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?

Or Walthamstow

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

There used to be an American soap, Ryan's Hope, about an Irish-American family. One year, when I was in high school, I watched a couple of episodes over the Christmas break and later, read updates in the paper to see what was going on. I wondered who the heck "Seeoban" was, and why she was having a romantic dinner with "Shivonne's husband.

No Flamingo you're wrong, sorry. Sara is (quite obviously) a variant of Sarah. From the Hebrew, meaning 'princess'. It can be pronounced either Sah-ra or the same as Sarah.

Well yes they are variants of the same name. Like Emily and Emma for example. But you wouldn’t argue that Emily and Emma are the exact same name with different pronunciations would you?

Two words spelt differently and pronounced differently are two different words.

I know a Sharon pronounced as Sharn. For ages I assumed her name was spelt Sian but it's definitely spelt Sharon!

How about Helena? I've known two pronounced HELLena and also one HeLAYnah.

Fairly sure we used the HeLAYnah pronunciation when doing Twelfth Night at school, but were taught about HELLena of Troy. So perhaps that was just to do with my teacher's accents?

These threads are always a mix of fascinating and hilarious. I've learnt a lot of about the origins - and therefore explanation of what I consider 'odd' - pronunciations. I just default to what I've heard before, but am willing to be 'corrected'.

Can't get over Nay-muh though.

For those that say doll/hole the same -
She stood on the doll.
She was on the dole.
Not the same???

Oh and back to Helena, I've just remembered that the island Napoleon was exiled to is pronounced Saint HeLEEna

Where I am in Ireland, the most common pronunciation is HeLEEna too.

I always liked the name Sophia, to rhyme with hear, but my DM said she would pronounce it to rhyme with fire. For that reason, I didn’t call DD Sophia!

@WildCherryBlossom

How about Helena? I've known two pronounced HELLena and also one HeLAYnah.

Fairly sure we used the HeLAYnah pronunciation when doing Twelfth Night at school, but were taught about HELLena of Troy. So perhaps that was just to do with my teacher's accents?

Is she just Helen of Troy?

@chrislilleyswig
Stop making things up and bore off.
Bit rude, and I'm not making things up.

The 'o' in Caitríona is pronounced as a schwa in Irish and I suspect it's the same in the Scottish Gaelic version. In my earlier post I represented this as 'uh', while some others have used 'oh'. It's unemphasised, but certainly subtly pronounced. The letter 'o' in the name also dictates the pronunciation of the adjacent letter n (which, in Irish, can be pronounced two different ways depending on the vowel next to it). The anglicised pronunciation of the name is Ka-tree-na, which leaves out the schwa. This pronunciation is often, but not always, represented by the anglicised spelling Katrina.
So yes, Caitríona can be pronounced like Katrina in English, but to suggest that those who pronounce the schwa are incorrect, as you did, is simply wrong.
All quite boring I suppose, but we are discussing name pronunciations aren't we?
Don't get me started on Niamh

For those that say doll/hole the same -
She stood on the doll.
She was on the dole.
Not the same???

Sounds the same

Nope it doesn’t sound the same at all

@Soubriquet

*For those that say doll/hole the same - She stood on the doll. She was on the dole. Not the same???*

Sounds the same

Please can you explain how they sound the same? I just can’t get it.

They don't sound the same at all. One is a short 'o' and the other, long.

What about Dolly/Holly/Molly/Polly? Do you pronounce them to sound like holy/holey/Moley/coley?

Do jolly and Jolie sound the same?

Please can you explain how they sound the same? I just can’t get it.

It's impossible to explain really as it will be all down to the accent. Like how ah and are sound the same in a non-rhotic accent - those with a rhotic accent just can't get it.

No.

Dolly/Molly/Polly etc is like the o in dog. Same to Jolly

But Jolie is Joe-Lee to me

@Soubriquet

No.

Dolly/Molly/Polly etc is like the o in dog. Same to Jolly

But Jolie is Joe-Lee to me

That’s confused me even more! If dolly is a short o then so is doll. If jolie is a long o like joe then surely hole is the same, therefore doll and hole don’t sound the same?!

I know...it’s weird.

Don’t even start with vowel sounds and accents.
I am from the south and DH is from the Midlands.

He denies that the /u/ sound in put is different to the sound in cup, sun and jump.

@Soubriquet

I know...it’s weird.

So do you say doll rhyming with bone or do you say hole rhyming with on? If they sound the same then it must be one of these

Neither

Unless it just isn’t come through very well there

Doll, hole, mole, lol, coal, bowl, and other words like that all rhyme to me.

It’s like long o. Not an ooo sound like food, but an oll sound if that makes sense.

@FlamingoAndJohn

Don’t even start with vowel sounds and accents. I am from the south and DH is from the Midlands.

He denies that the /u/ sound in put is different to the sound in cup, sun and jump.

All those u sounds are the same to me! From the north

Yes @Todaywewilldobetter good idea. I'll stick with Helen of Troy. Much less of a minefield. (Twelfth Night doesn't exactly come up much in conversation either so can avoid the minefield that is Helena most of the time!)

Interesting that it's HeLEEna in Ireland though.