Is there such a thing as Creative Pronunciation, and isn't it a bit...

[Mahauld]

...mad?

I mean where people use pronunciations they have decided on which are obviously wrong.
Is it really bad manners to correct them and isn't is just 'creative' pronunciation.
Or is it acceptable to make-up your own pronunciation as some make-up names?

[GoldenSnitch]

My sister teaches a See-oh-ban! Poor kid

I considered Caoimhe as about-to-be-born-DD's middle name but it would never be pronounced properly so we ditched that idea.

She'll get Emily instead

[NancyDrewRocks]

Just remembered I knew a "nim" (Niamh)....

[norfolkBRONZEturkey]

hmm I have a Jme ok he has more vowels but I'm going to start being lazy

[Greensleeves]

Vivia, I regret to inform you that you are

a) wrong

and

b) really rather obnoxious about it

I double take at some names, but I think to "correct" a parent or deliberately use your own preferred pronunciation is just horrible.

[Buda]

A cousin was a nurse at a children's hospital in Dublin. He came across some good ones. Pocahantas. Not sure I have spelled it correctly but who cares?

Best was a "Wivony". Spelled Yvonne.

[SoupDragon]

I agree with Greeny.

[Greensleeves]

pmsl

[bellissima]

Thing is, some 'creative' pronunciations are indeed, like Lucia, dependent on country or region. I'm thinking of the Renee (Ren-nay or Re-knee) thread on here. Try going to Yorkshire having been called Renee as in 'Renay' and you'd forever be correcting the locals (who would deem you to be a bit up your own wotsit).

And I'm afraid when I first came across a Siobhan at school I thought it was Cyo-barn.

[SoupDragon]

[sweetsherry]

Vivia's not wrong. I'm Scottish too, Catriona is pronounced ka-TREEN-a.

[Greensleeves]

By you. Not by all Scottish people.

[QueenOfFlamingEverything]

Oh this reminds me, I was on another paenting site a while back and they had a thread running about how annoying it was when people couldn't pronounce perfectly normal baby names.

The OP had a baby called Asia Mae.

And she was pissed off because people pronounced it wrong, and she didn't understand why, because she pronounced it 'as it was spelt' - Ass-ee-ya Mae.

[MaggieNollaig]

I went to school with a girl called Susan. At school she spelt it Suzin, which was half way towards being a bit mad. But now, instead of shortening it to Soo, she has become Zin. On her facebook she is Zin. HOW do you get Zin out of Susan. She must have really hated having an ordinary name!!

[inveteratenamechanger]

Catriona is pronounced Cat-ree-uh-na in Ireland. So there.

Sweetsherry and Vivia, you are completely wrong. (And Vivia, you come across as a bit of a cow in that post - sorry.)

[sweetsherry]

ok, Catriona is pronounced Ka-TREEN-a by all Scottish people who know how to spell+pronounce the name properly. End of.

Or are we suggesting SEE-O-BAN is a legitimate way to say Siobhan? It's the same argument.

[allaboutme]

I've come across a Sian pronounced Sy-ann and also one pronounced the usual way but spelt Sharn!

[shonaspurtle]

lol sweetsherry.

Actually, Catriona is pronounced Catree-oh-na by all gaelic speakers and Katreena is the anglicised pronounciation, so completely the opposite.

But you're just having a joke I know

(It is of course fine to use the Katreena pn, most people do)

[Buda]

sweetsherry - I will accept that a lot of Scottish people pronounce Catriona as Katreena. But why do you think it has an 'o' in it? It is a Gaelic name. The Gaelic pronunciation is Cat-ree-uh-na. The Anglicized pronunciation is Katreena.

[sweetsherry]

Oh well, you learn something new every day.

In Scotland, If someone said to me their name was Cat-ri-OH-na, I'd be embarrassed for them.

[UpsyOne]

Digressing from Catriona and Siobhan to surnames for a moment.

I have known people with the surnames Anger and Death.

Anger totally changed the pronunciation to make it sound like Angel replacing the L with an M - got very cross when I replied but your name is spelt Anger.

Death changed the pronunciation to Dee - arth.

Give it up! If you don't like your name then change it.

[Greensleeves]

What about the posters who say that in their area it's pronounced with the "o" sound?

Are they idiots, or lying, or delusional?

It amazes me how some people mistake their own perceptions for fact. As social impairments go, I would say that that was more embarrassing than pronouncing a name differently.

[Buda]

sweetsherry - it is not really pronounced Cat-ri-OH-na - but Cat-riuh-na. The 'riuh' is quite fast.

[inveteratenamechanger]

Sweetsherry, to be honest, I'm embarrassed for you.

[MamaLazarou]

Mad Bad Tinsel person: Kate-Lynn started life as Kat-leen.

They should spell it Kate-Lynn if they're going to pronounce it that way.

[shonaspurtle]

The Catriona I know puts the emphasis at the "tree" sound iyswim. But it's soft and subtle and not easy for English speakers and ears, hence Katrina.