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Baby names

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Original poster

people mispronouncing DS's name

41 replies

Nanoon · 03/04/2008 14:05

DS2 is 17 weeks old and i have noticed a few people (family and friends) slightly mispronouncing his name. His name is Reuben but some people pronounce it Reubin rather that Reubun.

I never thought it would be one to get wrong. I feel too embaressed to correct them. What would you do or say?

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fryalot · 03/04/2008 14:21

that's another one where I'd use my pronunciation apostrophe, shortie... Jayk'b

sort of like an err sound, but not as long as an err and not as flat as an u...

shorty100 · 03/04/2008 14:20

I find people pronouncing my ds name as jacub instead of jacob, very annoying

fryalot · 03/04/2008 14:20

like my apostrophe, Mrs. B?

MrsBadger · 03/04/2008 14:19

but no-one actually says 'roo-ben' to rhyme with 'blue hen', surely? Those pronunciation guides aren't great.

the second vowel is much more unformed, more like a schwa.

Heated · 03/04/2008 14:17

I think I would be one of those to mispronounce it with my accent - I'd say 'ben' or 'bin' at the end, not 'bun'. I would be happy to be corrected if I were family, friend or teacher etc. Model how to say it yourself too, as I'd take my cue from you.

SlartyBartFast · 03/04/2008 14:14

like this

Ellbell · 03/04/2008 14:14

Lovely name (would have been dd2's name if she'd been a boy!)

Can only reiterate what others have said. You just have to keep letting other people hear how you say it. But sadly people do mispronounce names - however apparently simple they are (and sometimes it's just a question of accent). When Reuben gets older, he'll correct them himself. (My not Reuben but Ellen has a special look of disdain that she reserves for people who call her Helen.)

fryalot · 03/04/2008 14:13

and fwiw, I've always pronounced it kind of like Roo-b'n

MrsBadger · 03/04/2008 14:12

tbh the vowel difference is very small, to the extent that some people will be completely unaware that there is a difference
I'm not sure I'd bother correcting them, but just keep saying it right yourself.

It's like the NAY-o-mi / NEHR-mi / nay-O-mi one, and for the same reasons...

fryalot · 03/04/2008 14:12

It could just be the way they pronounce the name... there's only one name, isn't there... or am I wrong and Reubin is a name? You might be reading too much into a slight difference in accent.

My grandma never said my name right. And she pronounced book with an oo sound rather than a u sound. and she said scown rather than sconn - perhaps it is just the way that these people say the name.

SlartyBartFast · 03/04/2008 14:11

no i have heard the reubun version

meemar · 03/04/2008 14:11

I think it commonly pronounced Reubin so they probably think they are saying it correctly.

I would probably not say anything, as it is such a tiny mispronunciation.

love2sleep · 03/04/2008 14:10

I've only ever heard it pronounced Reubin.
Sorry.
Lovely name though, either way.

SlartyBartFast · 03/04/2008 14:10

aside from correcting them, and saying his name properly when they are there, don't know what else to say.
do it sooner rather than later.

gingerninja · 03/04/2008 14:09

lovely name BTW

gingerninja · 03/04/2008 14:09

Just correct them otherwise it'll bug you and it will stick unless you do it straight away. Why not introduce him say 'this is Ruben' then they'll get it.