Anna

[SuedeEffectPochette]

Is this name pronounced different in England and America? I would say Anna rhymes with spanner but watching Frozen it seems to be more like "Arna" in that film....

[NadiaWadia]

Well only in as much as most words are pronounced differently in an American accent?

[looki]

Anna doesn't rhyme with 'spanner'.....how could it. It doesn't end with 'er'. Are you joking?

[SuedeEffectPochette]

I was wondering if they used "arna" to make it sound scandinavian or if that was the usual way to say the name in N America.....

[theowlwhowasafraidofthedark]

Ana is from the Norwegian setting I think

[SuedeEffectPochette]

Are you joking looki?! Anna does rhyme with spanner!

[SuedeEffectPochette]

Ah - I see from the Anya thread that N Americans tend to pronounce "An" as "Awn" so I guess that's just how you say Anna in N America.... I quite like it said that way, but I guess in UK you'd just spend all your time correcting people if you insisted on this!

[looki]

I'm totally lost. How does 'a' rhyme with 'er'?

[thegreatgatsby101]

It's the sound that makes it rhyme!
You say Anna in the same way you say Spanner (it just so happens that it isn't spelt Spanna)

Btw, gorgeous name!

[looki]

I don't pronounce spanner as spanna though. Maybe it' depends on accents.

[CaipirinhasAllRound]

Anna def rhymes with spanner, tis my sister's name and never pronounced an-na, always an-ner

[looki]

Def a regional thing. Everyone I know pronounces Anna as An...na except for cousins on Manchester. I've never ever heard it pronounced to rhyme with spanner.

[squoosh]

It's all accent dependent, to me Anna and spanner sound nothing alike. I pronounce Anna as ann-a, I pronounce spanner as spa-nurr.

Pasta is pronounced poh-sta in America, maybe some people do the same with Anna.

[Enidosaurus]

Anna and spanner rhyme in my London accent. It's a beautiful name. Was on our list for DD

[wigglesrock]

I have one & it rhymes with banana.

When we went to see Frozen my other daughters took the piss out of "our Anna" because of the way it was pronounced in the film. It was like Awna.

[mummytime]

I pronounce Anna as Ann-a, and Spanner as spann-a.
Spa-nurr looks more West midlands to me.

I think the film pronounciation is a toned down scandanavian, which sounds more Ann-na to me.

[Writerwannabe83]

Anna rhymes with spanner

And is one of my favourite girl's names

[squoosh]

Spanner pronounced spann-a looks very Alfie Moon to me.

[squoosh]

spa-nurr is the correct pronunciation I would venture, seeing as the word ends in 'er'.

[JuanFernandezTitTyrant]

I am in a position to rule authoritatively on this issue.

Anna is a wonderful name that rhymes with spanner. I should know, I spent my primary years being called "Spanner [other DIY implement that rhymes with my surname]".

I have never heard it pronounced Ar-na.

[wigglesrock]

I say it like you squoosh. Spanner rhymes with banner, er like cleaner, finer, Winter.

[squoosh]

I think not pronouncing the 'er' in words is a South of England thing. The amount of time on MN I've seen people refer to a 'chest of draws'................

[DramaAlpaca]

In my northern English accent Anna rhymes with spanner.

In my DH's Irish accent Anna most definitely doesn't rhyme with spannurr.

It definitely depends on accent.

It's one of my favourite names either way.

[looki]

If you pronounce spanner as spanna, do you pronounce Harper as Harpa?

[flipflopsonfifthavenue]

my friend Anna is nicknamed Spanner.

I think that proves CONCLUSIVELY that it ryhmes ;)

[mummytime]

Nope er can code in my accent for: er/a sound or ir or ur, harper is more Harp-ur I think.