AIBU to think my son's name isn't that hard to pronounce?

[SailorByTheSea]

Or is this an acceptable pronunciation!?

We live in London, so 'fear' is 1 syllable (this is relevant!)

My son is called Theodore... You know, 3 syllables, 'The-uh-door'?

All he gets is 'fear-door' please tell me that this isn't an acceptable pronunciation? It makes me regret his name massively

Tinkly that's still slightly better than Poppy becoming Popeye.

I was born & raised in this part of the Midlands - I definitely should have given it some more thought! 😣

Feardoor? This is almost as mind-blowing to my American sensibilities as the time there was the thread about jaw and door rhyming. I'm still not sure y'all weren't taking the piss on that one.

When I was little I lived in Ohio, but have been in Minnesota since I was 8. I have a Fargo accent on everything now except my "ag" sounds, which are a holdover from my earlier years. Here if a vowel is followed by a g, the accent turns it long. Bag is bay-g, etc. It irritates the business out of me as someone named Megan. I get May-gin (hard g obvs) a lot, but it's Meg-in. I used to go by Meg exclusively to circumvent that. (For some reason they don't elongate eg when it's a single syllable like egg or Meg or beg, but begging is "bay-ging". Ugh.)

So, yes, it would annoy me too!

It's just an accent. Why does it make you regret his name?

It's a crazily popular name where I am (outer London) so I think I people are aware of how to pronounce it, they just do so in their particular accent.

I can sympathise.

My name begins with a H.

When I moved away it sounded like a completely different name!

The answer, obviously, is to move to Australia. Everyone here pronounces my son Theodore's name perfectly correctly . Thee-ah-door.

I agree to my ears Theodore & feardoor sound much the same

This is interesting. As I am from SE and they don't sound similar in the slightest.

My son has the same name and we moved out of (SW) London into Kent when he was 3. I have never, ever heard anyone call him anything other than Theo or Thee-oh-door. I am that Fee-door is considered normal or that the OP should have realised that's how it would be pronounced in London!!

OP :
"@VinsArmy - but people should be able to use the correct amount of syllables?"

Err. This is the mistake you made.

You must have known that this was going to be an issue? If you didn't then you were naieve and shortsighted.

People pronounce things differently not only on London, but all over the world. If you move it won't make any difference.

You should have considered this before you chose dc name.

Also ..... What will it be shortened to...... will I like that..... for all names, for every child.

Both the 2 syllable and 3 syllable thee-oh-door and fear-door seem totally acceptable to me.

Or more so, what do you plan on doing about it? If you chose a name that people can find hard/do mispronounce ......then that's your choice.

You could have chosen numerous names that are standard internationally, and rarely mis-pronounced. You chose not to.

SE- if just saying his name it would be thee- a - door; but in a conversation would become Theer- door I expect (losing the schwa, fear is one syllable mainly here, rhymes with here, though I can make it two dependent on context!). I love the name, and the nickname Tee- dor if that would help?

This is almost as mind-blowing to my American sensibilities as the time there was the thread about jaw and door rhyming

They do

But it's Thee-ah-door, not Thee-is-door misses point

Oh OP, don't fret. Posh people will know how to prounounce it. Which is what I think you're concerned about.

Also, since when has 'fear' been a two syllable word without massively mangling it?

For thucks sake it's not really a big deal is it?

It wouldn't be thuck in SE London,it would be 'faaack'

Not being a big deal - I dunno. I wasn't going to be giving any of my dc names with th sounds in because Germans can't*/don't pronounce them and the pronunciations would have been Germanified to just a 't' - which some don't mind but I don't like.

*I sometimes teach English pronunciation and it's a real slog. They usually produce either a 's' or a 'd'. Getting the tongue far enough between the teeth isn't natural if you haven't grown up with the sound and requires a lot of conscious effort.

Theodore and feardoor sound the same [Ummmmgogo]

No they don't!

TH is pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the tip of the top front teeth.

F is pronounced with the lower lip touching the top front teeth

No they don't, DameDiazepam.

One has an R at the end and one has a W.
There is (vowel) assonance but that is as far as it goes.

"It irritates the business out of me as someone named Megan. I get May-gin (hard g obvs) a lot, but it's Meg-in."

Don't come to West Wales CheerfulYank - here it is (more or less) Meg-Ann with at least an equal stress on the second syllable, sometimes more.

(And don't get me started on the way 'tooth' is pronounced)

I have two daughters one with a 'th' name and the other with a 'h'. We live in devon where the dialect does not pronounce h's and 'th' with an f.

I blame pregnancy hormones for not thinking that through.

Shorten it to Ted?

No they don't, DameDiazepam

One has an R at the end and one has a W
There is (vowel) assonance but that is as far as it goes

If you say so.

Speaking as a Londoner, Theodore and feardoor TOTALLY different. THee-oh-door. YADNBU.

I pronounce door daw, so jaw does sound the same as door.

I live in Kent. Anyone giving their child a name with a "th" in it is asking for trouble!

The first time ds ever wrote in a card all by himself, he wrote " Happy Birfday, Efan"

OP I feel your pain. Dd's name ends in an 'ee' sound but everyone in Yorkshire changes it to 'i'. In my book that's a different name