How would you pronounce...

[Babynamechangerr]

Xavier?

If you saw the name Xavier written down and had to say it out loud, how would you pronounce it?

I know there are different ways to pronounce, I just want to see what the most common is.

Would be useful to know if you're British or from elsewhere (as I know this may influence pronunciation).

Thanks for your help!

As Saviour but with a Z.
I'm Irish in Ireland.

I'd pronounce it Hav ee air

Id also pronounce xylophone as ex-why-lophone. Am i saying it wrong?

@drizzle it is a Spanish name, and in Spain we would pronounce Hav-e-ar.
In England people get confused by the X and pronounce it at as a Z

I’ve known 5 Xaviers:

1 French: Za-vee-AY
2 white British: ZAY-vee-uh
2 black British: Ex-AY-vee-uh

I tend to assume the white British pronunciation (according to the above - I know it isn’t universally so), but then I’m white British.

Zav- ee - ay

I am French, I live in France, all the people called Xavier or François-Xavier I know pronounce it Zav-yé, (yé = a very short yay, so Zav-yay) the stress is equal on each syllable.

OP, you can see there are various pronunciations depending on country of origin. None of the pronunciations discussed in this thread is incorrect.

My daughter is called Ximena and there are similar variations in pronunciation as Xavier.

Never mind the name,what about xylophone!!

It's my dad's middle name - he's from a Mediterranean country and it's pronounced X - avier.

I always thought it was normally pronounced ZAY-vee-er in English and ZAV-ee-ay in French. However the only one I've known personally was Polish, and according to Polish pronunciation rules he ought really to have been KSAV-yair, but his English-speaking teachers all pronounced it the "French" way.

Xylophone is Zy - luh - phone

Mine is pronounced Zay-ve-uh (like saviour but with a Z) but we do get some mispronunciations. Za vee ay, Ex ay ve uh, Za ve air

Xylophone is Zy - luh - phone

Which is what Grufallosfriends said,isn't it ?

Zave year.
Zave rhymes with save.

Za vee ay (broadly) which I believe is the French pronunciation

Or Ha vee ay (broadly) which I believe is the Spanish pronunciation

Hav-ee-ay or Hav-ee-air

Like saviour with a Z

Zav-eee-eh

In my head I read it the French way, but the only person I know with Xavier in their name (a middle name) pronounces it like ex-saviour.

American

From my childhood, would have thought Ex-ave-ee-er.

Later in life (having studied Spanish and travelled more), Hah-vee-ayr.

(recognising that Javier is probably (?) d
a different name)

Some people say ex-ay-vee-ah with the emphasis on the ex.

Dellacucina - Im Xavier is the Catalan version of Javier (or vice versa!) And as PP said, X is pronounced 'ch' so I would also assume Chabier

No, they said "Gsy" not "Zy..."

No, they said "Gsy" not "Zy..."

That's a soft Z , surely?