# Do the surnames Farrell and Ferrell sound the same to you?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-surnames-farrell-and-ferrell-sound-the-same-to-you/584691>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 8, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-surnames-farrell-and-ferrell-sound-the-same-to-you/584691 "2011-06-08T00:46:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-surnames-farrell-and-ferrell-sound-the-same-to-you/584691/61 "2011-06-15T04:38:20Z")

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> [@wheresgeorge04](#):
>
> No, and it drives me bonkers when people write “Will Farrell.” Bonkers, I say!
> 
> Joe

But his bad acting doesn’t drive you bonkers? :eek:

To answer the OP’s question, they both sound the same to me.

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-surnames-farrell-and-ferrell-sound-the-same-to-you/584691/62 "2011-06-15T05:05:09Z")

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> [@wheresgeorge04](#):
>
> I dunno. I live in San Fran also, and know nobody who pronounces any of these similarly.

I don’t know anybody in San Francisco who pronounces them differently :p. Hari ( as in Krishna ) doesn’t rhyme with Harry ( the name, one of my brothers is a Harry ) or harry ( what you do to your enemy ). But the latter two are identical and also rhyme with hairy ( hirsuteness ).

> [@Omega\_Glory](#):
>
> I know that example works for you, but marry, carry, Gary, Larry, Barry Hairy, fairy, Mary, berry, Terry, and Jerry all rhyme to me.

Yep.

So do Carol and peril, Farrell and Ferrell. Also feral :D.

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**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-surnames-farrell-and-ferrell-sound-the-same-to-you/584691/63 "2011-06-15T09:51:01Z")

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It’s the difference in the first vowels of “fat” and “fettle”.

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