I’m not really sure on the title and I’m not sure if this has already been asked but I’m curious… what are the names you like but you dislike / wouldn’t use because of how it’s pronounced in your country or even just if you prefer another pronunciation?
For example: I’m Australian and I wouldn’t use the name [name_u]Rocky[/name_u] with the Australian pronunciation but I always thought it sounded so cool when Americans say [name_u]Rocky[/name_u].
Similarly with any -er ending names (like [name_u]Parker[/name_u], [name_u]Carter[/name_u], Walker), I personally think these names sound so much nicer with the prominent -er ending rather than the ‘uh’ sound when these names are said here.
So what names do you like except for how they’re pronounced in your accent?
This is a little different, but I love Spanish girl names when pronounced in Spanish! I do actually speak Spanish, so I can pronounce them well, but I live most of the time in [name_f]Canada[/name_f], where they would be constantly said the [name_f]English[/name_f] way. So it’s not that I don’t love them in my accent, I just don’t like them being said the way that everyone else in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] would pronounce them.
A couple examples are:
[name_f]Margarita[/name_f]
[name_f]Allegra[/name_f]
[name_f]Mariposa[/name_f]
[name_u]Carmen[/name_u]
[name_u]Alma[/name_u]
As a Canadian, I feel that I don’t really have an accent (because the way we talk is mostly a mix of [name_f]British[/name_f] and American,) but I guess I do. I actually like most names pronounced in my accent the best (I also like the R at the end, and only recently realized that the [name_f]British[/name_f] said EL-en-nuh for EL-uh-nor. I always thought they were just saying Elena.)
Oh, one thing is that I really like [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] variants said with a [name_f]British[/name_f] accent, like: [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], Lilibath, [name_f]Elspeth[/name_f], etc…I think the repetitive Ls sound so cute with that accent!
I don’t think it’s ruined, but I do love how the way [name_f]Ginevra[/name_f] sounds when spoken by Italians - if I try to say it as such, it sounds a bit silly/like I’m mocking.
In my accent, certain sounds in words just disappear (yep, there’s no R in [name_u]Parker[/name_u] for me). This is annoying with some of my favourite names ending in T because the T sound is hidden, meaning it is there but it is very hard to hear, so [name_u]Merit[/name_u] sounds like [name_f]Merri[/name_f] and [name_m]Art[/name_m] sounds like [name_m]Ah[/name_m].
I like my accent for names like [name_u]Parker[/name_u] and [name_f]Clara[/name_f] (clah-ruh).
Back to the topic, it’s not so much pronounciation but more how it comes out of my mouth. I like [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] but when I tried saying it (when i was younger), it came out like a jumble of mess. I also like the pronounciation of [name_f]Cosima[/name_f] that isn’t English/British (I forgot the languages and emphasis on syllables and I’m not looking it up again), and I’m [name_f]English[/name_f] so it feels a little weird.
[name_u]George[/name_u] & [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] — They both sound so classy in an [name_f]English[/name_f] accent, but not so much in my American accent.
I thought the name [name_f]Soleil[/name_f] was beautiful and wanted to use it for my dog! Then I learned it was sow-lay instead of so-leigh and I didn’t love it as much.
This is a bit of a deviation from the question, but there is a name I loathe in american english, but I find it tolerable in british english: [name_m]Bernard[/name_m]. The emphasis on “NARRRD” in my accent (american) sounds so gross.
But when the brits say it, I don’t mind it as much.
[name_m]Rupert[/name_m] is similar in this regard.
What you’re describing are names whose pronunciation differs based on whether the accent is rhotic (all r’s are pronounced) or non-rhotic (r’s pronounced only when followed by a vowel sound). A lot of people find names with heavy “consonant clusters” a bit clunky under present fashions, and in the case of names like [name_m]Bernard[/name_m] and [name_m]Rupert[/name_m] not pronouncing the r-followed-by-a-consonant eliminates the clusters.
An example of a name where the converse applies (sounds better with a rhotic pronunciation IMO) is one of my early favorites - [name_f]Kirsten[/name_f] (especially with my preferred “ear” pronunciation).
I LOVE the name [name_u]Basil[/name_u], but with the bah-sil pronunciation and not my American bay-sil pronunciation.
Same with the name [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f]— zhahn-vee-ev is SO PRETTY but I dislike the gen-uh-veev pronunciation that most people here would give it (I think it stems for my dislike of the nickname Jen/Jenny, which people would most likely naturally go with).