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?

Not possiably urban legend wish very definately urban legend

The lee-a/lee-r storys get trotted out, there has never bee such a child

Isn’t Cian key-an and a boys name? Or am I confusing it with Ciaran?

La-a is the most common spelling for that urban myth. Crops up on MN all the time!

It's "Sharn" so far as "Bath" is pronounced "Barth" in the south (for example) - a longer sounding "A" sound, Shaan. The R isn't pronounced.

It's definitely one syllable though.

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@Tinytemper66

I have never been called Sharn in my life! I have been called See-Ann or Si-an rhyming with Siam but never Sharn!

Oh dear LOL! Everyone you know has been COMPLETELY mispronouncing your name all your life. You need to start correcting them. Obviously everyone around them is too polite to say!

PMSL at the (few) posters who are insistent SIAN is pronounced SEE-ANN!!!

Even someone claiming to be WELSH is saying it. It's NOT pronounced fucking SEEEE-ANNN!

You can't make this shit up!

Sorry Sharn

I know 2 and its sharn. Its not a made up or new name lol its pretty common!

Cian is 'Kee-an" and is an Irish name

hula008 I thought so!

I agree si-ann is completely wrong

Yeah I SAID the R isn't pronounced, although several posters seem to IGNORING that. It's pronounced SHARN (with very little emphasis on the R,) or SHAAN!

The fact that about 95% of posters on here KNOW it's not pronounced SEE-ANN proves it's not. It is Sharn/Shaan.

End of.

As you were.........

OMG! Sharn sounds to me like Sharon with the 'o' left out. If someone said 'Sian' as 'Sharn' I'd assume the speaker was from one of the west country counties, probably western Somerset - Zoomerrzet (shorten the 'oo' a bit) - or further west. I'm from Bristol (Brissoll!) originally so tend to emphasise the 'r' sound.

Shaan/Shahn is beautiful, reminds me of Sian Phillips.

It's Sharn. I worked with a Sian for years a slave out colleague constantly said Shan despite being corrected frequently

Shaan.

It's a popular/ well known name...

It's "Sharn".

Anyone pronouncing it "Sigh-Ann" is doing so because their parents picked a name they didn't know how to pronounce and they have been an object of ridicule all their lives.

”But if you don't pronounce the R why put it into a word (that doesn't have an R silent or otherwise) when describing how it's said?”

Because “shan” wouldn’t be an accurate representation of how we pronounce it. That would rhyme with “can”.

Saying we pronounce it (for example) “Shahn” would involve putting an h into a word which doesn’t have one. Indicating pronunciation clearly sometimes involves putting extra letters in to try and convey sound.

Having said that I agree that using ah instead of ar to convey that sound is more sensible.

Sian is a very normal name. I can't believe some people can't pronounce it or think you have to be welsh to use it there was about ten in my year at school, and that was in the late 90s.

Sharn

I'm utterly confused now! So those saying it's Sharn pronounce it Shahn? They aren't pronouncing the imaginary R they say the name contains?
Sorry not been critical, I'm West of Ireland, our accent is flat and broad, I read somewhere we actually pronounce English most accurate. I can't get my head around adding random letters due to accent and saying this is the way a name is pronounced.

Whether it’s an imaginary r or an imaginary h makes no difference for English non-rhotic speakers- they sound identical.

My cousin is Sian and pronounced see Ann. Not daft to think that.

You're being daft. It's a Welsh name pronounced Shaarn

Rhymes with Barn. Sian is not pronounced See-ann. If you want the name see-ann, call your child See-ann