LOL! [name_f]My[/name_f] name is pronounced (uh-nuhn-yah).
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In my area, we have a huge Spanish-speaking population. The J is pronounced as an H. Names such as [name_m]Javier[/name_m] are not pronounced Javi-air, but are pronounced as Havi-air for lack of a better way to spell out the break down. This may be what’s happening here with the pronunciation Hoy.
Can I ask the two of you the same question? Would you be happy for me to include a quote from your response and your first name in a blog post based on the issue of name pronunciation? I love how much emotion is in your posts!
I can’t promise that everyone I’ve asked will be featured (for space reasons, I’d love to include them all) but I won’t include anyone’s name unless I have permission.
Thank you 
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Aye to rhyme with [name_u]Day[/name_u], right? Thanks!
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Oh yeah, I speak Spanish and I did live in a Spanish speaking town as well. So I get the J sounds like an H, but the people who were trying to pronounce my name just couldn’t get the J. Like they couldn’t say other J words very well either, so adding double vowels just killed it for them!
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Oy vey!
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Yes, that’s totally okay with me! 
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Thank you for this video/article!
I love that Dr. Kohli recognizes that names aren’t inherently difficult to pronounce, but instead could be difficult to pronounce for some people. There is a context, a home or a neighborhood where the names some struggle with are normal, meaningful and embraced, therefore the names aren’t wrong or need to be corrected. Instead, it’s the environment that distortions or ignores a person’s name what needs to be addressed.
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I am so sorry that this has been your experience 
.
It saddens me to say that I can think of more than a few people in the community where we live who would try very hard for an [name_f]English[/name_f] sounding name and be completely unbothered with other pronunciations. [name_f]My[/name_f] name is [name_f]Nina[/name_f]. It’s not short for something else, it’s just old, uncomplicated [name_f]Nina[/name_f], and people have asked me how to pronounce it out of courtesy and consideration. Meanwhile, members of the [name_f]Asian[/name_f] and [name_f]Asian[/name_f]-American community in this area are still picking [name_f]English[/name_f] names to go by because it is unthinkable that people would try to integrate their birth names into a conversation.
It’s really disappointing. I hope you can insist on the proper pronunciation of your name more often. You deserve nothing less.
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That’s so wrong. I’m sorry that you’ve been asked this and made to feel like you had to agree to keep the peace.
Hopefully, this practice can be replaced for a respectful and dutiful effort to pronounce everyone’s names.
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Thank you, [name_f]Celes[/name_f]. Your post made me smile and cringe at the same time, you wrote about it so vividly.
Exactly! That’s why I put “difficult” in quote marks above — they’re not “difficult”, of course, but are often characterised as such by people who struggle to pronounce them. It’s all relative.
This post will be up on the blog later today. Thank you all so much for your input and for sharing your stories!
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This hasnt happened to me but my cousin, who was born in the U.K. but has lived in the Netherlands since she was a child. She has recently had a baby with a [name_m]Dutch[/name_m] man. They names their baby G o o s. Apparently it’s a [name_m]Dutch[/name_m] nickname/short name and it’s pronounced with a phlegmy G/H sound. I am practising like a maniac to try and pronounce it, to honour the parents’ choice and respect his heritage. Other family members, however, have made digs saying they should have remembered her [name_f]English[/name_f] family and given him a name they could pronounce (preferably [name_f]English[/name_f]). They refuse to learn his name and refer to him by his middle name.
I feel sorry for him. His first language won’t be [name_f]English[/name_f] so when he does come over to visit he will probably be confused as to why everyone is calling him by a different name. I also imagine my cousin won’t be impressed by the lack of effort put in to pronounce her child’s name.
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@katinka Great article! Now if only it could become required reading – show people exactly why it is important to not just brush off names due to it being “outside their norm”.
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Thank you both! 
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yeah, I am okay with that! [name_m]Just[/name_m] my first name though please 
I pronounce it eh-LEH-nuh
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oh oops I’m too late sory!
Sorry! Gorgeous name though 
I prefer it your way to eh-LAY-nah.
My daughter’s middle name ([name_f]Helena[/name_f]) is pronounced similarly, but with first-syllable stress. I’m not a huge fan of the LAY version of that either!
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Helena is such and amazing name, as are all the names you have chosen for your kids!!
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