How would you pronounce Zana ?

[RoseApp]

My friend assumed people would pronounce her child’s name Zana like Zah-nah as in Suzanna but several people have pronounced it as Zar-na

Zah Na

The two I know both pronounce it to rhyme with can-uh. London.

Zah-nah.

Zay na
Or possibly Zah-na/Zahr-na

For it to sound like Suzannah I would have guessed it to be spelt Zanna or Zannah or Xanna maybe. With two Ns like Suzanna, Hannah, Anna, Annabel etc.

Thank you for an the responses. Sorry if I confused things on the phonetic sounding bit but you clearly got the gyst I will pass the comments on.

it seems to be a name used in several languages which I think might cause some confusion. I looked it up and in sound places it is used instead of Jane and in others it’s short for Suzannah.

My friend never mentioned anyone saying Zay-na so that’s interesting ( I personally quite like that one)

If I knew it was a nickname, I'd err on the side of caution with "zanner" (North London pronunciation). If I saw the name as a standalone, I'd go for "zah-ner".

Zay-na

Why are you adding an r?

La-na, Ja-na, definitely not Lar-na or Jar-na. There is no r!

Same here

My Grandaughter's middle name is Zana, in her case it's pronounced 'Zay na'.

Zane-a/Zay-na.

You know the way some boards have a warning above the top about the topic they're in etc?

I think baby names needs one discouraging the use of the letter R when attempting to write names phonetically.

OP I'd guess zah-na but would happily be corrected to zanna-rhymes-with-Hannah, or zay-na.

My first guess would be Zah'na. I agree that to look like Susanna, it needs two ns.

Err, to show how I’d expect it to sound phonically. I’m not sure I understand your question?

Zay - na

Zarna. It would need to be be spelt Zanna for the pronunciation your friend wanted or Zannah, like Hannah

But why would you expect an r sound to be there at all?

It would need to be spelled Zarna to say Zarna!

Anyone inserting an r that isn't there is mistaken!

Zah-na. Zan-na has two n's. Zay-na as in what now?

Because as I said, I have a direct experience of a friend with that name who DID pronounce it like that!

But Bath isn't spelt Barth, Grass isn't Grarss, Castle isn't Carstle etc. @rosesareredvioletsareblueaimverytiredandsoareyou there can easily be an r sound in a word without it actually being there - see also girarffe

Zana with a long A like Zara.

If she wants it to rhyme with Anna it would really need an extra N.