elijah - hard or soft j?

[chellechelle26]

do I pronounce it as it is e-lye-jah or e-lye-zhuh?

My little boy is called Elijah and I pronounce it with a soft J as does the rest of my family. Some people do pronounce it with a hard j but I find the soft j comes more naturally to me.

I think soft is correct biblically speaking.

I would say soft. I love Elijah and had it on my list for DC1 (due December), but my DH vetoed it

I prefer it with a hard J.

People I know with Elijah say it with a hard 'j'. But soft is nice, now that I think of it!

I also know a male Elisha, pn Eh-LYE-shuh. I know the spelling looks a bit feminine at first, but it is actually a male name. Once I got used to it, I loved it.

thankyou, I've been pronouncing it soft but wasn't sure if I was getting it right!

I pronounce it with a hard j.

I do like Elisha for a boy as well.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone pronounce it with a hard J.

I always read it as hard J but actually think soft J is nicer so might try and retrain myself!

I've never heard anyone pronounce it with a soft 'j'! It must be one of those things that depends on the country (I'm in Australia).

(I'm assuming that by 'hard j', we mean the same as the 'j' in 'James', rather than the soft French-style j.)

In church its usually Elijah with a hard J when I've come across it.

I'm sitting her saying 'Elijah, Elijah, Elijah......' with a hard J. Sounds wrong to me, I'll stick with the more pleasing soft J.

I'm really confused by this. By soft j do you mean E-li-yah?

I've never heard it pronounced anyway but E-li-jar...

Soft J as in it sounds like the 'zs' in Zsa Zsa Gabor's name.

Eli-zsa.

Oh ok! Yes - soft j in that case!

Thanks for clarifying Squoosh

Hard. That's how I've always heard the prophet referred to. I always think of the soft way add being an American pronunciation.

Eliza and Elisha are the softer names, but in terms of the Biblical name its hard!!

I've never heard anyone say it with a zh sound. In terms of the Biblical prophet, it has a hard 'j' sound like James. Maybe Elizha is a popular American way of saying it.

now I'm even more confused than when I started haha!

I believe Hebrew doesn't really have a 'j' sound, does it? So it would presumably be some variant on the soft 'y' sound.

I've always heard it in English with a hard 'j', though.

Lovely name, anyway!

(I just realized I should say, I don't speak Hebew, I just know Jesus is Yeshua and Joseph is Ioseph in lots of old texts.)

I think it's a hard J

Elijah and Elisha are two different people in the Bible aren't they? One pronounced hard and one soft.

So, if you wanted a soft j, you'd have to use Elisha

I think in Hebrew it's 'eh-LEE-yah'

I feel I must retrospectively visit threads and tell people that if you're thinking of calling your child Elijah I only say 'aye' is it's with a soft J.