I thought I’ve heard it all. [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] as Hermy-own, [name_f]Calliope[/name_f] as Cantaloupe, [name_u]Piper[/name_u] as [name_u]Pepper[/name_u], and [name_f]Jillian[/name_f] as [name_u]Julian[/name_u].
But today, me and a friend of mine were discussing a name over text.
And that name was Geyser. (As in, the hot spring.)
Here is exactly what happened:
Me: What do you think about the name Geyser?
Me: Is it too much?
[name_u]Friend[/name_u]: What?
[name_u]Friend[/name_u]: Like…
[name_u]Friend[/name_u]: “[name_u]Gay[/name_u]-sir”?
I have never laughed so hard over a name mispronunciation.
That got me wondering, what hilarious/horrible mispronunciations have you heard, Berries?
Well, I’ve been called Chandelier more than once Other than the first three letters and the facts that it’s 3 syllables, it’s nowhere near close to my name. I’ve also been called [name_f]Cinnamon[/name_f], [name_f]Chantal[/name_f], [name_f]Chantelle[/name_f], [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f]. Some of these were mispronunciations, some where mis-rememberings of my name.
I get called [name_f]Cerys[/name_f] a lot by non-Welsh people or speakers. It used to annoy me so much but it’s happened so often that I’ll respond to it now because I’m fed up of always correcting people.
I’ve also been called [name_u]Chris[/name_u] before, but in their defence, [name_f]English[/name_f] is their second language and it was practically non-existent at the time.
Also, the first time I met someone called [name_f]Niamh[/name_f], she pronounced it nye-muh. She was Somali so I don’t know if this is a horrible mispronunciation or if it’s a different name that is spelt the same but pronounced differently.
The second person I knew called [name_f]Niamh[/name_f] (pr. [name_f]Neve[/name_f]) would usually be called [name_f]Nim[/name_f], and she’d always respond “it’s neve. It’s Irish”
My mother’s name is [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f], so I’ve heard almost all of the mispronunciations for that, but my favourites are probably the classic see-oh-bu-han and a stand-out Shaileen.
In my experience any girl’s name with a “kay” sound at the beginning will be horribly confused with any and all vaguely similar sounding names. [name_f]Caitlyn[/name_f] will be called [name_f]Kayla[/name_f], [name_f]Kayla[/name_f] will be called [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f], etc
My (white) Spanish teacher once refused to believe that my brother’s name ([name_u]Sean[/name_u]) wasn’t pronounced the same as the third person subjunctive form of ser. To be fair, they are spelled the same, but still, it’s a pretty common name.
One name that I’ve never said out loud because I’m certain I’d get it wrong is [name_f]Isolde[/name_f]. If someone wants to clue me in I’d appreciate it because I think it looks beautiful.
My name is [name_f]Bethan[/name_f]… Pronounced [name_f]Beth[/name_f]-un or [name_f]Beth[/name_f]-an (short an like ‘An hour’ or like in [name_f]Bethany[/name_f] but without the ‘ee’ sound at the end.) I get [name_f]Beth[/name_f] [name_u]Anne[/name_u] a lot, with the pause, as if it’s two seperate names. Which isn’t that bad. But I have also gotten [name_f]Beth[/name_f]-in and [name_f]Bee[/name_f]-than from non Welsh speakers. The worst ones though have been [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] - someone just straight up thinking my name was [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_m]Ethan[/name_m], and [name_m]Nathan[/name_m]… which just suggests they didn’t read or hear my name correctly. But yeah they perplexed me the most.
My daughter is [name_f]Caelyn[/name_f] ([name_u]Kay[/name_u]-lin) and for the most part people ask how to say it if they aren’t sure. But she’s received all sorts such as [name_f]Karen[/name_f], [name_f]Karla[/name_f], [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] (which is understandable). But the most bizarre one I have heard is Cah-[name_f]Ellen[/name_f].
@futuremama It’s cah-riss. Cah as in cat without the t. Riss rhymes with bliss, kiss, etc.
I understand that Americans tend to pronounce it care-iss which is actually closer to how u’d say [name_f]Cerys[/name_f] than [name_f]Carys[/name_f]
My daughter is [name_f]Margot[/name_f] and, you know, it’s a pretty popular name now with a solid history behind it, I thought the pronunciation would be clear. But nope! Pretty much every time she has a doctor or hospital appointment she gets called as [name_f]Mar[/name_f]-gott. Which I know is the [name_m]German[/name_m] pronunciation - we have [name_m]German[/name_m] friends and I’m happy for them to say it that way - but that’s definitely not why people in the UK are saying it!
I’ve also heard [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f], [name_f]Cecile[/name_f], [name_f]Celeste[/name_f], [name_f]Delia[/name_f] etc etc for my own name.