To say baby names sound better with some 'accents' and not others.

[HJWT]

Basically having a debate with DH about how baby names sound different/better depending what part of the country you are from.

When my DH (from london) says a name, for example Hallie, Koby they sound nice but when I say them (from 'up north') they sound quite tacky 😂 he thinks they sound the same either way where as I don't

Whats your opinion ?

We're friends with a French couple - one of their children is called Julie, but in their French accents it sounds so much more exotic! Nothing wrong with the name Julie BTW, but in an English accent it definitely doesn't sound quite so romantic!

noshsna I’m from ‘the north’ and Maddie would be Maddie.
Not everyone up north has the same accent.

The Wirral isn’t even a proper scouse accent, it’s quite soft probably because the Wirral isn’t Liverpool though.

I didn’t really think this through when having my son and he had a strong K in his name and I have an extremely strong scouse accent 🤦🏼‍♀️ Sounds awful sometimes when I say his name.

Also

Not everyone up north has the same accent

There’s so many accents ‘up north’ in Liverpool alone the accent changes between Huyton and Prescot and it’s a massive change my uncle from Ireland couldn’t get over it!

There’s so many accents ‘up north’ in Liverpool alone the accent changes between Huyton and Prescot and it’s a massive change

That's interesting. Belfast is like that too, the accent from east and west of the city are very different.

Does it happen in other cities too I wonder? Would you know what specific part of Newcastle or Manchester someone is from based on their accent?

I've found that more modern names sounds better with a northern accent while more traditional names sound better with a southern accent.

God yes. We have a Dougie, and my Lincolnshire based niece pronounces it D'uh-geh. We're never moving back to Lincolnshire.

No doubt at all.

Dc2 has an unusual name with lots of L's.
In Wales they pronounce it so beautifully, sound like they are purring.

We live in the West Midlands, the accent affect is not the same.

@treaclesoda oh yes type newcastle accent into youtube 😂

Yes, in answer to the question about accents varying a lot. In North Manchester anything ending in “a” gets pronounced “ohh”- so Maria becomes “Mariohh”. It doesn’t in South Manchester, but I know quite a few parents who’ve avoided using those names just in case.

Yep- we rejected several names we really liked because of the way they sounded in my dp’s family accent. Specifically Lily and Constance (Connie). People who live down our way are best to avoid names with “th” in- it’s always pronounced “f”

I agree, I'm Scottish, Pearl and Karl come out as Peril and Karil.

I imagine Lachlan is a tricky one for Southerners. It has the Scottish ch as in Loch.

My MIL ( English) pronounces it Laklan.

I would know what part of Sunderland someone was from , based on accent. I believe accents are fading with time though.
For example , in the Wearside Jack tapes during the search for the Yorkshire ripper , they could pinpoint the area down to a specific estate.

We followed a rule of thumb from my mum when considering baby names - I'm from Belfast ( though living in England), and her measure was whether it would sound ridiculous being yelled out the back door in a broad Belfast accent, "x, come in fer yer tea!!" Particularly useful for teasing out whether a name sounded pretentious 😁

Bit perplexed about the Yorkshire comments, the 't' is always pronounced and I've never heard it differently here.

I purposefully avoided anything that ended in -ie or -y because I'm from Leicester and it would be pronounced as -eh...Katie would be Kate-eh, Sophie would be Soph-eh etc

I'm not knocking the accent, I have a Leicester accent and do it myself but this particular aspect of the accent isn't very kind on the ears! 😂

My name sounds hideous when pronounced with a strong Cornish accent. Guess where I lived as a child - Cornwall.
Various friends have non-English and I always pause & think before I say their names yet know I will mispronounce them as I just can't make the right sounds. DD has friends with Welsh and Indian names and both have said to me in the past that it doesn't matter that I'm not saying their name properly as lots of people can't but the names sound so lovely when their parents say it and I know I destroy it.

Yes the Scottish accent destroys most names! We’re central, and loved the name Lucia for our DD when I was pregnant. But the traditional Italian way of pronouncing it ( Loo chee ah) sounds absolutely ridiculous in our thick Glasgowish accent. So we say it as Loo see ah instead.

Agree with Carl and Pearl too, I say Carl as Cal and Pearl as Peril. We soften Ts too so names like Katie are also ruined. I can’t even type how I would say that!

“Yes the Scottish accent destroys most names! ”

Well-apart from Scottish ones, which are presumably destroyed by English accents?

Agree. I love Clara but it's horrible in an Australian accent

I don't think the Scottish accent ruins most names, particularly not Lucia, I know of two both pronounced well. .....maybe I am saying it wrong

I didn't use Katie or Amelia because of how they may be pronounced locally.

I think London English accents are fascinating. The cockney accent seems to be fading a bit amongst some young people. I’m thinking of that KFC radio advert if anyone can think of the one I mean. I young woman is advertising something for only fav nan ee nan.

I hope this doesn’t come across as racist but it seems more prominent among young black people, maybe a mix from African and Caribbean accents from their older family members. Anyway, the young people are clearly British but there is a distinct new London accent that isn’t cockney.

Well, you learn something new every day. Apparently it has a name: multicultural London English or MLE for short

There are some names we’ve rejected as they would sound awful in my husband’s family’s accent- think dropping ts and slightly different vowels. Like another poster I liked ottile but it just wouldn’t have worked.

Lots of people pronounce Martin ‘marh-uhn’ where I’m from.

It’s like a whole different name