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?

A teacher friend had 2 boys in her class with the name Rowan.

Last year I had two girls named ciara. Pronounced differently.

I know a Leonie pronounced Lee-ah-nee

My name is Sarah, pronounced’Keith’

I know an Imogen with a hard g. Apparently her parents got it from a book.

There’s a name on American TV that sounds like Creg

Not sure if it’s Craig or Greg or actually Creg ;

I admired a new baby in a shop (before lock- down) and her mother said her name as See Ann ‘Spelt Sian, but we’re using the traditional pronunciation.’

I'd say Kate-Lynn for Caitlin - is that right/wrong?
I'd normally say that too, however I have met a few cat-lynns in my time so possibly cat-lynn?

@DriftGames

I know a Leonie pronounced Lee-ah-nee

It’s pronounced ‘LAY-oh-nee’ in Holland, but the English-speaking ones I’ve known were always ‘Lee-OH-nee’.

Caitlín is the Irish form of the anglicised Kathleen, and is pronounced similarly. The Katelynn version is based on a mispronunciation. It's pretty, but I'd spell it Katelynn personally.

I know an Irish Caitilin who pronounces her name as “Coshleen.”

Yes, the pronunciation varies a bit depending on dialect.

@JacobReesMogadishu

It’s like Claudia.

I met someone once who pronounced it Cloudier. Which I hadn’t come across before. Sounds more German but she was English.

I know a Claudia pronounced cloudier. She’s Polish.

@tectonicplates

Nicole and Nicoll sound the same to me.

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

Anyone remember the Renault ads? Papa...

I know a Sharn and a Shervorne.
I’ve met an Edith pronounced Ed-ith with a short e sound

Quite frankly, someone tells me how they like their name pronounced, I do my best to pronounce it like that. (I accept this must be another special kind of hell for teachers). For the rest of us - how hard is it?

I’m Lisa and I constantly get Leeza and Liza (pronounced L-eye-za) . It really bugs me.

I heard of a little boy called Guy, who only learned when he went to school that his name was not pronounced Gooey

Perhaps Guy's parents were French, where it's pronounced Ghee? (Like the clarified butter)

Just to confuse everyone, I once worked with someone whose name was spelled 'Sarah' but pronounced it 'Saa-ra' (though she would answer to 'Saira' and sometimes introduced herself that way to avoid the endless corrections).

I went to school with a Kylie who pronounced it 'Keeley'. This was before Kylie Minogue became famous so none of us had ever heard the name before and assumed this was the normal way to say it. I wonder sometimes about 'my' Kylie-Keeley and how she's fared over the decades since!

New nightmare.

Name ends in -nne (Anne, Joanne, Leanne, etc).

One parent pronounces the -ne (Scots). The other says 'don't be stupid, it's just the first -n', meaning the name is snapped out with bared teeth.

What's the name? Jo-an or Joan-neh?

@bookmum08

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.

One is 'coll' and the other is 'cole', quite different as the first has a harder sound than the second.

@hadtojoin

A teacher friend had 2 boys in her class with the name Rowan. One pronounced Row-an as in row your boat and the other Row-an as in have a argument row.

I thought it was Row-un ? I've pronounced my friend's Ds's name wrong for the last couple of years then

I've always said Greeta. And Nic- coal. And Meeegan. That's in Australia.

It does seem like Irish, Scottish and Welsh names get mangled particularly often. I just don’t understand why you would choose a name from another country and not bother to find out how to pronounce it! I spent ages choosing DC’s names and there’s no way I wouldn’t have known their origin or how to pronounce them.

I also know an Isla but pronounced is-la.