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.

It is interesting that older generations had their names written as Thomas, Evan, Hugh, Mary etc even though they were Tomos, Ifan, Huw, Mair in daily life.

Yes, the same sort of thing happened in Ireland.

They’re the same🤔

Same here. My Irish friends and family definitely pronounce it nee-uv but it’s a “gentler” two syllables than if I try it IYSWIM. My friend Niamh’s Irish family call her nee-uv, her English family say Neeve. If those of us with English accents try to copy the Irish way it simply sounds wrong.

Lisa and Liza are different names, as are Lissy, Lizzie and Beth. Some may be shortened from Eliza, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Lisandra, Bethany or Bethan.

I don't know how you can think Lisa and Liza sound the same? Lee-sa, Lie-Za. Totally different.

I also don't understand why the little bully on the previous page doesn't just use the name given to her and makes up her own version?

@Natsku , Liisa is Alice in Finnish, I think. You say the i sort of twice.

@SirVixofVixHall , Gwenllian was popular in the UK in the 1920s, I think. Was probably shortened to Gwen, although the 'official' short form is Llio, which isn't pronounced Cleo.

The West Wales accent is stronger than those of North and Mid-Wales, so the vowel in the stressed syllable. Listen to someone from W Wales say anti-biotics or something compared with other accents - it doesn't mean that the word anti-biotics has different pronunciations (unless you count the people who say anti as 'ant-eye')

Liisa is Alice in Finnish, I think. You say the i sort of twice.

It is Finnish, you say a long ee sound, kind of like Leeeesa.

She must have used the spelling as Cathair for Cahir. I've also seen lots of Cathaoir as well for Cahir

I once had telephone contact through work with a man whose name was pronounced “wives”. He explained that his father was rather enamoured with the Frenchman Yves Montand but had never heard his name pronounced. Creative!

@Cattenberg , the only Welsh name I can think of with two ways of saying it is Siwan. In the south it is SHOO-ann, but it's more usually SEWE-ann (EWE like in female sheep) in the North. Welsh is completely phonetic. Variations will be due to accent, not pronunciation.

I'm trying to get my head round Lisa being pronounced Leece-a. All the ones I know say it as Leesa, apart from one who spells it differently - i think she has turkish heritage.

It did make me laugh I'm sorry 😹😹😹😹 Cat hair - I'm covered in the stuff this morning!

That would be correct in my language. A lot of these examples are just language differences.

That's typically English if you ask me. I have a foreign name, not difficult to say but written differently to how an English person would say it, and English people always change the pronouciation it to how-it's-sort-of-spelled-in-English, whereas the rest of the world listens to my pronounciantion and copies it. I'm never sure if the English ear doesn't lend itself to other accents or if they just can't be bothered to learn someones name.

That reminds me a little of "Wipers" which was what the British WW1 soldiers called Ypres. I think I remember seeing footage of a newsletter called "Wipers Gazette" or something.

@stayinghometoday , what is your language? I thought Yvonne was iv-ON/yv-ON, not EEV-on.

Your colleagues should report you to HR for bullying in the workplace.

@lastminutedotcom22

I know work with a Lisa who on the phone called herself "Leesa" but again we all ignore it and just call her Lisa

Firstly, Lisa is pronounced Leesa... how else are you pronouncing it?!

Secondly, you're a bully. So are your colleagues.

My friend more like EEvonne, i have never come across any Yvonnes who pronounce the way

Yvonne = eh von

both syllables with equal stress.

@Natsku , you say the i twice. It's more Li-isa or Lee-eesa. You either hear the difference or you don't. The two vowels are distinct.

The Y at the start makes an Ee sound, not an eh, surely. And a word can’t have two syllables with equal stress.

Looked it up on forvo and to me it sounds like the sound in "we eat" as distinct from the sound in "wheat".

@KirstenBlest Its my daughter's middle name, I know how its said! In Finnish when a vowel is doubled it becomes a long vowel, when its single its a short vowel, you don't say them separately.

I used to work in an opticians. I had a woman come in to complain about her ‘Wives Saint Lawrence’ glasses falling apart.

@natsku, I'm only going by how my finnish friends say their names. Tuula says Tu-ula not Toooola, Janne says Yan-neh, not Janneh. I think they know how to say their first names.

@SundayTeatime , Y is a short ee sound , shorter than as in Eve. French tends to put more or less equal stress on the syllables, although when brits speak french they tend to stress the last syllable, it is less pronounced by the french