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Baby names

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Original poster

Name spelling rules

170 replies

AngSam · 21/02/2020 17:06

I have a question. Are there any rules on spelling and pronouncing names? How about correcting people on how to spell and pronounce names, would you bother?
Example, girl named Joan (general pronouncing sounds like John) but her is Jo An?
Or Laura not Lora but LAUra
Your thoughts?

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strawberrylipgloss · 22/02/2020 20:37

Isn't it only Americans who pronounce Louis as Lewis?

MikeUniformMike · 22/02/2020 20:30

In the UK it is usually Louis pronounced Louie.

Lavenderblues · 22/02/2020 20:28

Louie is pronounce Lou- eee Not Lewis

Of course! But Louis is often pronounced Lou-is.

MikeUniformMike · 22/02/2020 19:50

Joan is pronounced like that if it is a Portuguese man's name.

The woman I'm thinking of it elderly and Welsh and it's just how she says it. Similarly, I can think of Margarets who say Magret, Mary said as Merry, Ruth said as Rewth. I think it is just a regional thing.

A life of correcting people is a PITA. People don't like being corrected, and if you are Sarah pronounced Sara, how were they supposed to know.

I post frequently on Welsh names. If you have a name like Geraint or Eirlys you will get it mispronounced very frequently. Both are very nice names but don't work that well outside Wales. There was a Geraint on Pointless a few years ago, and Alexander Armstrong called him Guh-rant all through the show. When Geraint Thomas was on the news a lot, his name was mangled quite a lot.

I heard someone on R4 call Nia Griffith Nigh-ah Griffith. Nia is a very popular name and pronounce Knee-ah. Other mispronunciations of Nia I've heard are Nigh and Nina.

Original poster
AngSam · 22/02/2020 16:34

@MikeUniformMike so there is Joan pronounced Jo-An, maybe it's not as bad as my aunt says 🤷‍♀️
I know someone named Sara but gets mistaken with Sarah.
But I do agree with life of correcting people, it can be frustrating.

OP posts:
Disfordarkchocolate · 22/02/2020 15:52

Poor Joan, why not just call he Joanne.

eddiemairswife · 22/02/2020 15:46

I sit on school appeals. We see some amazing spellings of names.

Biancadelrioisback · 22/02/2020 15:45

I have a very normal name with a very normal and traditional spelling.
People always ask me how I spell my name "incase I spell it differently" and that's because so many people use fucking stupid spellings for no reason!

FthisS · 22/02/2020 15:44

In my daughters class there is an Emielea yep pronounced Emily. Also I once knew someone with a Molly but spelt Moleie Confused

GreenTulips · 22/02/2020 15:37

Louie is pronounce Lou- eee Not Lewis

If you want Lewis name them that

EggysMom · 22/02/2020 15:32

A life of correcting people? I knew a Sian pronounced as cyan.

dementedpixie · 22/02/2020 15:28

I'm in Scotland and would say Loo-ee for Louis

Lavenderblues · 22/02/2020 15:25

A nursery parent shrieked at me because I said Louis to a child whose name tag was Louis. ( My first day)
It’s LEWIS...LEWIS!! she screamed.
Well you’ve spelt it Louis. What do you expect people to say?

Louis is pronounced Lou-is in almost all countries outside of France! It's very popular in Germany (pronounced Lou-is) for example and Americans call the city in Missouri St Lou-is!

MikeUniformMike · 22/02/2020 15:07

Lora and Laura do not give the same sound.
I do know of a Joan pronounced JO-ann but that's a phonetic pronunciation.
The usual pronunciation is to rhyme with Bone not Bon.

NeverGotMyPuppy · 22/02/2020 15:01

I see. I think if they r going to do that then they are committing ther child to a life of correcting people

Original poster
AngSam · 22/02/2020 14:58

@NeverGotMyPuppy my question was to get an opinion about 'made up' names, when people spell or pronounce the way they wish to. As an example I used the name Joan that the parents want to make equal to Joanne, as if it's the same name.
Or like Emmalie to pronounce Emily etc.

OP posts:
NeverGotMyPuppy · 22/02/2020 14:17

Maybe I've misunderstood but it sounds like she is perfectly correct. If you want a child's name to be pronounced Joanne then call her Joanne, not Joan.
I might be missing something here!

bridgetreilly · 22/02/2020 09:23

To rhyme with Joan, I think! It was a while ago, though.

duvetneeded · 22/02/2020 04:40

@bridgetreilly please come back and tell me which way the author said it's pronounced!!!Grin

Original poster
AngSam · 21/02/2020 20:13

june2007 surely it is the same name, but is 'made up' name ok? 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Original poster
AngSam · 21/02/2020 20:01

People choose to spell or pronounce name differently to make it unique or unusual? I don't know 🤔. Maybe it's better to use common sense and not to make child's life more difficult.
Surely in different languages you might pronounce Joan with an a but not likely in UK.

OP posts:
eddiemairswife · 21/02/2020 18:59

When I learnt RE at school it was Moses and Aaron ( pronounced Airon), but nowadays it seems to have morphed into the Arron pronunciation.

june2007 · 21/02/2020 18:24

Ok think of Lucia. You cn say it the Spanish way. (Luthia) The English way. (luseea) or the itallian way (Luchia). SAme name.

RedRec · 21/02/2020 18:20

One of the many reasons I left my arse of a husband was that he took it upon himself to tell people how to pronounce their own names. For example, we knew an Aaron. He and everyone else pronounced it Arran. Arse-face insisted it should be prounounced Airran.

somewhereovertherainbow2 · 21/02/2020 18:16

By the way my daughters name is Isobel.. husbands half Scottish Grin probably outed myself!

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