# Aurelia - how do you pronounce it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476 "2005-03-20T22:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@kka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kka)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/1 "2005-03-20T22:33:19Z")
I’m giving a presentation tomorrow and have no idea how to pronounce this name - Aurelia. Does anybody know? I’m pronouncing it A-real-ya, but have a feeling this is wrong. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/2 "2005-03-20T22:43:17Z")
\Au_re"li_a Aw-real-ia ?? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/3 "2005-03-20T22:45:00Z")
or Aw-ray-lia…? ---
**Author:** ![IGJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/igjoe/32/5420_2.png) [@IGJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/4 "2005-03-20T22:46:38Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > or Aw-ray-lia…? That’s how I’d pronounce it too. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/5 "2005-03-20T22:58:37Z")
All my friends named Aurelia have preferred oh-REE-lee-uh. Don’t know if that’s the official pronunciation, but it’s what they like to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/6 "2005-03-20T23:01:48Z")
I’m not sure how the classical Romans would have pronounced it - possibly something like Ow-Rayl-ia But I know a woman called Aurelia and she prefers Or-reel-ia ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/7 "2005-03-20T23:08:41Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > All my friends named Aurelia have preferred oh-REE-lee-uh. Don’t know if that’s the official pronunciation, but it’s what they like to hear. I’d have to agree with **Ethelrist** , except that I’d hear an “Aw” rather than his “oh” for the first syllable. This reminds me, however, of the old joke of the days when local passenger trains were in operation, and two conductors disagreed on the proper way to pronounce the name of the town Eurelia. Both had that twang that makes the final -a sound come out as a mild -ar sound. Failing to agree on how to say it, they decided that, when the time came for one of them to walk through the train announcing the imminent stop, both would, each calling out “Eurelia!” in his preferred pronunciation. This led to some passengers reporting them as having had a loud argument throughout the length of the train, as they passed through, the first one calling out “You’re a liar!” and the second following and calling out “You really are!” ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/8 "2005-03-20T23:19:23Z")
Whose name is it? Is it a person, a place, or a thing (e.g., ship)? If it’s a place, look for a pronouncing gazetteer at your local library or a nearby university’s geography department. If a person, find someone who knows that person or the family. If no one alive or locatable knows or knew this person, then it’s a moot point anyway. If a thing, such as a ship, locate someone associated with the thing or with a facility connected to it. I would pronounce it Aw-REH-lee-ya, but that is a Latinate pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/9 "2005-03-20T23:39:12Z")
There’s a little town in NW Iowa named “Aurelia” and we always pronounced it Aw REE lee ah. Actually the Aw was somwhere between Aw and Oh, leaning toward Aw, it that makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/10 "2005-03-20T23:40:50Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > I would pronounce it Aw-REH-lee-ya, but that is a Latinate pronunciation. It’s also mighty close to how ‘Marcus Aurelius’ is usually pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![kka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@kka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kka)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/11 "2005-03-20T23:47:35Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > Whose name is it? Is it a person, a place, or a thing (e.g., ship)? Aurelia Plath was the name of Sylvia Plath’s mother. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/12 "2005-03-21T00:05:16Z")
Ah, that’s a tough one. Contact the library, Women’s Studies program, or English Department at Smith College. They should know. You can contact the library here: libraryweb@smith.edu (413) 585-2902 You should be able to get in touch with the English Dept. or Women’s Studies by calling their main number at (413) 665-2636 and asking to be redirected. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/13 "2005-03-21T00:23:03Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I’m not sure how the classical Romans would have pronounced it - possibly something like Ow-Rayl-ia > > But I know a woman called Aurelia and she prefers Or-reel-ia I have met a woman called Aurelia and she also prefers Or-reel-ia. Wonder if it the same one. ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/14 "2005-03-21T13:55:12Z")
I’ve always thought of my name as ‘aw-reh-li-an’ 😉 In Spanish, there’s Aureliano (_One Hundred Years of Solitude_), and áureo (usually an adjective, from _aureus_ in Latin), and while the accent is on a different syllable, they’re both pronounced ‘aw-reh…’ I would hazard a guess that a more ‘Latin’ pronunciation would have a short ‘e’, while a more ‘English’ pronunciation would have a long one. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/15 "2005-03-22T13:05:11Z")
**kka** , did you find out? I hope you’re still subscribed to this thread and will let us in on the answer. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/16 "2005-03-22T13:27:16Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > There’s a little town in NW Iowa named “Aurelia” and we always pronounced it Aw REE lee ah. Actually the Aw was somwhere between Aw and Oh, leaning toward Aw, it that makes any sense. Wow! You know where Aurelia is? My paternal grandfather was born there and he and my grandma lived there from 1960-1984. I’ve spent many Christmases and happy summer days there. I still have an aunt in Cherokee. So I can back up your pronunciation of the town. I also know a woman named Aurelia who pronounces it the same way. ---
**Author:** ![kka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@kka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kka)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/17 "2005-03-22T21:48:16Z")
I was told it was pronounced Ar-reel-ia, but the first syllable had a slightly o-ish sound to it. Thanks for all of your help. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/18 "2005-03-22T21:51:51Z")
So, how did your presentation go **kka**? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/19 "2005-03-22T22:07:25Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > Wow! You know where Aurelia is? My paternal grandfather was born there and he and my grandma lived there from 1960-1984. I’ve spent many Christmases and happy summer days there. I still have an aunt in Cherokee. > > So I can back up your pronunciation of the town. I also know a woman named Aurelia who pronounces it the same way. I grew up in Cherokee and still have three cousins there. In fact we are visiting there this fall and I’ll play some golf on the Aurelia course with a high school classmate. ---
**Author:** ![kka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@kka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kka)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476/20 "2005-03-22T22:30:37Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > So, how did your presentation go **kka**? It went really well. I’m student teaching and was scared that the class wouldn’t enjoy her poems. I adore them and was really hoping my enthusiasm would carry over. They say that the most important thing is to teach what you love, so that’s what I have been trying to do. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aurelia-how-do-you-pronounce-it/295476.md?page=2)