Ever met anyone who (you thought) pronounced their own name wrongly?

[ErmineAndPearls]

Inspired by a few posts on the Secret Confessions thread. I once met a woman called Leigh. She insisted that everyone must call her “Lay”. Also, a whole family whose surname is Onions, but they pronounce it “O’Nyons”. Like, just own it or change the spelling. There are more.

Worked with a girl called Seonaid who pronounced it 'shaw-nitch'.

I'd never heard it said like that before, but I looked it up and it is a variation. I like the sound of it!

@catfunk I would say Nay-oh-me, with no particular syllable stressed, but I have heard both.

@Capri3 l do wonder about the h thing, for people who struggle to pronounce it. I live in Essex and Th is a struggle for lots of people so l wince for anyone called Theo or similar as they will be called Feo

A lot of this comes from the ignorant parents rather than it being something the child has come up with, though?

Yes, that's how it is pronounced in Norway and Sweden, where the name comes from. (I have Norwegian family, one called Kirsten)

@Changenom l used to know an Irish guy who said his name like that

It’s her name, her pronunciation is, by definition, the correct one.

Calling her something else is just unpleasant.

I guess I just think it isn't for me to decide how somebody else pronounces what is quite literally their own name.

Whether that's a preference and they've altered it or whether it is historically or familialy pronounced differently than the spelling suggests (to me) makes no difference. I'd be more concerned about doing my best to get it right so I didn't appear rude.

I know an actor called Ralph who insists his name is pronounced Rafe

Oh god loads of Irish names pronounced incorrectly...

Aoibheann and ayveen is a big one (should be eev-in)
Sorcha as sorsha rather than surruka

Loads of people with unnecessary fadas which does my head in.

I once met an Edith who pronounced it Ed- ith rather than Eee-dith.

I went to primary and secondary school with a Jane who said it the regular way until year 9 when she insisted it was really spelled Jané and should be said zha-nay.
Her mum said it the regular way once at a parents evening and Jané stormed off for embarrasing her.
Her mum just looked confused

@dollyblack l don’t know how else she could say her name though?

This is actually correct - it's an Irish name and would be pronounced nee-ull (the anglicised version of which is Neil). It's more often pronounced like Nile these days though when speaking English.

But it isn’t. That’s like saying ‘hello, my name is Jenny, spelt O-L-I-V-IA.’

There are tonnes of Caitlins out there whose parents pronounced it as it would be if it were English.

I know a Mara where the first syllable is pronounced as in Mary. Perfectly fine but she corrected several people a day.

Pretend naivety with Harry, it's an accent 🙄

Like @JenniferBarkley I know so many Aoibhinns (Irish name) and their parents are pronouncing it as beginning with an A, but it should be E sounding. E-veen, not A-veen.

Pronunciation as Rafe is not incorrect! Has been for centuries. Rafe was the more common form at one time.

Jacques from Love Island. If you're going to call your kids 'Jacks' then name him Jacks or Jax surely?

God how did I forget Caitlin. That battle is lost though.

Which is the standard pronunciation.

This thread really does seem to have a lot of incredibly ignorant posts on it, many of them unable to understand that some names are pronounced very differently in different locations.

My name has a very different pronunciation in the UK to where I was born and grew up, but fortunately I meet few people like posters on here who tell me I am saying it wrong.

Same. Wonder if its the same one.

Sorcha was my one.

I saw it on the child's badge and said 'oh hello, Sorcha (surrika)' and the (non-Irish) mum said 'oh it's actually pronounced sore-sha'.

I smiled politely and said nothing whilst thinking 'no it isn't, thicko'.