Choosing to pronounce name different

[mylittleyumyum]

Just waffling really, I was watching tv last night and there was a woman called Greta, but it was pronounced Greeta. I've always only heard it pronounced 'Gretta'.

It reminded me of a friend called Nicole, who pronounces her name as Nicoll and snaps at anyone who dares say it any differently. She maintains that as it's her name, so she will decide how it is pronounced.

A colleague recently gave birth to baby Freya, but pronounces it Friar.

Does anyone know of other instances like this?

I think sometimes it's just accents. I can't actually figure out the difference between Nicole and Nicoll. They sound the same to me if I say them out loud.

I have heard people pronounce Greta as Greeta, but they were from a different nationality.

Nicole and Nicoll sound the same to me. I have never heard a Freya pronounced Friar though. Where did they person saying it come from? Some strong accents-Irish for example, would alter the vowel sounds

I can’t get worked up about it tbh. People can choose what they want to be called. It’s like how most Americans pronounce Megan as ‘Meggan’; in my country we say ‘Meegan’. But neither one is wrong.

I can hear the difference in Nicole (coal) and nicoll (call)? My surname is a "Mc" name and I pronounce it "Mac" whereas others say "mick". A woman I work with is Sara which I've proniunced as "Sarah" but she says it like "sarrrrrra". It must be annoying if people always mispronounce your name.

Nicole and Nicoll sound the same to me.

Same here. Sorry OP but I don't understand the difference.

My GM was a Greta, pronounced Greeeta. She was from the NE, I don't know whether it's a regional thing?

My favourite was someone who complained that everyone mentioned her daughter's name. Elle, pronounced Ell-ee. Apparently she really liked the name Ellie but it was too common so she changed the spelling.

Mispronounced. Not mentioned.

Nicholl - rhyme with doll
Nichole- rhyme with hole

I saw that programme too - it was emphasised by the fact she was Greta, pronounced Greeta, and her son was Peter. I think this is akin to the yoonique spelling of names - you can hardly be surprised if someone misspells the name before they know any better.

How else is Nicole pronounced?

Greta: depends on nationality.

Never heard Megan / Meghan pronounced Meegan in England / with an English accent.

I think the OP means that one name is pronounced Ni-COAL, the other one like Nickle.

Agree though, I was at school with a girl called Karen. I was at school with a LOT of girls called Karen, it was the 80s. 99% of the Karens were Kah-ren. Except for one. She was Kay-ren.

For example, Nicole Scherzinger pronounces it Nic-oal. Most other Nicole's I'm aware of, including a French Nicole, pronounce it Nic-oll.

Also I once got told off for pronouncing someone's surname wrong when for me it was just a matter of accents and/or being posh. There was someone with the surname Willoughby, which I pronounced Willow-bee as I'm from London. I was told very sarcastically it's Willer-bee but I could barely hear a difference. I think there's a certain amount of elitism over accents. I personally believe it's very important to pronounce people's names correctly, but in this case I think there was some snobbery going on.

I pronounce Nicole and Nicoll very differently!

Well, sometimes it's a different language's pronunciation. English people would pronounce Jonas with the same initial sound as jasper or jiggle, but Germans would say 'Yonas'.

On the other hand, some people mispronounce names -- see non-French Anaises (sorry, can't do diaresis here) who pronounce their name as 'Anay'.

I know an Elle that is pronounced Ellie, I think that’s fine. I also know a Jackie that changed the spelling of her name to Jacqui and the pronunciation to Jac-kwee which does grate a little, it’s a bit Hyacinth Bucket! But if she likes it then crack on

Greta: depends on nationality.

Yep. Every British Greta I've met has pronounced it Greeta. Only people from other countries have pronounced it differently in my experience.

Well, you can pronounce 'Nicole' as 'Ni-coal' or 'Ni-coll' like in the Renault adverts. I think of the latter as being, unsurprisingly, more French, but I don't think either is unusual. Just like some people pronounce 'Tania/Tanya' with a long or short 'a' in the first syllable.
A lot of it is geographical. Since 'Frozen' camemout, there's been a vogue for pronouncing 'Anna' as 'Ar-na' or 'Ah-na'. Apart from, obviously, people from ethnic minorities who have to deal with people mangling their names because they can't be arsed to listen, I can't cope with people who get too precious about the pronunciation or spelling of their names, especially if it's a deviation from the norm. I once worked a - hideous - catering job at some conference and had to quickly write some name labels out from an Ansafone message and spelled one girls name 'Siobhan' because that's how I'd always encountered it. She was proper arsey, and when I rewrite it was such a bastardization of the name that I thought she was taking the piss. She added for good measure that she's never seen anyone spell it 'my' way - "Er, there's a 'b' in it?" (Scoffing loudly). Stupid cow.

I know a Lauren. Well I know a few. But one is called Lauren and since birth her mother has insisted that it is pronounced Law Ren rather then Lo Ren.

I can't cope with people who get too precious about the pronunciation or spelling of their names, especially if it's a deviation from the norm.

I think that's very unfair. Your name is given to you by your parents. If someone has an unusual name it's not their fault, it was due to their parents' decision. And very often an "unusual" spelling will be from another country where that spelling is actually very normal.

Agree that it's unfair to blame an individual who is called, for example, Fiona but whose parents decided that Feeyohnah was the bestest spelling.

But if you have someone who's name is written as Fiona but gets all snotty when people don't know automatically know that she pronounces it as Eff-eee-ooo-nah that's a different matter.

I knew a Meeegan but that was in New Zealand.

My DM is named Karen but it is pronounced Car-ren...my GPs decided that's how they wanted to pronounce it. She's not precious about it though and just accepts that she will be called Karen unless people know her well.

I know two people called Aaron. One pronounces it Arran, the other as Air-an. Doesn't bother me.

It's also very rude and unprofessional, with a lack of attention to detail. I've actually known people involved in recruitment who would receive job application letters with their names spelled wrong. Those ones would always go in the "no" pile.

Evelyn! I've heard some people say eve-Lyn and others say ev-Lyn