See the results of this poll: Include Phonetic Name Pronounciation in NB DB?
Respondents: 39 (This poll is closed)
- Yes, include phonetic pronounciation.. : 39 (100%)
- No, make people Google it ;)…: 0 (0%)
I think they should, but I’ve also had the problem that when they include the pronunciation of like Greek names (since I speak Greek and studied the classics and those are my gods etc) that they tend to be wrong and you end up having to google them for the correct one anyway. If they did, it would be nice if they asked native speakers or something like that.
Yes! I would love for them to have pronunciations. 
Yes! Whenever I see a name I’m not sure how to pronounce I have to head over to BehindTheName. It also helps me weed out the names that are legitimate.
The problem is that certain names have different regional/international pronunciations - [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] is equally legit said as [name_f]Eve[/name_f]-lyn or Ev-uh-lyn for example, and [name_m]Aaron[/name_m] is most commonly pronounced [name_f]Air[/name_f]-un in the US and [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-run in the UK. So while it might be nice for someone unfamiliar with the name to see that [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] is pronounced [name_u]Fee[/name_u]-bee as opposed to [name_u]Fee[/name_u]-oh-bee, what happens with [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] and [name_m]Aaron[/name_m]? [name_f]Do[/name_f] [name_f]Pam[/name_f] and [name_f]Linda[/name_f] put up the most common US pronunciation as it’s a US based site? [name_f]Do[/name_f] they put up all variations - and do they mention which country/ies most commonly use each to aid visitors? And like Dantea mentions, what about non-English names that have been Anglicised - do you put the original pronunciation or the Anglicised one? Would [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] appear as the [name_m]French[/name_m] [name_m]Jon[/name_m]-vee-ev or the English [name_f]Jenna[/name_f]-veev, or both? Nice idea in theory but it’s got a heck of a lot of pitfalls in practice.
Yes, I think they should. However, I think it might be impractical for the website owners to do. The database contains names from numerous languages, some of which are little spoken or taught in the United States. Would the website owners really have enough knowledge of certain languages to be able to give the correct pronunciation? Would they be prepared to contact native speakers to find out the pronunciations of thousands of names? I think that would be time-consuming and difficult to do.
I think it would be good if Nameberry had a system where native speakers could add pronunciations. Often when I want to find out the pronunciation of a name I submit it to Forvo and hopefully a native speaker will record it.
It would be nice, but I can see it being a problem if there are multiple pronunciations used in different geographical regions.
It would be really nice - but I agree that clarification about different pronunciations in different countries is needed.
They could do something simalar to behind the name where users can comment on the name page re origens and pronouciations.
I think this would be a great idea. If I see a name on here and I don’t know how to pronounce it I always have to go over to Google but I am always a bit skeptical if they are correct or not. I think it would be a good feature for Nameberry to add. I also really like on http://www.babynames.com/ that when you look up a name it has pictures of people with that name.