/name]) in English. I’d definitely pronounce the H. I know some people who pronounce it like [name]Joanna[/name].
[name]Madeleine[/name] - MAD-eh-linn in English. mad-eh-[name]LENN[/name] or mah-deh-LENN (depends on accent) in French (the -deh- part is very short, not really noticeable).
[name]Maria[/name] - mah-[name]REE[/name]-ah
[name]Marie[/name] - mah-[name]REE[/name]
[name]Susanna[/name] - su-[name]ZANN[/name]-ah
[name]Vivien[/name] - [name]VIV[/name]-vee-enn.
[name]Anthony[/name] - [name]ANN[/name]-to-nee, but I wouldn’t find [name]ANN[/name]-tho-nee weird or anything.
[name]Gabriel[/name] - [name]GAY[/name]-bree-el
[name]Joseph[/name] - [name]JO[/name]-sef
[name]Leonard[/name] - [name]LENN[/name]-erd
[name]Stephen[/name] - STEE-ven
I’m from the Northern half of [name]Louisiana[/name], USA. (The southern half of [name]Louisiana[/name] has a more pronounced Cajun-French dialect; the northern half is a mix of that and the more stereotypical “Southern” drawl.))
Girls:
[name]Adeline[/name]: [name]AD[/name]-ah-lin
[name]Andrea[/name]: AHN-dree-ah
[name]Eleanor[/name]: [name]Elle[/name]-ah-NORE
[name]Evelyn[/name]: eh-vah-[name]LYN[/name]
[name]Francesca[/name]: [name]Fran[/name]-[name]CHESS[/name]-ka
[name]Georgiana[/name]: Jor-gee-AHN-ah
[name]Johanna[/name]: [name]Joe[/name]-AHN-ah
[name]Madeleine[/name]: Mad-uh-[name]LINE[/name]
[name]Maria[/name]: Ma-[name]REE[/name]-ah
[name]Marie[/name]: Ma-[name]REE[/name]
[name]Susanna[/name]: [name]Sue[/name]-[name]ZAN[/name]-ah (Though “[name]Susannah[/name]” would be “[name]Sue[/name]-SAHN-ah”)
[name]Vivien[/name]: [name]VIV[/name]-ee-ahn (Though “[name]Vivienne[/name]” would be “[name]Viv[/name]-ee-EHN”)
Boys:
[name]Anthony[/name]: [name]Ann[/name]-THON-ee (a hard “th”)
[name]Gabriel[/name]: [name]GAY[/name]-bree-uhl
[name]Joseph[/name]: [name]JOE[/name]-seph
[name]Leonard[/name]: [name]LEN[/name]-urd
[name]Stephen[/name]: [name]STEVE[/name]-ehn
