Names you aren't sure how to pronounce

[whatausername]

Since we're all inside for the foreseeable future...

What are some names you're not quite sure how to pronounce? We'll see if we can help each other. But do take answers with a pinch of salt given the wide variety of accents we all have!

For me: Hebe (hee-bee?) and João leave me feeling uncertain.

@Mummyamy123
Siobhán is Shov-awn or Shoo-awn depending on dialect.

I'd say it's more widely pronounced Shov-awn though.

Aloysius? That one always gets me!

Alo-wish-us!

Jolyon?

Jol-yon

DS is Osian, pronounced Osh-an. A lot of the time he gets call Ocean!

Jolyon is pronounced Joe-li-uhn.

Osh-an is ocean to my ears!

It's osh (rhymes with tosh) uhn. Osh-uhn. So nothing like ocean (rhymes with lotion!)

Osh is like in gosh, tosh or Josh. an is like the an in pan and tan (not pun and tun).
It's spelt Osian and is a popular name in Wales.

Ocean would be like Oh-shun

"It's osh (rhymes with tosh) uhn. Osh-uhn"

No, in Welsh it's an anne sound at the end, not uhn.

OSH-an, an rhymes with can. Spelt Osian. Closely related to the name Oisin.

Stress is on the first syllable unlike Suzanne. cf Daniel and Danielle.

In Powys, where I live, it's always pronounced Osh-un, not Osh-an. Regional variation I expect.

"In Powys, where I live, it's always pronounced Osh-un, not Osh-an. Regional variation I expect."

The Osh-un sound does not make sense in any Welsh speaking accent. It's just an Anglicisation. Ask Welsh speakers in Powys how to pronounce it properly.

As far as I was aware a person called Saoirse had their names pronounced as ‘seer-shah

Yes, that's more or less the correct pronunciation of Saoirse, although not a strong 'ah' sound in the second syllable. More like Seer-shuh, or Seer-sheh, really. The emphasis is on the SEER part of the name anyway.

And Saoirse Ronan pronounces it towas rhyme with inertia!

One of my work colleagues was called Saoirse and the first day I met her I absolutely had no idea how to pronounce it and I called her ‘sor-aha’

Sorry, that was spell check. “Sor-sha”

back to previous page:

Laphroig - a whisky and a place name, not a person's name - is approx "La-froyg" with the stress on the second syllable. That's stretched out a bit; almost - but not quite - "froy-ig". The first syllable 'La' - is a sort of mixture of 'Luh' and 'Lah'.

You can hear it here, along with lots of other Scotch whisky names:

@Heygirlheyboy it’s really unhelpful that Saoirse Ronan said that because it’s basically wrong! It kind of makes sense in her particular accent but it’s definitely Seer-shuh (seer like beer) for most English speakers.

Oh I agree! But I have her heard some Irish parents of Saoirses using the same pronunciation so again maybe regional? In Munster where I am I'd say Seer-shuh

@Heygirlheyboy yeah that’s the way I always thought it was pronounced

Saoirse Ronan's pronunciation of Saoirse, though, varies a lot. I've seen her give an interview saying that Sur-sha (like inertia) is how some people pronounce it in the States and UK, but she used a different pronunciation of the name herself (it was more like the usual pronunciation). It's all a bit confusing.