How should this name be pronounced.

[WalkingThePlank]

Friend of mine is getting married and is very happy with her new surname of 'Smyth' which is apparently pronounced to rhyme with Tithe. Surely it rhymes with Myth?

Have I got the wrong end of the stick or is she suffering from a case of the Hyacinth Buckets?

Smith. If it's a long 'I' there's an 'E' on the end.

Wouldn't Smythe rhyme with tithe?

Names have to be pronounced how their owners ask you to pronounce them! Standardised spelling is relatively modern, so people ended up with the written version not matching what their family have always called themselves, just because some clerk wrote down a collection of letters that we don't think 'should' be pronounced that way.

I seriously doubt that she's 'poshed up' the pronunciation, as her ILs would surely take the piss....

I went to school with a Smyth pronounced to rhyme with tithe. So I always thought it was the y that made it different to Smith.

It's pronounced Smith - it needs an e on the end ie Smythe to rhyme with tithe

Having said that, she can pronounce her name whichever way she likes - she just needs to prepare for a lifetime of correcting spelling and pronunication.

I know both a Smyth pronounced Smith and a Smyth pronounced Smythe. One is the senior partner of a law firm and the other is a Lecturer in Applied English Usage. They are both eminently well qualified to pronounce their own names correctly

So, basically, it is up to the individual (though I'd expect consistency within a family).

I should think it would be a bit annoying having other people tell you how your name is pronounced, whether you have a degree or not

I used to work with a 'rhymes with myth' but forever got confused and kept getting his surname wrong. Even more embarrassing as I have an unusual first name and get quite cross with repeated errors.

I just stuck to Rob.

The wedding was yesterday. Had an amusing moment during the vows when the vicar twice pronounced it to rhyme with Myth and the groom had to correct him.

Tithe. Of course..

Another vote for tithe here.

Tithe otherwise would be smith!

Rhymes with 'myth'. Obviously.

It's an old name from before standardised spelling, and 'i' and 'y' were often interchangeable because they were pronounced the same.

'Smythe' rhymes with tithe.