How would you pronounce Brontë?

[Bronteeorbrontay]

Just that really. If you met a Brontë or Bronte, how would you automatically pronounce it?
Is it awful?
I quite like it. I always assumed it was Brontay but online I keep finding people are pronouncing it Brontee. I actually quite like both but I'd want to pick the one that is most commonly used.
We are not set on this name, but I've already got three kids and really struggling to find a name I don't associate with another child we know or a member of our huge family!

Bron Tay. Just how I’ve always heard the surname. The umlaut is what causes the eee sound in Chloë for example so makes sense people pronounce it the other way.

I think BronTay is possibly just the surname.

Only if they were from Sheffield!

There's no umlaut in Chloë, @GoldenCupsatHarvestTime .

It’s not an umlaut. Nor does it make an e sound.

Then what is the double dot you’ve written? Generally when correcting someone it’s good manners to explain the fault not just tell them they’re wrong.

OK… then what is it and what DOES it do? Gosh people are so rude these days. Imagine just saying ‘WRONG’ without explaining why it’s wrong so we can all learn something.

@GoldenCupsatHarvestTime , it's a diaeresis. Had you read the thread you'd have seen a few pp saying this.

Gosh people are so rude these days. Yes, they are. Rude and ignorant.

I have only just realised that I pronounce it differently depending on whether it’s a Christian name or surname!

So first name Bronty, like the beach in NSW
Surname Brontay (Charlotte etc)

I am sorry I don’t love Brontay as a first name and I think a lot of people will pronounce it Bronty and you will be forever correcting them a La “Boookaaaay”.

I think I've decided that if we do go for Bronte, we will pronounce it Bronty, not Brontay. If people say Brontay it wouldn't bother me as it's a nice name either way.
But to be honest this thread has probably pushed it off the top spot!
I do think it's possible to overthink a name though. When someone tells me their child's name I just say 'lovely' and move on. So I'm wary of over analysing it to the point of just choosing a really safe name that I don't even like.

@Bronteeorbrontay , I'd try each name with the surname. Some combinations work and some don't.

I would say Brontay but the ë means the E should he pronounced so it should actually be Brontee…. But the more I look at the more I’m thinking brontay actually sounds wrong

Bron Tee

Every day is a school day. Until this thread I had never heard of the Brontee pronunciation. Don’t like it now that I have.

I say it more Bront-eh, emphasis on first syllable. And definitely not -ay or -ee.

I think most people from the area pronounce it 'Bronti'

I know two.

One is 33, pronounced Bron-tay.
One is 6 months old, pronounced Bron-tee.

I’d always default to Bron-tee because of the diaeresis, but wouldn’t be surprised if they told me they pronounced it Bron-tay and then adjust my pronunciation accordingly.

😂

In the U.K. and if basing it on the Bronte sisters, then it’s Brontay. However, im sure I read somewhere in a biography that the ‘correct’ pronunciation is in fact ‘Brunty’ but father Bronte thought the Bronte pronunciation more refined. Any Bronte scholars here to keep us right?

I think it’s a lovely name.

Wasn't the Brontë surname just made up by the Brontë sister's dad anyway? In which case pronounce how you like!

If you want 'Bront-ee' I would go with Brontë (the e is said separately like Chloë) if you want 'Bront-ay' I would go with Bronté.

That’s not right, no. Patrick Brontë was born with an Irish name that was usually anglicised as O’Brunty or Prunty. At Oxford, reinventing himself as an Anglican clergyman, he changed his name to Bronte or Bronté — spelling variable, probably in tribute to his hero, Nelson being made Duke of Bronte. Juliet Barker, the biographer, suggests he may have come to use the diaresis because of a typo on the cover page of his first book. But it’s certainly what he used by the time he married and had children, and what they always used.

Bront-ee/eh like the Brontë family.

I definitely wouldn’t call her O’Brunty or Prunty.

UK here. It’s Bront-ee for me. Do not like Bront-ay.

Bront-e(h) for me, but I’d obviously go with whatever the person preferred.

Would it still need the ë nowadays? I’m thinking Zoe, Chloe, Eloise are so well known that they don’t need their ë or ï.