To give our DD a name that me and her dad pronounce differently?

[TheYellowHill]

One of us pronounces it Vi-uh-lut and the other Vi-lut...

Can we still use it?

What Guienne said. I’ve never heard it pronounced ‘ee-thil’. And I’ve never been to Glasgow!

But it is ethyl not Ethel she is talking about!

It’s fine. I’m Scottish and my husband is not, we pronounce lots of words differently!

Guienne the poster was talking about Ethyl in a chem lab, and their username.

Not Ethel, the name of a person.

But, Phosphorus and Apollo, the post was in response to someone saying she was called Ethel?

No one mentioned Ethel but you Guienne .

Only if it bothers you. We decided against one name for Ds2 because I hated the way my husband said it (welsh name, so very different pronunciations depending on whether you're English or Welsh)

Glasgow university chemistry department! Who else in the world says E-thil?

Anyone whose first language isn't English, although th is a hard t sound (Studied abroad, pissed me off no end!)

My mum is Scottish and my dad is English, they say my name completely differently, never bothered me.

We have a dual prouncer (sp) name and we let it be known far and wide when DD born what our preferred option was (we just said rhymes with wine) and it has stuck.

One of you will sound lazier than the other though!

No they won’t.

I think different pronunciations can be problematic (eg Stephen pronounced Steven and Stefan) but Vi-o-let Vi-lut are more nuances of accent.

It would annoy me too much, I'd correct them in my head every time they said Vi-lut. Also no one else would know how to say it as it would depend which parent introduced the kid. I guess once the child was old enough they could choose their preferred pronunciation. On balance I wouldn't.

Anyone whose first language isn't English

Meh, forrin also-chemist DH says ee-thile, although he did his PhD in the UK so may have just picked it up.

Sorry for hijacking the thread btw!

The two pronounciations aren’t wildly different though are they? I say ‘vi-uh-let’ but with a very soft ‘uh’ sound, barely noticeable. No one emphasises the middle syllable do they?
It’s just occurred to me that we have 2 sets of friends with a violet and I have no real idea how either of their sets of parents pronounce it. I’ll have to listen closer in future!

no one else would know how to say it

Yes they would. The difference is so subtle that they know the name is “Violet” and would say it as is natural for their accent. I’ve said it to myself many times and it’s mostly Vi-lut with hint of an O in there.

It’s even less obvious than the bath/barth pronunciation difference.

^ agree with *SoupDragon’.

Ooh ooh! I used to work with a Violet. It was pronounced Ann.

[She used her middle name, Ann, as she hated the name Violet and Violet wasn't a cool name for a younger person back in the 80s].

Close friend is Helena, said totally different ways by her parents (he-layne-a, hell-enn-a).

She much prefers he-layne-a so that’s what she uses.

Apparently she got a bit annoyed with her dad saying hell-en-a when she was a teenager, but, you know, hormones so it would have been something if it wasn’t that.

Never been an issue for them as far as I can tell.

Don't call the poor kid Violet.... it sounds like Violent!

Ooh ooh! I used to work with a Violet. It was pronounced Ann.

That really made me laugh

Violet is a lovely name.

It doesn't matter, I call DD by her full name, DH by calls her by the short version and DS calls her by an entirely different name!

I was going to say the same as scrivette.
My name is Katherine. Mum calls m Katy, Dad calls me kate. Always have.

Actually my dad is from Yorkshire and calls me keight.
I like it.

I think it's totally fine. My friend Michelle is called MEE-shell by her whole family and she hates it so doesn't let anyone else pronounce it like that!

Some people call me Ee-thile and others E-thil

Who else in the world says E-thil?

I have never heard anyone say Ee-thile!

I say Eh- thl, only heard others say eh-thl. I'm talking about well-educated people from age 20-90, btw, from different regions of UK...but none of them chemists, mind you!

Meh, forrin also-chemist DH says ee-thile, although he did his PhD in the UK so may have just picked it up.

None of the ones I know have ever worked in the UK, inc DH!