unusual name pronunciation

[ButterRose]

How of curiosity as I'm not pregnant but we are trying and hence the names topic came up... If we like a particular name that we heard pronounced a certain way ie rhyming with: sebastian, tristan or christian, but it is another more popular as a name in another country and almost unheard of here and when it is the 'tian' ending is pronounced shn instead of ti-an... Would we be incorrect to correct people to our preferred pronunciation would the name cause to much grief to others, ourselves and our future son/daughter? I'm happy to share the name but wanted honest opinions first...

I’m confused because in English I pronounce all your example names with an unstressed final syllable (like shn is). Eg Suh BAS djn, TRIS tn, CHRIS djn.

You can ask people to pronounce it however you like. But correcting people will get very dull very quickly.

I liked Christiaan, which in my mother's country is pronounced "Chris-ti-AAAN" rather than how the name of the religion is pronounced in the UK. I had a DD, bit if I had a DS I would have hesitated due to the potential pronunciation issues.

If how it is pronounced by others is going to bother you then don’t use it. People mispronounce or miss say even the simplest of names - Maria is a good example, I have heard it said 10 different ways but it’s a simple name.

I think all those examples could be pronounced with shn too. I'd go with your preferred name but only if you are not too bother about correcting people...

I agree on the pronunciation of Chris-ti-AAAN that is how I personally say all those names but I guess that is just my up bringing I always try to clearly and cleanly pronounce everything I love how proper they sound like distinguished gentlemen in a club... I'm not so worried about those close to us as most would like myself and husband pronounce it as we would but as a grown adult or a kid in school would our child end up hating us for constantly having to repeat their name.

The name I'm thinking is Gentian for any who are interested, we would pronounce it gen-ti-an as that is how we first heard and loved it and I personally love the nature meaning as well and the cute nickname Genti. What are your first impressions of the name on seeing it?

I would pronounce that as Gen-shn. It is a very lovely violet coloured flower.

It's a flower and it's pronounced (give or take) "jenshun" in English.

It's a flower. Gentian Violet.

When I first heard it I didn't know what it meant and had never seen nor heard it before but after looking it up I found the flower connection which is a plus to me as I've always had a preference for nature names I'm just fussy on the pronunciation I guess we will have to decide if it's worth the constant correction or just leave it off the list. Thankyou everyone for the help 🙂

I think most people who know the word would go for JENshun, rather than JENteeann, so I suppose it's whether it's well known enough for you to end up constantly correcting people.

(I think it might be - it's still a very pretty name, though, even as JENshun!)

I would pronounce Gentian as Gent-ee-an
with the emphasis on the first syllable.

I would’ve pronounced it how you are op

I’d pronounce it gent-ee-an as I’ve never heard of the flower. It’s a lovely name but yes people will probably need help pronouncing it.

I don't think people will need any help pronouncing Gentian

They can say Gentle, Genteel, Gentility etc so why not Gentian?

I'd say it Djenshn, and would expect a female person

Christian I say as Krisd-yun, Sebastian as Seb-asdi-un

I'd say it Djenshn

You get that from Gentian - Gen tee an?!

I'd pronounce is Jen-shun.

I think the name might be a bit of a pain for a kid being brought up in the UK. A lot of people won't have heard of it and the ones that are familiar with it won't pronounce it in your preferred way.

English is weird, isn't it?! I would say Chris-tee-ann, but would pronounce Gentian as Jen-shun.

I pronounce it JEN shn. As I know the flower

I'd pronounce it jen-shun but lots of people might not know whether to go for a hard g sound gent-ee-yun or gent-shun

It looks a bit like the word genitals too, tho I guess kids can find something to make fun of in any name.

It's a little like insisting Fuschia be pronounced the German way, possibly an uphill battle.

Oh dear, or even Fuchsia.