To ask how you would pronounce this name?

[Notss]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is the wrong place:

My little sister is expecting her first child and if it is a girl wants to call her “Sian”.

She sent it to me in a text and I replied “What - like See-Ann?” And she told me I was being daft.

So how would you pronounce such a name?

@Bookworm14

It sounds as though everyone saying Shaan, Sharn, or Shahn, is actually pronouncing it the same way.

But Shan??? Surely that's just short for Chantel!

Shahn or Shaan is perfect. Sharn? Nope! The R makes the sound too hard.

It's a silent R! A silent R doesn't make any sound.

Cancel the fucking Cherque.

EthelThePiratesDaughter

It's a silent R! A silent R doesn't make any sound

It may be a silent R where you come from. R is never silent in Wales. The R makes it sound too harsh.

Anyway, it seems I have been pronouncing my name wrong for 54 years... There we go..

*Arse emphasis on the AR like a pirate

Are you a pirate? Or a country bumpkin?

grin

I say ahhhh-S.*

I'm not the poster you're directing this at, but I'm neither a pirate nor a country bumpkin and I would clearly pronounce the r in arse. I would say...Arr-si (Arrr like a pirate, Si like the start of sister).

An ahhhhh-S is a donkey/horse hybrid.

FinnegansWhiskers

But that's the point. Someone from the home counties saying it's pronounced "Sharn" is saying exactly the same as you are when you say "Shaan" or "Shahn".

If you don't pronounce the R, which lots of people don't, "Sharn" sounds identical to "Shaan" or "Shahn".

An ahhhhh-S is a donkey/horse hybrid.

No, that's an ass, with a short A, like the beginning of "assume".

I say "arse" with a long A and a silent R, like "car".

Chocolate... That's a perfect illustration of pronunciation. Arse/Ass sounds nothing the same. Some one people thinks the R is silent. It's not.

Arse/Ass sounds nothing the same.

I agree. The vowel is different, but the consonants are the same.

Shaan (long a)

In Wales we roll our R's so if someone suggested Sian is pronounced as Sharn we would pronounce the R. I think those from the West Country would too.

Well, they wouldn't need to suggest it, because I assume Welsh people mostly know how to pronounce normal Welsh names. This is us English people trying to describe the sound of â to each other.

Where has the random R come from? It's Shan

Bluebells to rhyme with Japan, then?

Shan - no need for the r.

@JamieVardysHavingAParty eh? Sorry you've lost me.

It's a silent R. The people putting an R in are indicating that it's a long A.

Same vowel sound as car and ask.

[bangs head on desk]

I give up.

....... Shan Shan Shan like van and can. No need for a silent R

It doesn't rhyme with van or can in my accent.

Well, they wouldn't need to suggest it, because I assume Welsh people mostly know how to pronounce normal Welsh names. This is us English people trying to describe the sound of â to each other

Of course Welsh people know how to pronounce a Welsh name. Well...They thought they did until an English person came along to tell us different!

Whatever happens...There is not now or has ever been an R sound in Sian..

You have written shan with no idication of vowel length. That word written down can be pronounced to rhyme with Japan or fan, or with a longer sound. Which did you intend?

I would say Sigh Ann

Christ on a bike, it's SHAAN

See-ann, Sigh-ann - you plonkers. Do you pronounce it Ghee-off-ree? Ch-ar-lotte? Ay-lyce?