Wrong pronunciation?

[MerlinsBeard87]

Our ds2 is due next month, we wanted to call him Caradoc. We aren't Welsh but we love the name, and would mainly call him Cary for short. Yesterday we met a Welsh lady who told us we are saying it wrong. We have been saying CAH- rah-dock with the emphasis at the start. She told us it should be cah-RADuk. I don't want to look like a fool that's appropriated a Welsh name and not bothering to say it right, but does it really matter if we prefer to say it our way? Can you tell me how you would say it please? Please don't criticise our choice of name as it's the only one we have loved from the start

First, the Welsh name is Caradog. Caradoc with a final c is an Anglicised version.

Second, the emphasis in Welsh words is almost always on the last syllable but one. So the lady was correct. The name is pronounced Car-A-dog.

Both a's are short, like in the English words 'have' or 'has', and the o is pronounced as a short o, like in the English words 'on' or 'off'.

All vowels are pronounced as they are written in Welsh. They don't turn into the schwa sound (uh) heard in many English words, whatever the written vowel may be.

FWIW, I think it's a fine name. It means either 'loving' or 'beloved'.

This reminds me a bit of Meredith:

MEH - re- dith (and many would say it)
Meh - RED - ith (correct Welsh pronunciation AFAIK)

My son also has a Welsh name that's pronounced by us as English/American/Aussies would say it, but isn't strictly correct. I'm not Welsh though (DH's dad etc etc are)

P.S Nice name

What Patty said. Please spell and pronounce it properly!!

I put the emphasis on the middle syllable, and it's definitely an 'o' not an 'u' sound at the end. I'd also put a 'g' on the end instead of the 'c', because it's more commonly spelled that way (although both are correct, Caradoc is a name) and I like the softer sound.

www.bbc.co.uk/wales/livinginwales/sites/howdoisay/names/index.shtml?b

This is useful. My son't name isn't on it though

son's

Welshie here. The lady you talked about is correct, emphasis on 2nd syllable.
Also Caradog.

Ps Caradoc is a common variant so go for that spelling if you prefer it and live in England

Also bear in mind that Cary as a nn is not at all
welsh- y in welsh is pronounced like a short "urgh" never "ee".

Thanks for the help! We prefer the Caradoc rather than Caradog spelling as I know either are acceptable, but obviously the g is the true Welsh spelling. We also don't mind that Cary is not a very Welsh nickname, it has much more relevance to us as a common place name in Somerset where we are originally from.
I just have to get my head around the correct pronunciation as we've been saying something different for the last 7 months

Yes another Welsh person here, Caradog is the Welsh name, Caradoc is an English version of it - I'm sure there may be some in Wales but I've only ever known of two, both Caradog (and both now ancient!)

It is pronounced with emphasis on the last but one syllable as is pretty much the Welsh norm.

Ca-RAH-dog. And the C is shortish, almost Cu-RAH-dog or c'-RAH-dog where I am from - if that makes sense.

Cary - assume you'd pronounce as in Cary Grant? - is a WORLD away from it.

Yes, I think it matters if you say it 'your way' - because it's quite simply incorrect. It'll sound wrong to any Welsh person and presumably to anyone else who knows the name - so he'll have a lot of correcting to do. Is that foolish? - well yes it is a bit. It is up to you of course. How do you feel about the name now that you know how to pronounce it? - do you actively not like the correct pronunciation?

Caradog is a lovely name btw!

I think most people in England would pronounce it like you, so it might actually be more of a ball-ache (for you and him) to give him the technically correct Welsh pronunciation. Meredith above is a great analogy, and I think it's considered perfectly acceptable to pronounce that the "English" way. So I'd go for the pronunciation you like if I were you.

yodas link is really useful.
That recording doesn't so much put emphasis on last syllable, more DOESN'T emphasise the first one.
Re nn Cary.
Would this be like Cary Grant (carry) as I thought Cary in Somerset was said Care-y

PS love the name Caradoc.
Sounds noble and strong

I prefer the Welsh way on this one, much nicer than CAR a doc. I would change it.
My son has a foreign name from his father's country. Very few English people say it properly but it's close enough that he doesn't need to correct them. The language you speak is going to alter the way they say names, even names like Mary and Bob. But if you have the chance to use it correctly yourselves, I would.

Also with Meredith, I always thought the Welsh version is a male name, whilst the US/English version is a female name, so a difference in pronunciation isn't unexpected?

I'd just use Cary, much nicer and avoids all the pronunciation problems.

OP, I think you might be over complicating this. If you're not Welsh and it doesn't sound the way you thought it did, then why use it?

Isn't Cary going to be much easier? Although if you want it pronounced as in Castle Cary, you should probably spell it Carey.

I know a couple of Careys and they are female!

Yes, if you're using a Welsh name I think use the proper pronunciation.

If you were thinking of using the Irish name Eoin and pronounced it Ee-oyn or something, you'd get all sort of reactions.

Cary is a nice name though, so why not just use that if pronouncing Caradoc will be a problem?

If you are using a Welsh name, make sure you spell and say it properly.
The name is Caradog. Pronounced Ka-RAD-og.
If you want to call your child Cary as in Cary Grant, call him Cary.

Yup, it's definitely Ca-RAD-oc or Ca-RAD-og.

I have met several people recently who have given their kids welsh names with welsh spellings but insist on using an english (and wrong!) pronounciation.

For example, I met an Iwan. Should be pronounced ewww-an. They insist on calling him Ewe-an (like the sheep). Don't get why they didn't just spell it Ewan and avoid any confusion.

You can't just use a name from another language and pronounce it the english way. It looks daft and your poor kid will be the one suffering.

Dolwar

I think it happens a lot in England. For example, Angelique would be pronounced differently in France to how it would be pronounced in England

... conversly, the name David would be pronounced DAVEED in Spanish. Should they not then, use that name?