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Original poster

How Do You Pronounce These?

35 replies

sunyla · 01/10/2020 11:59

I recently heard Elijah pronounced different to how it's usually is and it made me think of how some people pronounce Maya - My-ah and others pronounce it May-ah.

So for fun, how do you pronounce these names and what other names often get different pronunciations?

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pinkpinecone · 06/10/2020 14:11

Eli-ja and My-a

itsjakeandamy · 06/10/2020 13:40

El-EYE-juh
MY-uh

Original poster
sunyla · 06/10/2020 10:16

By Sh, I meant soft J. My bad!

OP posts:
Original poster
sunyla · 06/10/2020 10:13

@AuntyPasta Yes! I wasn't sure how to write it. Grin

OP posts:
bridgetreilly · 04/10/2020 12:32

Ell eye jah
Ell eye shah
May ah

mathanxiety · 03/10/2020 21:02

Alicia can also be pronounced Ah-LISS-ee-ah.

I would pronounce Marcia Marsha.

AegonT · 03/10/2020 20:40

Marcia = MAR-sha
Alicia = ah-LEE-sha

AegonT · 03/10/2020 20:38

MY-ah
eh-LIE-juh

TheFormerPorpentinaScamander · 02/10/2020 15:23

@QueenOfToast the Marcia I knew was pronounced Mar see uh.
I also know someone called Marsha which is pronounced Marsha.

QueenOfToast · 02/10/2020 15:15

I always struggle with:

Marcia
Alicia

I think they're supposed to be pronounced:

Marsha
Aleesha

I always want to say:

Mars-i-ya
Alis-i-ya

Any help with these two would be much appreciated!

BreconBeBuggered · 02/10/2020 15:05

I always liked Marisa, but whenever I heard it out loud it was pronounced Marissa. I wasn't having that, so I gave birth to male children.
Mya
Eh-lie-jah

Snow234 · 02/10/2020 15:00

My-ah for Mya
May-ah for Maya

E-lie-jah for Elijah

I love the name Mya
But my Dp kept pronouncing it May-ah and it put me of thinking others would lol

Grufallosfriends · 02/10/2020 14:45

Elijah is el-eye-ya

Elisha is el-ish-a

Maya is May-a

FenellaMaxwell · 02/10/2020 07:19

ill-eye-juh because that’s how Elijah Wood pronounces it and that was my first frame of reference Grin Same with Maya: My-ah because that’s how the first one I knew pronounced her own name.

mathanxiety · 02/10/2020 06:25

Ell-EYE-jah. Usual English J, not 'sh'.
MY-ah

MrsBungle · 01/10/2020 22:30

El eye jah

May ah

Firebird83 · 01/10/2020 22:28

Elijah is el-eye-jah. Elisha is el-eye-sha

Lightningrain · 01/10/2020 22:17

El-eye -jah with a hard j
My-ah like the Mexican Mayans

SentientAndCognisant · 01/10/2020 22:07

My-ahh
E-lie-Jah

JanewaysBun · 01/10/2020 22:03

Carolina
Andrea
Yasmine
Liza

BiBabbles · 01/10/2020 13:25

eh-LIE-jah with a soft j.

If I heard E-Lie-Shah with a /sh/, I'd think the name was Elisha

I'd read Maya as Mai-ah unless started otherwise.

Most of the names, like these ones, that I can think of with multiple pronunciations are ones that have filtered through a lot of languages (as Elijah and many Biblical names has) or a name written in the same way at least in when the same alphabet but from different languages (as Maya is).

Other few names I can think of:
Asha - ai-sha or ash-a
Ayla - eye-lah, ay-lah, eh-lah
Dalia - dah-lee-ah, dah-lya
Danai - dah-nah-ee, dan-ai
Dara - dah-rah and dare-ah - similar with Cara, Mara and similar
Dian - dee-Ehn or as a variant of Diane

AuntyPasta · 01/10/2020 13:18

A quick google describes the french je as sounding like the S in treasure. That’s how I pronounce the J in Elijah.

Laverdersy · 01/10/2020 13:15

El lee ya

May ah

LunaHardy · 01/10/2020 13:14

My-ah
Uh-lie-jah

GreyishDays · 01/10/2020 13:13

Uh-LIE-jah

Maya could be either. I’d go My-ah as a first guess.

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