Baby names you wouldn't choose because of regional accents

[bez91]

Just for fun really... no offence intended!

Is there any names you think sound better in a certain UK accent and if you'd avoid using them because they sound awful in some accents?

Example. We live in the midlands and did quite like the name Leo, it would just be that pronounced short and sweet however in-laws are from West Yorkshire who stereotypically like to hold onto their o's. So it would be Lee-oooooooooooooo

I also think Rafe sounds the best in a north east accent!

Interested to hear more!

DD has a BFF called Natasha and she totally rocks her name and she's the most dotey child ever. I couldn't think of a bad word to say about her. She's cheeky, smart, big reader and a great cook plus really polite and engaged.

But we are from Belfast and it sounds totally shite in a Belfast/Milly accent. So rough. Not where we live now phew... NAAAAITAIIIISHAAA - yuck.

I really liked Cara or Cora for a girl but in our accent, broader speakers roll their Rs and I wouldn't have liked the sound of it.

I think Cara and Cora are prettier with rolled 'r's. As a Scot living in England I avoided names with an 'r' after a vowel because I knew the English would mangle them. So, e.g. we avoided Kirsten (which I adore) because I hate how it becomes KUHHH-sten like they are shitting themselves.

@lalafafa

anything beginning with H in Yorkshire, would be dropped.

Maybe if the only people speaking are 60+

Anything ending in a. It becomes "uh".
Ella = Ell-uh. Like a guttural stop

I'm from the North East. Natalie would be pronounced Na a Lee here which put my mam off using it (as well as the baby being a boy!)

Also certain areas pronounce Ian as Een.

@CountFosco it's similar to Scottish in that way but with longer vowels like the north east so it would just sound like a nasally quack in my accent. Caaaaa'rruh.

I went to school with a few Na uh lees.

And a few Smamfers

London here. Anything ending with -er is out.

Sarah is pronounced Suuuurrruh in my accent, which isn’t as pretty. And Sophie is Sorpheh.

@1940s I've worked with a lot of people from Dundee and not one has ever called me "I am"

The Dundee thing - 'Emma fan of a peh - I'm a fan of a pie'

Yes, Carl is a difficult one. Also, where I am an A at the end of a name could be pronounced uh. So Freya could be Frey-uh.

I know someone scottish whose surname is Carle.I thought it was Carroll unil I saw it written down

CorianderLord certainly not in my area

Sharon in Dublin - Shardden.

Scarlet's not a good one here either.

A lot of names sound strange in a Northern Irish accent. Especially Howard which sounds like Hard!

My family’s from a part of the country where they all say “our” in front of people’s names. Not that I’d use it anyway, but it would certainly rule out Saul.

I really like Orla but DH and his family would pronounce it as Awwla and I don't like that as much.

I also like Cara as Tara but DH and family would pronounce them be like Caara or Taara and I don't like that as much.

Our requirements are Irish names that English people can pronounce first time they read it but that don't sound crap in a non-Irish accent. It's tough!

Violet. I live on South Yorkshire border.

A girl in DS’s class at primary school had a sister called Betty. One day she came out of school and said “oooh Be-eh your new shoes are beautiful!”

The hard k in the scouse and some Irish accents makes Michael, Jacob and similar names sound very different. I actually prefer these names in that accent though!

Jennifer in a Bristolian accent comes across as Jennay-furr.

@Yamashita40

I'm from the North East. Natalie would be pronounced Na a Lee here which put my mam off using it (as well as the baby being a boy!)

Also certain areas pronounce Ian as Een.

Natalie in a Glaswegian accent is awful too. I was convinced I was having a girl and we were both happy until I overheard, at around 8 months a "Na a Lee"

Aoife. Not because we'd pronounce Aoife differently, but because 'E for' would sound exactly the same in the local accent. E for elephant.

@CountFosco

I really liked Cara or Cora for a girl but in our accent, broader speakers roll their Rs and I wouldn't have liked the sound of it.

I think Cara and Cora are prettier with rolled 'r's. As a Scot living in England I avoided names with an 'r' after a vowel because I knew the English would mangle them. So, e.g. we avoided Kirsten (which I adore) because I hate how it becomes KUHHH-sten like they are shitting themselves.

Neither Cara or Cora are Scottish in origin (Cara is of Latin origin, Cora is generally considered Greek), so the English wouldn't be mangling it, just pronouncing it differently to yourselves.

Ariadne is my favourite girls name but wouldn’t really work with my strong West Yorkshire accent (or mine or DP’s surnames, really.) Never mind...