Lysander pronunciation?

[tessdurbyfield]

We really like Lysander, possibly nickname Xander.

However, perplexed as to how it should be pronounced and wondered whether it's regional like bath or barth.

I thought it would be Ly-saRn-der, then Xander pronounced with a similar 'ah' sound as this is how we would pronounce Alexander where we're from (South)

Seems online like many pronounce it Ly-Sand-er, in which case presumably Xander would be a short 'a' sound which doesn't sound right with our accent.

Thoughts?

I would probably say Liss-an-der

I'm English from the south east and I pronounce it Ly-san-der

Lysander is an Ancient Greek name (Spartan, in fact) and quite separate from Alexander. They just happen to have the same ending, like Michael and Raphael or Jonathan and Ethan. The -ander bit comes from the Greek word for man. It's not logical to use a short form Xander for it but there's not a lot of logic in most short forms/nicknames, so go for it.

Midsummer Night’s Dream’s metre suggests
Lie-sand-er with almost equal weight on each syllable - definitely not Lie-SARN-der.

I would say a short "a" for Lysander and a long "a" for Alexander and Xander.

If you're fighting Shakespeare for pronunciation, your child will have a lifetime of correcting people (or being called Lie-Sand-er despite your best efforts)

All the aviation geeks I know pronounce it Lie-SAN-durr. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Lysander

Definitely "sand".
Why not call the child Alexander? It's a lovely name and easily has the shortening you want.

Thanks everyone. An unequivocal answer!

Surely he'd be Sandy for short. If you don't call him that, his mates surely will.

I'm Scottish - short a for Lysander, Alexander and Xander.

I'm a southern RP speaker.
Alexander/Alexandra/Alexandrina- long A
Lysander- short A

Xander when short for Alexander- either is fine, but I'd personally go with short A, as the other short version of Alexander (other than Alex of course) is Sandy. And Xan would be short A.

Xander when short for Lysander- short A:
Xavier/Xav would be short A too.

Xander as a stand alone name, as in the big, toothy, predatory fish-- long A

That's my knowledge of the name, and have only heard the same pronunciation.
Xander or Sandy could be nicknames for this, and for Alexander, although I'd expect most people to assume Xander was Alexander.

I just really can't stand Sandy as a nickname. We've got 5 months to decide so will have a think about the Xander nickname!

Lie-sand-er.

Very similar to Alexander (Alex-an-der). Really don’t understand how you would say Alexander with an R in it at all!!! Have never heard that at all.

Xander I’ve never actually said out loud but I’d just copy the end of Alexander and say ‘and-er’.

(Scottish living in NE England).

Alexander definitely 'ah' sound down here!

Lie sand er.

It's definitely Ly-SAND-er.

I was going to agree with that poster.

If you really like Lysander and want go shorten, what about Zander (to rhyme with sand)?

Its nothing to do with regional pronunciation. Its definitely Ly -SAN-der.

I’m NE and would pronounce it Lie sand er and I would assume Xander was zander.

Lie-sand-er

Lie-sand-er. I was born abroad and move to London 20yrs ago. Now live in SE.

Lice- Under.