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Original poster

Pronouncing baby's name wrong

234 replies

MrsLeighHalfpenny · 15/10/2017 07:58

Friend has had a baby girl - Anaïs.

Lovely name, but they pronounce it Annay, and not An-eye-ees.

I saw it written down before I heard them say it, and said “I love the name Anaïs” to the grandmother (also my friend). She told me that that’s not how it should be pronounced.

Should I explain what a diaeresis is for?

OP posts:
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TheNotSoGoodWife · 15/10/2017 20:07

I’ve known 2 Anais’s - one pronounced as An-nay and the other as An-eye-ees.

I just assumed it was one of those names with several pronunciations and went with how they pronounced it.

NoCryLilSoftSoft · 15/10/2017 20:05

Cringe! I would have to tell the parents they are saying and spelling two different names. (Not sure if annay is a name?) surely when you are considering baby names from another language you listen to the pronunciation on google? Confused

BuzzKillington · 15/10/2017 20:05

spelt*

FuzzyOwl · 15/10/2017 20:04

I think that, no matter how much it might grate, if a parent has decided a name is pronounced a certain way, then that is the way that child's name is said. It might be pronounced differently to everyone else who has the same spelling but ultimately the correct way is the way that the parents have chosen.

BuzzKillington · 15/10/2017 20:03

OMG - that's just idiotic.

Annay? Shock

They really should've split it Annay, unless they want to subject her to a lifetime of having to explain her parents' idiocy.

MikeUniformMike · 15/10/2017 20:00

I'd pronounce Noel Nole but if it was in relation to Christmas, I'd pronounce it No EL

TatianaLarina · 15/10/2017 19:48

It doesn’t actually matter that it’s a French name.

We all know what diaereses signify in English - as people have given examples -

Chloë
Zoë
Naïve
Noël
Brontë

Everyone knows how to pronounce those words.

If you use a name that uses a diaeresis, surely you figure out the pronounciation first, if you don’t already know?

Heratnumber7 · 15/10/2017 18:45

How about Noël then, everyone who says annay is ok. How would you pronounce Noël? Hmm??Hmm

FindTheLightSwitchDarren · 15/10/2017 18:09

m.youtube.com/watch?v=PT3ybznWhjw

It's Ann-eye-yees / Ann-a-yees in this one.

I have a degree in French and also used to live in Paris. It is not pronounced annay in any French accent I've heard. That's not to say the people in the op are forbidden from calling their dc annay if they like. They can call their son bob and pronounce it Greg if they like!

Uptheduffy · 15/10/2017 16:32

I am sure I have heard an advert for the perfume saying annay annay. Would google it but WiFi weak.

FindTheLightSwitchDarren · 15/10/2017 16:24

It's definitely Ann-eye-yees or maybe Ann-a-yees. So is the perfume.

That said, I'd probably just humour them. It's such a lovely name when pronounced the traditional French way though. Probably not worth saying that now the baby is here though.

Ttbb · 15/10/2017 15:55

With a name like that I highly doubt that she will ever find herself a large francophone community/people who actually speak properly. If that's how they want to pronounce it then humour them.

daisypond · 15/10/2017 15:52

Whereas some names may have varying pronunciations validly - such as Eva (Ee-va or the more continental Ay-va), or Marlene (Marl-een or the more Germanic Marl-eh-na), Anais, with or without the dots, can really only be pronounced one way - An-eye-ees. It's a bit like the no doubt apocryphal story, but told to me by my gran years ago, about someone reading the name Guy in a book, calling their baby after it but pronouncing it Goo-ee.

ladybirdsaredotty · 15/10/2017 14:25

I'm not sure I could have resisted a disingenuous 'oh silly me! I always thought it was Ann-eye-ees because the 2 dots over the i separate out the letter sounds!' but this is just the sort of thing that annoys me, probably unreasonably Wink

DiegoMadonna · 15/10/2017 13:09

I wouldn't say anything since it doesn't serve any purpose other than making yourself feel better.

I would inwardly despair at how ignorant the British are of foreign languages though (as I am doing right now having read this thread)

NinonDeLenclos · 15/10/2017 12:10

Why are the British so clueless over foreign names? This is up there with Beau for a girl.

That half the thread also gets it wrong doesn't make it right.

How do you pronounce naïve? Nave?

NapQueen · 15/10/2017 11:29

Isnt it just like Esme. Some say Es May. Some say Es Me.

Annay. Ann Eye Ees.

Door Een. D'Reen.

GEORGE Eena
G'jeena

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 15/10/2017 10:43

Call her darling Wink

LavenderDoll · 15/10/2017 10:40

Why would you need tact? Just pronounce the name they way they family have said it is to be pronounced.
Put your foot In it? Why would you - they pronounce it Annay it's not difficult to remember

KarateKitten · 15/10/2017 10:39

OP just learn that it's Annay, it will take you 3 minutes effort. Then you won't 'put your (slightly righteous) foot in it'.

KarateKitten · 15/10/2017 10:38

I'd say Annay.

So the takeaway is that the parents are sufficiently (as in enough people should say the same) right for you to just go with it OP.

cushioncovers · 15/10/2017 10:35

An nay is how I would say it.

Original poster
MrsLeighHalfpenny · 15/10/2017 10:34

Perfume is Anaïs Anaïs too, not annay annay.

I’m verging on keeping my mouth shut, which will be fine as long as I never actually have to address the child by name, or refer to her by name. Might get away with that. (the GM is my friend really, not the child’s DM).

Hope the girl learns Spanish instead of French in school!

Oh god - I’m bound to put my foot in it at some point. I’m not known for my tact either

OP posts:
daisypond · 15/10/2017 10:28

It's definitely An-eye-ees - and for the perfume too, as people have said. That's what those dots mean. And even if the name doesn't have them on the letter I, you'd still pronounce it that way - just like Chloe or Zoe used to carry them (Chloë and Zoë). We don't say Klo or Zo. A standard "ais" ending in French is pronounced a bit like "eh", but that doesn't apply here.

stevensupersquirrel · 15/10/2017 09:22

^Anais anais tv ad....

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