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.

I was at university with a woman called Caroline, who insisted that it was pronounced Caro-leen. She got very irate if anyone got it wrong.
I also worked with a Siobhan who insisted that it was See-oh-wan.
Their choice, I suppose.

I was an university with a Kirsten from Norway and the correct Norwegian pronunciation is 'Sheershten', so if your friend's wife has a Scandinavian background or was named after someone Scandinavian, she's probably pronouncing it correctly.

Madlin is a perfectly normal pronunciation of Madeline.

Nigh-OH-mee is one of several correct pronunciations of Naomi.

I know an Aaron who pronounces it Air-ron. Nice guy.

I don't understand the Sara/Sarah posts. I thought they were pronounced the same?
Is Sara pronounced Zara?

I have a Naomi too and didn’t realise there were so many variations. I always say Nay oh me, but there’s definitely a fair amount who say Nigh oh me. With the occasional F French sounding No emi thrown in for good measure.

I always find the name spelt Sara but pronounced as Sarah really odd. Why not just call your child Sarah in the first place? I can never see Sara written down and think of it as Sarah, surely Sara is a different name in its own right.

I also know a Sheila who pronounces it ‘SHEE lee ur.’

I don't get this one - why wouldn't it be pronounced woof if it is, well, woof?

@catfunk im from NI but my husband is Scottish. One of his school pals is a Niall and he pronounces it “Neil” (though we would say “nigh-al” in NI). Isn’t it the Scots pronunciation?

My cat was Sophia, you gotta see her.

That's interesting, because that's how I thought it was pronounced!

@PriamFarrl
Caitlin should have a fada on the A and the last I and it should be pronounced Cautchleen.

I had to phone some called Cherrie today, she answered the phone saying 'kerry' and I thought i had got through to working person! I also know a SIan who pronounces her name Cyan

Guy pronounced Goo eee

@Cocolapew The first few Sara’s I met all pronounced it like that - Zara but with a soft s at the start. But the two most recent ones have spelt it Sara but pronounced it Sarah which feels wrong to me - like saying Nicole and Nicola are pronounced exactly the same for example.

That IS how you pronounce Madeleine - it's a French name.
My family are French

It’s pronounced ay- len, I thought that was how the PP said it was pronounced?

Naiomi is not a standard spelling of Naomi.

I think that's the correct way to pronounce it.

I’d pronounce it Air on too, like Elvis Aaron Presley.

Ye. Me. I don't know if my name is pronounced Dan-yell or Dan-i-EL

I met a Welsh Sian who was See-Ann. She said it was only with the hat accent (so Siân) that it was pronounced Sharn.

Years back heard of a small boy who was called 'Gooey' by his parents (spelt Guy) though this was probably bollocks.

It’s their name; they can request it be pronounced how the fuck they like, I think.

As an aside, I have always thought “Boris Johnson” was pronounced “Lying Dick-Head”, but the man himself insists the former is correct.

I thought that one was a shaggy dog story. Like La dash a. Not real.

I also knew an Aaron who pronounced his name Air Ron, who would be in his late 40,s by know 🤔