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?

Dh knows a Nicole and pronounces it Nicoll, I have taken the piss about this, but maybe she actually pronounces it this way 🤔

@SockYarn

have only ever known Lauren as Lawren

Me too. But I think she meant Lauren as in Ralph Lauren which is pronounced law-RENN with the stress on the last syllable.

It’s not. It’s some weird thing that us English started doing apparently!

But surely when you grow up you see your name written down and realise that being called Sara and asking people to call you Sarah makes you look like a massive idiot... so you change it. Like the Niamh example, surely at some point, you just start pronouncing it Neeve whenever you meet a new person and stop looking so ridiculous!?

No. Sara can be pronounced either Sah-ra like 'Zara' (more popular in England over the last few decades), or the same as Sarah. This is a thing and has been for ages. The little girl in 'A Little Princess' was Sara Crewe, pronounced Sarah. Also see this Fleetwood Mac song:

In America, they still only seem to use the Sarah pronunciation. Apparently if you give your name verbally as Sarah in the US they will ask you 'With or without an 'h?').

So yes, Sara Pascoe's parents weren't wrong. And being called Sara pronounced same as Sarah doesn't make you look like 'a massive idiot'. It is nothing like the Niamh example, that's just a mistake.

People can be surprisingly closed-minded with what they think they know about names. Ignorance.

I knew a Sian who insisted it was Sy-anne.

@MarDhea
Yes, I agree the 'uh' part in Caitríona isn't emphasized, especially if you're speaking quickly. The Caitríonas I know do pronounce it though, even if it's subtle. The Katrinas I know leave it out. I suppose I was just objecting to @chrislilleyswig's suggestion that anyone who pronounced it had no knowledge of Gaelic/Irish. I'd disagree with that.

I’m confused about people saying doll and hole sound the same.
Doll has the same o sound as ON whereas hole has the same o sound as BONE. I’m not trying to be obtuse but I just can’t see how they can sound the same

@Councilworker

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.

My daughter is Lauren and I've only ever heard it pronounced Law Ren. Or Law-rin really. I've never heard Lo (as in low do you mean? - ren.

Could it be a regional thing?

It seems to be names that have either crossed a lot of nationalities with different phonetics or names written the same but come from different groups.

The first examples I can think of: Deo - some say Dee-oh and some say Day/Deh-oh. Similarly Dian, some say it like Diane, some say it like DEE-ehn. Salome, some say sa-LOME, others say sa-LOM-eh (or, like my late FIL, like salami...).

My name is frequently missaid and misspelt. I don't think I'm precious about it, it only annoys me when someone says it correctly after I introduce myself and then sees it written it down and changes how they say it like I can't say my own name, but I do get very pleased when people get it right on the first try. I find non-native English speakers are more likely to get it right.

[quote LizzieAnt]@MarDhea
Yes, I agree the 'uh' part in Caitríona isn't emphasized, especially if you're speaking quickly. The Caitríonas I know do pronounce it though, even if it's subtle. The Katrinas I know leave it out. I suppose I was just objecting to @chrislilleyswig's suggestion that anyone who pronounced it had no knowledge of Gaelic/Irish. I'd disagree with that.[/quote]
Touchy

I didn't say "anyone". I was explicit about the cat ree oh na which you didn't actually say so it's your inference, not what I wrote.

On

A pp said ca tree owner. I maybe didn't quote them but that's the type of pronunciation I was referencing. Not Irish language pronunciation

Is that alright with you now?

In the Black Country we would say lo (as in lollipop) ren, it kind of rhymes with column! And I cannot get doll and hole to rhyme at all!!

@gingajewel

In the Black Country we would say lo (as in lollipop) ren, it kind of rhymes with column! And I cannot get doll and hole to rhyme at all!!

I'm thinking it's the difference in syllable stress rather than the letters

So LAW ren as opposed to Law REN. Maybe

My mum is Welsh and her aunt is a Marry. I was about 30 before I realised it was the name I saw written down as Marie.

My DD has one of those names that has two spellings, one commoner on the Continent and one commoner here, and she has the uncommon British one (because DP was on the good drugs after labour, and I was shattered). I quite like it when people pronounce it the French/German way. It's nice. Hopefully she won't hate us for it later on.

@chrislilleyswig

Catriona is a Gaelic name

Pronounced Katrina more or less

People saying cat ree oh na are the same as those that say Nyam or Sigh o ban

Cool, I guess you've told me, an Irish language teacher from the Gaeltacht what's what then.

🤣

BagLady. Glad to hear it.

I'm not Irish so have no opinion on how you pronounce anything. But thanks for sharing your credentials. Always impressive on Mn

Catriona is pronounced Katrina in English. That's what the op was talking about. And that's what it is

Sorry have to disagree with the Sara thing as I the only Sara I know who's says it's pronounced Sarah is Sara Pascoe. The 3 Sara's I know of personally throughout the years are Sara pronounced as Saaaara. And one of those Sara's is originally from Iraq.

The Americans actually prounce Sara as Serrra/Sairrra using a different tongue position to European/Middle East people. The 'a' sound is short.

If you listen closely to Stevie Nicks she's pronouncing Sara as I've said.
So in the US Cara sounds like Kerrra/Kairra.
Terra/Terrah like Terrra/Tairrra
Zara like Zerrra/Zairrra
My US cousin was a Lara prounced Lerrra/Lairra even though we say Laaara over here.

Though at the end of the day pronounce your own name how ever you want but please pronounce the other persons name as they want.

Oh finally this is something that makes me wonder why do we call other countries different names to their own e.g
Why is Deutschland called Germany?
Why is Espana called Spain?
Why is Suomi called Finland.
Why is Hellas called Greece?
Why is Nippon called Japan?
Why is Zhongguo called China?
Surely we should pronounce/call these countries as those countries call themselves rather than our own language versions.

I went to university with a woman called Naomi - I’d only heard it pronounced it Nay-oh-me but she pronounced it Nay-uh-me and was forever correcting people.

Naomi is another one with several different pronunciations.

I know what you mean the American accents Tracey (always used to wonder about Terror, ie Tara in True Blood!) . However I maintain that Sarah /Sara is the same name to them. Her accent doesn't matter.

Catriona is pronounced Katrina in English.

It's not, though. Not in Ireland.

When Caitríona is said fast, and many Irish people speak quickly by British English standards, it can sound quite like Katrina but it's not the same. I can hear the difference.

Back when Hurricane Katrina was in the news, the name was audibly different from how Caitríona is pronounced most of the time in Ireland.

If the pronunciation is identical in Scotland, fair enough. But that still means it's incorrect to say Caitríona = Katrina without a qualifier of "in Scotland anyway".

Why yes, I am pedantic, thank you for noticing

Of course it's always better to ask how someone wants their name pronounced, if there's any possibility of ambiguity.

I'm in Scotland and know quite a few Catrionas.

All pronounced 'Katrina'.

They don't seem to be pronounced the same in Scottish Gaelic either?
forvo.com/word/caitriona

@MarDhea

Catriona is pronounced Katrina in English.

It's not, though. Not in Ireland.

When Caitríona is said fast, and many Irish people speak quickly by British English standards, it can sound quite like Katrina but it's not the same. I can hear the difference.

Back when Hurricane Katrina was in the news, the name was audibly different from how Caitríona is pronounced most of the time in Ireland.

If the pronunciation is identical in Scotland, fair enough. But that still means it's incorrect to say Caitríona = Katrina without a qualifier of "in Scotland anyway".

Why yes, I am pedantic, thank you for noticing

Okay. I'm not Ireland so

Catriona is not pronounced ( although some do and owners of the name do look at them like this ) as Ca tree owner or Ca tree oh na in this country

You'll note that I didn't at any point mention "uh" , which was your sound, as that is quite a different sound to what I have posted several times.

Sorry, cross post. Maybe the anglicized pronunciation is mostly used in Scotland?

It makes me smile how the US say
I-rack & I-ran when we say Ih/Eh-raq & Ih/Eh-raq.