Is there such a thing as Creative Pronunciation, and isn't it a bit...

Isa is common in Scotland, yes.
but christ-eye-na? no, never heard of it!
(Ina = eye-na on its own, is commonly used though)
i think "different" would be a better word than "wierd"

There are some weird Scottish pronunciations; my Granny was called Isabella, quite common for her generation but pronounced 'eye-zah-bella", "eye-zah" for short.

It certainly seems to be a Geordie thing to pronounce Anthony as An-thu-nee...

Is it a Scottish / Glasgwegian thing to pronounce Christina as Chris-t-eye-na ?
I've often wondered. Polite answers on a postcard - sorry posting - please...

My middle dd is Catríona, which is pronounced Cat-ree-uhna. The accent (or 'fada') over the i lengthens the vowel sound so the 'i' becomes 'eee'.

Oh - and I've got a stepbrother Guy (as in eye) and a BIL Guy as in Gee - as I said, just depends where you come from.

The point with hypenated surnames now is that they are the polar opposite of "Poshtogs-Brown". They are used by the same people who call their children "unique" names.

Blimey things got a bit tense on here! Well I'm the dumbster who admitted that she couldn't pronounce Siobhan at school - until she very gently corrected me. No doubt would have made the same mistake had there been a Catriona in my class...

I think CurlyCasper that the (I agree) incredibly irritating habit of immediately calling you by some diminutive or just plain wrong version ('y' instead of 'i' - thus every name ending in ine becomes 'yn' - Kathryn, Carolyn, Jaclyn) is - at the risk of offending yet another group - an overwhelmingly American trait. I can't stand it.

As for surnames, I can't stand Snotface-Smith and Poshtogs-Brown - just ridiculously Hyacinth Bucket - there's nowt wrong with Smith or Brown.

I've heard that story before. Urban legend? Not questioning your honesty, Ikboo!

The wife of a bloke I work with works in a Registry office. She swears that a couple came in wanting to call their son 'Gooey'.
She asked them to repeat it a couple of times. Each time they said 'Gooey'.
So she asked them to spell it for her.
They said: G-U-Y

The Devil Wears Primark - that really tickled me, I can see myself having secret giggles about this all day!

Yes, the way an Irish person would pronounce Catriona would be similar to how they pronounce film as fil-um. It's not a definite extra vowel... it's a cute little effect.

Why thank you CurlyCasper!

I was desperately waiting for someone to point out the very "light" pronunciation of the Gaelic Catriona. well done buda. You have to imagine the accent of a native Gaelic speaker, or someone from far highlands and islands to get it right. There's no hard "oh". It's a fast, soft "ee-uhn" sound. It's a beautiful pronunciation when said with the Gaelic lilt, but the same lilt cannot easily be re-created with an English accent, without it sounding hard and forced.

Anyway, your name is whatever your parents or you say it is, however bizarre. If people want to drop vowels and add annoyance to their lives then so be it.

I don't mind when people mispronounce my name - I just politely correct them - but I get really pissed off when people change it instantly to something that suits them, along the lines of:

"Hi, my name is Susan". "Oh Hi, Susie, what brings you here?"

Name's not Susan either, but I have this problem with about 80 per cent of people. I say one thing and they hear another. It's so rude

Well i do like Katrina and i like Catriona, but which ones best, theres only one to find out - FIGHT!!!

Oh you are already.....as you were then

Right - I have sat on my hands for quite long enough, and have namechanged to a)ask the whole of MN to stop discussing my bloody name because it is FREAKING ME OUT and b) to tell you that I don't care how you say it. I've always been Catreena, but I answer to CatriOHna, or CatriUHna, or Cat, or in fact most things. I think CatriUHna is probably the most correct. Enough now, please.

Yes, people are perfectly entitled to adopt any spelling or pronunciation they like. But if it seems as if they've chosen that spelling or pronunciation because they have never actually heard the name spoken out loud (See-o-ban, maybe) or are being pretentious (Hyacinth Bucket) then we are entitled to smirk, although only inwardly and silently. Putting them straight about their ignorance/pretension/daftness is rude and there but for the grace of God ....

I think its funny. I couldnt give crap what people call themselves. But they have to expect people to raise an eyebrow if they do decide to pronounce their name in a peculiar way to how its spelt.

For what it's worth I call people what they ask me to call them, makes no difference to me. But if I happen to come across a conversation like this I will most likely talk about them.

Come on - Jme, seriously!

I have a surname that people struggle to spell, but it's just one of those things. I don't bat an eyelid when mail is mispelled and I have to spell my name out for everyone.

Ooh I have always wanted to call my daughter Catriona but my DH has put his foot down and said no. I'm glad now as I didn't know it was pronounced Katrina - I don't like that at all. There was a girl in my year at school called it but she pronounced it Cat-ri-oh-na.

I know a Caitilin who pronounces her name "Coshleen." She's Irish.

Isn't it you that would be complaining about the incorrect pronunciation of Bucket, Upsy?

it might be a bit late for that Upsy

It's unreasonable for someone to be angry with you for mispronouncing their unusual name, but it's also unreasonable for you to assume that they're getting it wrong and it's not you just learning something new.

(and yes, conflict of interest admitted, I have a Gaelic name which is always either mispronounced or misspelt - I don't get my knickers in a twist about either, but I might rouse myself slightly if someone started accusing me of making it up. I'd just assume that they weren't very bright though.)

So you guys that are getting cross will be wrting in to points of view to complain about the Hyacinth Bucket they ran for many years?

Whilst agreeing with the tone of the thread, would like to point out to qofe that Asia is usual spelling in English of Arabic girls name "Essiya".

However this is forgivable if you haven't grown up here, not if you have.