How do you pronounce this name?

[CupcakesAllYearLong]

I love the name Naomi, but there doesn’t seem to be a standard pronunciation. I had only ever heard NAY-OH-MEE, but I started questioning if that was actually the proper pronunciation after I heard a Jewish (albeit American) person (as it’s a Hebrew name) pronounce it NYE-OH-MEE. Our first child’s name (Stella) is very simple, so we’ve never experienced any pronunciation or spelling issues before. Also, do you like the name itself? What vibes do you get from it?

I've taught a nay and a nigh. Not helpful but as a kid I had a friend called Ny-oh-me and I am in the NW

I’ve heard both quite often so there is definitely a “how to pronounce” question

I lived in Japan for a while and there would be a different pronunciation altogether there, two syllables rather than three - Now-mi- which is the best IMO.

I'm Scottish and would say Nay. Any Naomis around here are Nay, not Nye

Depends where you are. As a person with this name (nay-oh-mee), it is mostly British people that constantly need correcting and to have it spelled for them. They usually start typing or writing NI or NAI and then get totally lost…so if you live in UK, you might find that a pain. In France, I will get Nah-oh-mee or Noémie (no-ay-mee). I use Mimi as my coffee order name as it’s too much of a pain spelling it every time.

Nay-oh-me with the emphasis on the oh or all three syllables equal. Never heard a Nye sound in it - I'm from SE England.

If you have a rhotic accent I've transcribed that poorly for you - to try another way, NEH uh me with the emphasis on the first syllable (which almost rhymes with air in a non rhotic accent) and an extremely short second syllable.

In England I've only heard it pronounced Nay o me. It might be different in other countries.

Do you mean England as the Scottish, Welsh and NI posters who have stated where they're from all (I think) have said they've only heard it pronounced the other way?

Ive known a few over the years teaching. Most have been Nye some Nay. London area.

The r will be because they have a non-rhotic accent.

Where are you getting "nye" from N-A-O?

I pronounce it as nye but I’ve heard more people say nay

I'm also Scottish and would pronounce it this way

Another Scot going with NYE-oh-me

I’ve never been corrected either and I live in the South East and have a person facing job.

I can think of two friend’s kids with the name. Both are in their mid teens. One family (Scottish) definitely pronounce it the same way as me. Other mother might use Nay-oh-me but hasn’t pulled me up on my pronunciation and she would if it bothered her! I got quite roundly told not to abbreviate another one of her kids names.

It can be said both ways. That puts me of it.

I say Nay-oh-mi.

What about Leoni? That can only be said one way.

I am French speaking and i will pronounce it Na o Me.

Always Nair-me

Nao would be pronounced nye for me. Possibly a celtic thing. I'm not adding in nonexistent sounds though, which nair-me seems to be doing.

Or do you just not pronounce rs, in which case why include it in the spelling of your pronunciation? Why not just spell it nai-me or would you change the sound of nai if there was an r after it but wouldn't actually say the r? I'm genuinely curious.

The only one I’ve known was called ‘nair-me’ by friends and family but accepted ‘nay-oh-me’ from others. She hated ‘nye-oh-me’. South of England, no real accent. To me, ‘nair-me’ (with the r hardly pronounced - almost ‘nai-me’) makes at least as much sense phonetically as ‘nye’ for the ‘Na’ bit!

I pronounce it nay-OH-me. Emphasis on the middle syllable. Grew up in Dublin.

I've heard the other pronunciation too - probably about 50/50 frequency of both pronunciations.

A lot of people with non rhotic accents seem to assume everybody else pronounces the R as a vowel too.

There is no such thing as 'no real accent'.

Everyone has an accent.

Leoni or Leonie can be pronounce in at least two ways.

Lee-OH-nee
LAY-uh-nee

Nay-oh-me to rhyme with say-low-be is x50 more common than the Nigh-O-me

I don't pronounce r as a consonant but it changes the vowel sound. Nair would rhyme with bear, care etc. It wouldn't rhyme with bay (nai would rhyme with bay).
It's probably more like nair uh (very quick) me, emphasis on the first syllable.

It is the difference between rhotic and non rhotic accents, I'm sure there would be youtube videos that explain it much better:)

I’ve googled it and I think the term is ‘received pronunciation’ though from what I read a bit less posh than that 😂 we lived in the West Country but not that far west and people didn’t have a strong West Country accent like Bristolians might do.

I’d say the accent I have is similar across most of the south of England…Berkshire, Wiltshire, London, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire etc. is that Received Pronunciation?

sorry way off topic now 😂