Is commonly pronounced more than one way? [name_m]How[/name_m] about if you liked both pronunciations? Would you commit to one and correct people if they thought it was said like the other?
Any thoughts are helpful, thanks!
Personally, no. I’m avoiding names that might cause confusion. Presumably s/he would eventually settle on one pronunciation, even if you were open to both. Then s/he would be left with a lifetime of correcting people.
This has actually limited my choice of baby names. My husband and I are from different countries, both English-speaking but with different accents. The challenge is finding names that are pronounced in the same way by both of us!
I wouldn’t. Many names have been kicked off our list for having more than one pronunciation; I try to stick to straightforward spelling/pronunciations.
I recently looked into DH family tree and one of the girls names on the list we liked was [name_f]Aida[/name_f]. I thought it was pronounced like [name_f]Ada[/name_f] but on further research it pronounced eye-ee-dah or eye-dah (ida). I asked a few family members and they all said different things!
If we use the name (I want to drop the ‘i’) and just use [name_f]Ada[/name_f], it’s easy to spell and pronounce, rather than having to correct people all the time.
I have two girls I know with the name [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f]. One pronounces it [name_m]AH[/name_m]-lee-ah and the other ah-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-ah. I know they find it frustrating to always correct the pronounciation but at the same time they are both adamant about which they prefer. Their parents correct others without a problem except for one time where someone was pushy about the “correct” pronounciation but they said “That might be the case but it’s not her name”. I think it comes down to whether it bugs you. For me, my Irish name has lots of pronounciation issues but I don’t find it a problem - I love my name! However, for another person it’s a crushing social problem.
For me, I would think carefully about giving a name with different pronounciations but if it fit and DH and I loved it then I probably would.
I love [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], but one of the reasons it’s not on my top list (the names in my signature), is because I prefer the -TEEN ending.
However the -[name_f]TINE[/name_f] ending is the norm in the US, and I don’t think it would be fair to bestow it on a future daughter, for her to only have to keep saying “no I pronounce mine as clem-en-TEEN.”
I will use it if:
- The difference is subtle (at least for me). I have [name_f]Rosalind[/name_f] on my list. Many people pronounce it [name_f]Roz[/name_f]-, the rest prefers [name_f]Rose[/name_f]-. I think it’s not an issue.
- I (and people close to me) clearly prefer one pronunciation to the other to avoid the confusion. If my kid travels to places and people call her the locally preferred pronunciation of her name, I don’t mind. I wouldn’t even bother correcting them.
I know a girl named [name_f]Sonya[/name_f]. I asked her how she pronounces her name, S-[name_m]AH[/name_m]-[name_f]NYA[/name_f] or S-OWN-YA and she said either way. It didn’t seem to bother her much and she answered to both.
I don’t mind using a name with different pronunciations if I prefer the more common pronunciation, if that makes sense. I wouldn’t use a name if I preferred an unusual pronunciation because I’d be annoyed at having to correct people forever.
We dropped [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] from our list because I like the pronunciation au-[name_u]RAY[/name_u]-lee-ah (from the [name_m]French[/name_m] name Aurélie) but when I asked a few people how they said it, most said au-REEL-ya or au-REEL-ee-ah, neither of which I like (and the latter reminded DH of the word ‘orally’ which put him off!)
If you love the name and won’t be annoyed about correcting people or people using different pronunciations, go for it. Obviously there will be one version that you and family members use which will be the “correct” version but you can decide how important it is to correct other of it. People who know her well will figure it out.
I would never think of [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] as being pronounced Au-reel-ya. :-o Good to know!
Thanks for all the feedback everyone, it’s helped me. 