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Baby names

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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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AuntyPasta · 01/10/2020 13:11

’E-Lie-Shah’

Do you mean you sound the Shah part to sound like a soft j, like the french je, rather than a hard J like in jam? I say it like that too.

gurglebelly · 01/10/2020 13:05

@FourPlasticRings

Ee-lie-jah

May-ah

Like this
PolarBearStrength · 01/10/2020 13:04

el-EYE-jah (hard J)

MY-uh

Batfinklestein · 01/10/2020 13:00

I'd pronounce Elijah roughly elle-eye-ja, with a hard j. I reckon that's the standard pronunciation.
Although, less commonly, I've heard it with a soft j too, so more like elle-eye-ah which I think is what the OP is thinking of.

steppemum · 01/10/2020 12:54

there are 2 names

Elijah and Elisha.
Both Biblical names, Elijah was the teacher/mentor of Elisha.

I am up with most variations, but to pronounce Elijah as Elisha means you are actually just saying another name

MikeUniformMike · 01/10/2020 12:51

My-uh or May-uh
El-eye-juh

Helena - Helen-uh. Hel-ain-uh Hel-eena
Eleanor - Ellinuh or Ellen Or
Sofia - So-fee-uh or Sophie -h
Sophia - So-fee-uh or So fie-uh
Maria - Mar-ee-a or Mar-eye-uh
Georgiana - Jor-jayna or Georgie-Anna or Georgie-Ahnuh

daisypond · 01/10/2020 12:29

My-ah
Ee-lie-ja.

Other names with varying pronunciations -often names with foreign roots, which are most of them - include:
Elena
Levi
Eli
Aurelia
Aaron
Nicola
Helena
Juliette/Juliet
Vivienne/Vivien

FourPlasticRings · 01/10/2020 12:19

Ee-lie-jah

May-ah

RuthW · 01/10/2020 12:16

May - a
Ee-lie- jer (with a hard j)

sunyla · 01/10/2020 12:02

I'll add that I pronounce them
My-ah and E-Lie-Shah

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