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Baby names

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Original poster

Baby names you wouldn't choose because of regional accents

114 replies

bez91 · 13/11/2020 09:22

Just for fun really... no offence intended!

Is there any names you think sound better in a certain UK accent and if you'd avoid using them because they sound awful in some accents?

Example. We live in the midlands and did quite like the name Leo, it would just be that pronounced short and sweet however in-laws are from West Yorkshire who stereotypically like to hold onto their o's. So it would be Lee-oooooooooooooo

I also think Rafe sounds the best in a north east accent!

Interested to hear more!

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RosieLemonade · 14/11/2020 08:11

I can’t my head around what the dropped Ts sound like ?!

AdultHumanFemale · 14/11/2020 08:10

Snap, Scuba.

olivetreemumtobe · 14/11/2020 07:35

@1940s

Londoner and couldn't use Ottilie or Otto as the T's are a big risk of being dropped and would butcher the name!

Also Cockney rhyming slang renders some names useless like Toby (Toby Jug- Mug)

Exactly the same reason I won’t use Harriet. I really like Hattie for short too but that would sound even worse!
Scubalubs87 · 14/11/2020 01:57

Anything with a th is out in the South East - too risky. I was gutted when we had to take Arthur off the table for my son when I realised my husband can't actually hear or say th. He genuinely can't hear the difference between a th or a f.

Changechangychange · 14/11/2020 01:37

(If you haven’t heard the song, think “Biancaaargh” from EastEnders).

Changechangychange · 14/11/2020 01:35

Hearing Katy B singing “sitting at the bar with my friend Oliviaaargh” in Easy Please Me has totally put me off the name. I live in South London, I can just imagine that pronunciation being yelled across the playground. Same with Aliciaargh, Taniaargh, or anything else with an -ia ending.

AdultHumanFemale · 14/11/2020 01:24

Wanted Ethel or Thelma for DD1. Until DP, as Essex as they come, said them.

MrsKypp · 14/11/2020 01:23

[quote FourPlatinumRings]@MrsKypp

Grin is used as a laughing emoji on MN. Those on phones can use their keyboard emojis to laugh though, and sometimes do.[/quote]
Thanks for letting me know!

FourPlatinumRings · 14/11/2020 01:20

@MrsKypp

Grin is used as a laughing emoji on MN. Those on phones can use their keyboard emojis to laugh though, and sometimes do.

MrsKypp · 14/11/2020 01:15

@troppibambini

My step daughter loved Marni for a girl but lives in Wigan and couldn't have it because family would call her our Marni a lot (ar-Marni).
That's hysterical Grin

btw where's the laughing emoji?

MrsKypp · 14/11/2020 01:12

@bez91

Tania/Tanya

Up north it would be Tan-ya and south Tarn-ya

That's weird, I'm from the south and would say 'Tan-ya' (not Tarn-ya) probably because I knew one at primary school who was a Tan-ya :-)
FundamentallyFucked · 14/11/2020 01:11

How can Emma sound like 'I am' that's totally baffled me!

Ehm = I'm

Emma - I'm a

StormyInTheNorth · 14/11/2020 01:05

Lark. Live in a northern town we don't have the local accent. Poor lamb would get Laaaaaaaaaaakkkk forever more. If only I'd married a scotsman, eh.

MacAndDennisMoveToTheSuburbs · 14/11/2020 01:03

The name Pearl, sounds identical to the word peril in my accent!

DisgruntledPelican · 14/11/2020 01:00

Ariadne is my favourite girls name but wouldn’t really work with my strong West Yorkshire accent (or mine or DP’s surnames, really.) Never mind...

KiriAndLou · 14/11/2020 00:58

@CountFosco

I really liked Cara or Cora for a girl but in our accent, broader speakers roll their Rs and I wouldn't have liked the sound of it.

I think Cara and Cora are prettier with rolled 'r's. As a Scot living in England I avoided names with an 'r' after a vowel because I knew the English would mangle them. So, e.g. we avoided Kirsten (which I adore) because I hate how it becomes KUHHH-sten like they are shitting themselves.

Neither Cara or Cora are Scottish in origin (Cara is of Latin origin, Cora is generally considered Greek), so the English wouldn't be mangling it, just pronouncing it differently to yourselves.
KiriAndLou · 14/11/2020 00:53

Aoife. Not because we'd pronounce Aoife differently, but because 'E for' would sound exactly the same in the local accent. E for elephant.

DidoLamenting · 14/11/2020 00:50

@Yamashita40

I'm from the North East. Natalie would be pronounced Na a Lee here which put my mam off using it (as well as the baby being a boy!)

Also certain areas pronounce Ian as Een.

Natalie in a Glaswegian accent is awful too. I was convinced I was having a girl and we were both happy until I overheard, at around 8 months a "Na a Lee"
MrsMoastyToasty · 14/11/2020 00:46

Jennifer in a Bristolian accent comes across as Jennay-furr.

solidaritea · 14/11/2020 00:33

The hard k in the scouse and some Irish accents makes Michael, Jacob and similar names sound very different. I actually prefer these names in that accent though!

LadyCatStark · 13/11/2020 22:15

A girl in DS’s class at primary school had a sister called Betty. One day she came out of school and said “oooh Be-eh your new shoes are beautiful!”

Luzina · 13/11/2020 22:11

Violet. I live on South Yorkshire border.

Shayisgreat · 13/11/2020 22:09

I really like Orla but DH and his family would pronounce it as Awwla and I don't like that as much.

I also like Cara as Tara but DH and family would pronounce them be like Caara or Taara and I don't like that as much.

Our requirements are Irish names that English people can pronounce first time they read it but that don't sound crap in a non-Irish accent. It's tough!

Ojj37 · 13/11/2020 21:54

My family’s from a part of the country where they all say “our” in front of people’s names. Not that I’d use it anyway, but it would certainly rule out Saul.

Firebird83 · 13/11/2020 21:24

A lot of names sound strange in a Northern Irish accent. Especially Howard which sounds like Hard!

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