Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

How would you pronounce Zana ?

438 replies

RoseApp · 18/09/2024 18:38

My friend assumed people would pronounce her child’s name Zana like Zah-nah as in Suzanna but several people have pronounced it as Zar-na

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
CellophaneFlower · 30/09/2024 11:19

Had to come back to this thread to say I was just watching an episode of Towie. The geordie girl in it was saying she pronounces bath now like we do down here now. Had the subtitles on and they'd put "barth" to emphasise how she says it now 😂

NotLeavingWithoutTheSpringRolls · 19/09/2024 19:40

MyOtherCarisAVauxhallZafira · 18/09/2024 23:07

ˈzaːnə like the German for cream

FINALLY someone else using the IPA! Cuts out all the tedious crap…

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 16:25

@MerryMarys , of course it is Bar-nay-na.

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 16:21

How can Zana become ZAYna?

Do you pronounce Banana as BanAYna? Grin

Button28384738 · 19/09/2024 15:41

Zay-nah

She should have spelt it Zannah if that's how she wanted people to say it!

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 15:01

BarbaraHoward · 19/09/2024 14:38

Ah, but which pronunciation of Anna? Grin

Show quote history

The one that sounds like Ziggy.

CellophaneFlower · 19/09/2024 14:48

Going back to the name in question... years ago I really liked it too. But then it just kept making me sing Xanadu so I vetoed it. So there's another one to throw in the mix... Xana! And note it has only 1 n 🤣🤣

CellophaneFlower · 19/09/2024 14:41

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 14:28

To me, ah is always ah like ahead, ahoy or just ah ok.

I would never read it as a short a as in cat Confused

Just to confuse things even further, my a in ahead or ahoy is nothing like the one in ah OK 🙈

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 14:41

Shouldn't Zana rhyme with Ana (rather than Anna) Grin

BarbaraHoward · 19/09/2024 14:38

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 14:34

That's you though @MerryMarys . It's just derailing a thread that basically asked 'does Zana rhyme with Anna?'

Ah, but which pronunciation of Anna? Grin

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 14:34

That's you though @MerryMarys . It's just derailing a thread that basically asked 'does Zana rhyme with Anna?'

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 14:28

To me, ah is always ah like ahead, ahoy or just ah ok.

I would never read it as a short a as in cat Confused

CellophaneFlower · 19/09/2024 14:13

And like when you say "ah, OK then, that's fine". Definitely not like a in cat!

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 13:58

@MerryMarys , in these threads, ah usually means the a in cat sound not the 'Say Ah!' sound.

I think it's from phonics.

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 13:57

generally on these threads, the a in cat is descibed as ah.

What Confused?

The A in cat is SO different to AH, when saying AHA or AH at the dentist

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 13:55

Regardless of accents, isn't AH not always AH? Like when at the dentist and you say AH?

I can't see any other way of pronouncing it Confused

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 13:53

@Sewannoying , generally on these threads, the a in cat is descibed as ah.
Nothing to do with the sound you'd make when asked to say 'Ah!'.

Sewannoying · 19/09/2024 13:27

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 13:12

@CellophaneFlower , we don't. in a non-rhotic accent, 'ah' is like the a in cat, 'ar' is like the ar in art or Bath.

I have a non-rhotic accent and my ah would be the same as ar and nothing like the a in cat.

JustDeserts · 19/09/2024 13:12

@CellophaneFlower , we don't. in a non-rhotic accent, 'ah' is like the a in cat, 'ar' is like the ar in art or Bath.

CellophaneFlower · 19/09/2024 12:15

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 08:01

My friend Jana pronounces it with an ar sound, is she wrong too?

Yes. If her parents had wanted Jarna, they'd have named her that.

Most people will pronounce I it as it's written so Ja-na. And not Jar-na Confused

You are misunderstanding that down south and in other areas, we pronounce ar as ah (same sound). Unless you're fully aware and are just trying to add confusion.

The spelling is irrelevant anyway as there have been 3 different ways to say Zana suggested.

caringcarer · 19/09/2024 09:46

Zay (rhymes with pay) na

SwordBilledHummingbird · 19/09/2024 09:35

Zah-na. Rhymes with banana (in my accent at least).

MerryMarys · 19/09/2024 08:01

My friend Jana pronounces it with an ar sound, is she wrong too?

Yes. If her parents had wanted Jarna, they'd have named her that.

Most people will pronounce I it as it's written so Ja-na. And not Jar-na Confused

CellophaneFlower · 19/09/2024 07:02

mychilddeservesaneducation · 19/09/2024 06:58

My gut feeling was to say it to rhyme with Zara.

I feel that if we'd all just said we say it like Zara but with an n, this thread would have been a whole lot less painful 😂

mychilddeservesaneducation · 19/09/2024 06:58

My gut feeling was to say it to rhyme with Zara.

Swipe left for the next trending thread