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Original poster

How would you say Ceri? And would you know how to spell it?

110 replies

OfficerMeowMeowFuzzyface · 27/02/2018 14:37

Considering this as a girl's name, but worried that it'll be constantly mis-spelt/mispronounced (we don't live in Wales). Thoughts, please?

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ImaCeri · 07/03/2018 08:32

My name is never mentioned on anything ever!!!
(Including mugs and pens, OP. Note the bitter tone...)
I like how it is spelt, but as a non Wales dweller nowadays, I bloody hate it. I don't think it sounds nice anyway, but I am constantly called something else: cherry, Seree, Se-ree, See-ry. I've had people tell me I have spelt it wrongly!
It screams 1970s to me. Which I am. My friend growing up was Eleri - why couldn't I have been an Eleri?
Oh and my parents liked Ceri because "it couldn't be shortened". I'm known universally by all my friends as "Ce".

Hushabyelullaby · 06/03/2018 20:41

I went to junior school with a female Ceri (in SE England), and when I was in a job where I had to write people's names on a form, i'd always ask if it was with a K or a C.

If i'd never come across it though I can see why it could be mistaken for the Seri pronunciation.

Buxbaum · 02/03/2018 18:36

Mind you, I know a Clara who pronounces it Claire-ah

That’s perfectly legitimate. It was the traditional English pn until the European klah-ra became the norm. See also the switch of Sophia and Maria from sof-eye-a and mah-rye-a to so-fee-a and ma-ree-a.

MikeUniformMike · 01/03/2018 17:37

Ceri is pronounced Kerry. Ceridwen is very dated and not in a nice way.

KanyeWesticle · 01/03/2018 16:37

I'd have said Carey, rather than Kerry - but very close. I'd know it was welsh.

vitaminC · 01/03/2018 16:21

I know a Welsh Ceri, so know how it's pronounced, but prior to meeting her I would have assumed it was pronounced "siree" - like the beginning of cerise!

As for Sarah/Sara, the spelling with the h is a more accurate transliteration of the Hebrew שרה, but the other spelling is common in many languages and pronounced like Zara/Lara (again, closer to the original Hebrew!).

In the UK until the mid-late 70s, both were pronounced the anglicised way. At some point in the 70s, the more European pronunciation of Sara became fashionable, with that spelling, as a more "unique" version of what, at the time, was a very ubiquitous name.

Blaablaablaa · 01/03/2018 15:59

It's Kerry ...the Welsh spelling

DullAndOld · 01/03/2018 15:45

to be honest I had never seen this version of the name until I went to a Welsh university..
So any Anglophones who thinks it is Cherry or Serry are excused...:)

DullAndOld · 01/03/2018 15:42

like Kerry but with more of an 'i' sound at the end, if that makes sense...:)

Sevendown · 01/03/2018 15:42

Kerry

VanessaBet · 01/03/2018 15:41

Aah yes, good thinking squoosh. So Italian type pronunciation then.

squoosh · 01/03/2018 14:36

Cello has a ch sound so maybe that's where they get the idea of cherry.

VanessaBet · 01/03/2018 14:34

I'm from Wales so know it's pronounced Kerry. I can kind of see where people are getting Serri from - but how do you get Cherry? Is c a CH sound in Ireland or something?

SingaSong12 · 01/03/2018 14:28

If someone told me their name was Kerry (and pronounced rhyme with Ferry) my instinct would be to spell as Kerry.

SingaSong12 · 01/03/2018 14:25

I've never heard or seen the name before. I wouldn't know if it was a boy or girl. Before I read the thread I I would have wavered between pronouncing it Seri or Kerry and would have plumped for Seri.

UsernameInvalid66 · 01/03/2018 14:20

I'm not American and I'd never met anybody who
didn't pronounce Sara the same as Sarah until I was about 30. I thought they were just different spellings of the same thing, like Clare/Claire. Maybe which way people pronounce Sara is regional.

For what it's worth, I knew that Ceri is pronounced like Kerry.

CircleofWillis · 01/03/2018 12:23

I’ve seen the name but never heard it pronounced so have always read it as “Cherry”.

Pemba · 01/03/2018 00:20

But Ceri is a different name, I think it's a different origin to Kerry, it's just a coincidence that they sound the same. Ceri is a Welsh name and looks much nicer written down than Kerry. I'm surprised more of you don't seem to have heard of it.

DreamingOfAHotBeach · 28/02/2018 14:00

It's said as Kerry. I would stick with the more common spelling, Kerry.

Bimbler · 28/02/2018 11:57

Maybe that's an accent /pronunciation thing though.

Nope.

CatsForgotPassword · 28/02/2018 11:45

Kerry.

I’d see Ceri and know how to say it, but if I heard “Ceri” I’d probably spell it Kerry. If she said Ceri with a C I’d know exactly how to spell it.

flowery · 28/02/2018 11:31

"Maybe that's an accent /pronunciation thing though. Lots of words with an a in are pronounced that way in America."

"Bath, grant, can't etc"

I, and the Sara's I know who pronounce it Sarah, are in SE England, where bath, grant, can't all rhyme with bar and car.

BeverlyHillsBillie · 28/02/2018 11:07

Maybe that's an accent /pronunciation thing though. Lots of words with an a in are pronounced that way in America.

Bath, grant, can't etc.

Sadmum23 · 28/02/2018 11:06

My daughter is a Keri , but usually gets spelt Kerry or Kerri. If l was to write the name l would check spelling

flowery · 28/02/2018 11:04

I know a couple of Sara's, both pronounce it Sarah.

I would pronounce Ceri like Kerry because I used to know someone with the name.