Baylor?

[WittyUsername102]

We were originally going with Laurel for our DD, but DH discovered this today and really likes it, but I'm a little unsure - what are MN's opinions?
He really likes the meaning of it and it does fit our family - it means horse trainer.

I haven't read the full thread but I also thought of the girl on Survivor. For what it is worth her name didn't provoke any kind of negative reaction for me. I don't see why people are getting so het up about it. It seems a perfectly normal American-style name to me in the vein of Madison or Makayla.

I also like Laurel. I know a woman called Laurel and when I first met her I thought it was such a pretty name.

Ps. I actually prefer Baylor to some of the popular MN names like Pearl or Florence or Maud.

Bayleen?
Baylynne?
Bayleigh?

Poor old Landry- it looks like Laundry and that's not exactly inspiring.

I was a teacher and I remember several children being teased because of their names. We tried our best to stop it but it's really hard and nothing we could do about outside school where most of the teasing happened.

I still see a few of them and they changed their names as soon as they were old enough.

One parent complained continuously and the head eventually lost patience and told her she couldn't have called the child such a stupid name in the first place.

Childhood can be difficult enough without being saddled with a silly name.

Sunna. You have to tell us the names now. How old were the kids?

My did christened a Porsche!

It sounds awkward, almost hard to say, my tongue kind of gets in the way when I say it. I think your poor daughter will change her name or use a nickname like B if you call her this.

I think Edam is right she will be constantly saying, " no it's Baylor not Taylor".

at Sunna's headmaster

Imagine Deirdre Barlow trying to say Bailey.

People will think that's what you mean. And your child. People will assume she's got a thick mancunian accent and is saying her name is Bailey. She will have to correct them, for the rest of her life. What a pain in the arse to give your child.

*disclaimer: nothing at all wrong with a mancunian accent. But I'd not appreciate people constantly getting my name wrong due to mishearing.

moxon - we will likely be back by the time she is 2 or 5.

mathanxiety - Sorry, I don't understand.

TheWholeOfTheSpoon - Last year it was 1/3 girls I believe - so fairly unisex.

FastWindow - We know of a Landry too. Honestly, anything is a name here. Pretty sure there was a SNL skit about how 'hat was too masculine' for a baby girl.

Ruth10 - No idea if you've read the thread but I have no problem if my children wish to change their name, as both myself and DD1 did so. In what way do you find it hard to say?

Gilbert Have you ever been to Manchester? They wouldn't pronounce Bailey "Baylor". "Bail-eh" maybe.

Baylor, rhyming with Taylor, might be pronounced "Bail-oh". But only by v common people

I didn't realise Deidre was posh maybe I'm thinking of another soap person! Am now sitting here saying Bail-oh and I sound like one of the Dingles (shite at placing accents). Wouldn't Baylor be pronounced "Bail-uh" though? It wouldn't be "Bay- LOR" unless Brian Blessed was saying it

Rhoticity

The person on this Youtube video has a really weird accent.

GilbertBlytheWouldGetIt - It's Bay-luh, like Tay-luh.

In short, it would be Bay-la in most of S England but not around Bristol, and Bay-lurrrr nearly everywhere else, including Ireland, US and Canada.

You are only going to convince Americans it's pronounced Bal-luh if you spell it Bayla.

And Tal-luh would have to be spelled Tayla to get the Tay-luh pronunciation in the US.

Say the word 'slurry' out loud (or get someone else to do it) and listen to the 'uR' sound. That is how the '-lor' ending to Taylor and Baylor are pronounced in the US.

gaaggghhhh.
Tal-luh = Tay-luh.
Bal-luh = Bay-luh

We knew a Bayla and it was pronounced like Carla with a B.

I say Tal-luh and Tay-luh very differently.. perhaps it is just how we are typing it? Or accents?

This is how I am saying it

But regardless, I do not think there is a problem in terms of spelling = pronunciation. I know Elisabeths who pronounce their name the same as Elizabeth, and also as if they were two separate words, Elisa Beth, I just say it however they say it. Gillian Jacobs would be a famous example I suppose.

Tal-luh was a typo on my part.

The Bayla pronunciation that sounded like Carla was really odd. Maybe from a different language/culture?

Elizabeth pronounced Ell-iz-uh-beth is not a problem. Elizabeth does not have an R at the end.

The problem with Baylor (and Taylor) is the R at the end. You have a non rhotic accent and you say it as if it is spelled Bayla or Tayla.
(That is to say, the standard English version of Bayla, not the one that sounds like Carla).

Americans would say Baylor or Taylor with a pronounced R. The last syllable will sound like the middle syllable of slurry. This is how it is pronounced in a rhotic accent.

You have me all confused now.

On the one hand you said to Gilbert: 'It's Bay-luh, like Tay-luh.'

And then you posted the pronunciation guide, and that is absolutely not 'Bay-luh'.

Barla? Bah- la?

Béarla?
That is Irish for English.

Can't get Brian Blessed out of my head now!

Also, shall we use the phonetic alphabet for this pronunciation dilemma?
See en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet if you are not a linguist or famous opera singer or were forced to learn it under dubious circumstances at uni, and need a refresher.
And this is what upodn.com/phon.asp suggests as standard IPN: be?l?r. Which is pretty much what I would normally say too if confronted with Baylor on paper.