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.

Odhran is Oar-in .

Mairead rhymes with parade

Rhydian
Is it Ry-dan?

Nevaeh

Rid-ee-ann

Sile

Sile is pronounced Sheela

Síle is Sheila, roughly, but with the second syllable a schwa.

Ottilie
Vivienne
Juliet - JOO-lee-et or joo-lee-ET
Aurelia
Damaris
Thirza
Isolde
Keziah
Leonie
Madeline
Isaiah
Jolyon
Jubal
Lucian
Lachlan
Owain
Thaddeus
Zacchaeus
Zimri

Saoirse is Seer-sha, with the emphasis put more on the first syllable (although I agree with what @LightACandleHoney said above too). It's really an 'eh' sound at the end more than a strong 'a,' sound, if that makes any sense.
Similarly Aoife is Ee-feh.
The letter r in the middle of Saoirse is pronounced and no r is added at the end. I know that can be difficult for some UK accents though.

Alicia

Or exactly what @Dilisk said. Sorry, half asleep here!
@PerditaProvokesEnmity If Bride was an Irish character (haven't read the books) it could be pronounced Breed-ah, which is also spelt Breda. Or the Irish name Bridie is pronounced Bride-ey. (Bride being pronounced as in bride and groom .) They are both derived from Bridget/Brigid. Bríd is the Irish language form, pronounced Breed. Not entirely sure which was the intended pronunciation here though.

@Heygirlheyboy The dh isn't pronounced in Odhran. It's sometimes just spelt Oran, pronounced Oh-ran.

“Evelyn - is it pronounced Eve-lyn or Ever-lyn ?“

Or evlin, just to be awkward...

@Lobsterquadrille2
With the accent on the a (Odhrán) it's Oh-rawn.

Evelyn = Ev - lin
Joachim = Jo-ak-im

I'm in Ireland...is there another pronunciation of Joachim?

I always get Mia and Miya mixed up

Saoirse is definitely pronounced Seer-sha.. And Ciara is Key-ra and Aoife is Eaf(as in leaf) - a

@PerditaProvokesEnmity
I should add that Bríd may also be pronounced as Breej, instead of Breed. It depends on dialect.

We've chosen Cerys for our baby girl due May (my OH is half Welsh). Just wondering if some people are going to struggle to pronounce it as we're in England. Not that it puts me off really.

For a boy I wanted Iestyn - now that would have been very interesting!!!

Duguld - doo- then gull like seagull

Clara could be Clah-rah or Claire- ah
Sara(h) could be Sah-rah or Say - rah

@Thefaceofboe

Ottilie shudder I've really got it in for that name

My mother was Mairead but it was pronounced Maraid.

@wheresthebiffer2 thank you!

Ptlomy

Dougie