To pronounce this name differently

[babynameconfusion]

DH and I like the name Felicia. But we would pronounce it 'Fuh-liss-ee-a'
rather than like Feleesha. What would you think if you saw a baby with this name? Would people always pronounce it wrong?

[RobinIsThicke]

*an

[RobinIsThicke]

I know a Alicia at work. Some people call her Aleesha.

[DonkeyOaty]

Oh well. Who wants to be named after a low budget car anyway.

[babynameconfusion]

www.thesun.co.uk/living/2527605/woman-sparks-debate-on-mumsnet-after-asking-if-this-unusual-girls-name-is-difficult-to-pronounce/

Bloody fuckers

[1horatio]

totally

Can I please borrow your experience and ask you if these names could be made into something sexual/a particularly easy pun/taunt? (My first language isn't English so Idk and DH is a big quirky...)

Gemma
Antonia
Josephine
Olympia
Katherina
Susanna/Susan


Anton
Basil
Raoul
Julius

[Totallybonkersmum]

I totally agree with Hellsbellsmelons!

I used to teach in a secondary school and my goodness, children can be so utterly and unrelentingly cruel about so many names, or initials, whatever. Especially if it could be taken sexually. I had a child with the initials VD; she didn't have a day go by without someone saying something cruel
to her. I had another child called Aiden; the teenagers used to taunt him, calling him "AIDS" and other connotations. Crikey, I felt so sorry for them and others who's names were used as a tool to bully them.
I clamped down on it by giving detentions, but many people don't realise that these come out of my own personal, unpaid time. As a result many teachers don't.
Even my own name gets pronounced incorrectly frequently. Thankfully it can't be turned into some sexual name calling. I tend to totally ignore people absolutely until either I correct them, because they obviously don't know, or I only answer back when my name is called and not shortened, deliberately mispronounced, etc. Unfortunately, there are the persistent people in my life who still deliberately mispronounce my name, and it's difficult as they mainly my parent's friends. However, the older I get, the more I behave the same way with them. After all, as they older and should know better, I think they're totally vile and obnoxious. But it's taken me quite a time to toughen up to that one!
So yes, please, I beg you(!) because I've seen bullying first hand as the result of parents who don't think. Think about pronunciation, how it maybe shortened, the initials, etc. Remember, this child has to live with their name for the rest of their life! Unless they change it by deed poll, which another one of my students did recently. He felt he had to change his surname and I can totally understand why. I think I'd have done the same in his shoes!

[Pemba]

RTFT

[HandsFaceTeeth]

I totally agree with Pottering - Don't give your child a name you are going to deliberately mispronounce.

[DiseasesOfTheSheep]

I can't see how anyone could argue that Felicia should be pronounced Feleesha at all. Surely the logical default should be Felicia, as that's what the name actually - y'know - is...

[Astley]

I didn't even know there was the option for Ful-ee-sha.

All the Marcia's and Alicia's I know all says Mar-see-a or Al-iss-ia.

Your way, to me, is the default normal.

[mammamic]

I thought it is pronounced the way you like it.

I have what was a very unusual name and is now extremely common. Always had to correct pronunciation and still have to correct spelling. Doesn't bother me. My DD has a very coming name (if we lived in Italy!) but very unusual in U.K. Constantly misspelt and mispronounced. She loves her 'unique' name but also loves meeting at least one namesake whenever we go to Italy.

If you like it and are OK with the odd correction - go for it. As I said, I thought your preference is the correct/more usual version.

Not a fan of Feleesha tbh... Felicia is lovely

[LobsterQuadrille]

Badgoushk - the other Esmes I know are both Es-mee, so I thought that the one Es-may was "different". Happy to stand corrected though.

[1horatio]

But doesn't it sound like Lyra, Lydia, lyrics, mythology etc?

[Klaphat]

I would have said that the y was similar to the first i in Kristina... if that makes sense?

If a native English speaker intended for that y to be an i, they wouldn't put the 'magic e' on the end of the segment - the purpose of it is to make sure the y is pronounced ai. (To get the first i in Kristina, a native English speaker would generally spell it simply as rin.)

[1horatio]

klpahat

I would have said that the y was similar to the first i in Kristina... if that makes sense?

Very true.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

I would guess Katerina would be pronounced like Veronica if you want the short 'i' sound.

[Klaphat]

I would expect 'ryne' used in an attempt at English phonetic spelling to mean the ai diphthong, but I may be mistaken. The e makes the y sound like ai (as it does to the i in 'wine'). Lydia is pronounced Lid-ea. Names are tricky things to use in phonetics though, since they're something that has often hopped from one language to another and changed spelling for social reasons, so can be misleading in pronunciation.

[1horatio]

klaphat

Wouldn't the -ryne- be pronounced like Lydia?

[Klaphat]

So how would an Azerbaijani say Katerina? Kater-ryne-a?
Short i is not the 'eye' sound, that's a diphthong! Short i is the vowel in sit.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

I'd say Felissia automatically too.

Is it really any different to remember than seeing an e-mail sign off from Rebecca X and remembering that you'd call her Becca?

[hellsbellsmelons]

Oral sex oral sex oral sex.
Don't inflict a lifetime of piss taking on your poor DD!

[EmmaWoodlouse]

I've only heard feleesha in Pricilla Queen of the Desert - otherwise it's been felissia. I definitely prefer the felissia pronunciation anyway.

[1horatio]

I've honestly never heard anybody say Feleesha.

[wictional]

I've never heard of it pronounced "fuh-Liss-ia", only "Ful-eesha" as in "bye Felicia" - and I'm British. I would pronounce Alicia as "Alice-ia" though, rather than "Alesha"

[Natsku]

Oops, Katerina so kat-eh-rin-a.