# How do you pronounce aunt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819 "2011-11-23T00:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/21 "2011-11-23T16:17:04Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Here is a [previous poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=571229) I started on the same question. Funnily enough, I was going to start this very same poll yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/22 "2011-11-23T16:22:50Z")
I grew up with “ant” (Ontario), but I think “ahnt” makes a lot more sense, so now I feel a little stupid saying either. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/23 "2011-11-23T16:49:07Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Funnily enough, I was going to start this very same poll yesterday. Typing out the last poll option got me wanting to change the question to [neether](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/File:en-us-neither.ogg) or [nyether](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/File:en-us-neither-2.ogg). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/24 "2011-11-23T17:02:12Z")
Aunt rhymes with font. Pretty much anyone from New England, no matter how little accent they have, will pronounce it that way. Even my cousins who moved south decades ago still say it that way. Aunt as in ant just sounds wrong, wrong, wrong. Except, oddly enough, Aunt Jemima pancake mix. But then, we really say it as if it were one word, without the “t”: ANjeMIma. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/25 "2011-11-23T17:02:12Z")
Ant. Like the bug. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/26 "2011-11-23T17:02:35Z")
The last time – or one of the last times-- this issue was raised, I recall it being pointed out that black culture seems often to dictate the "ahnt"pronunciation. And many if not most of the blacks I knew in West Texas did say “ahnt,” while the whites pretty uniformly all said “ant.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/27 "2011-11-23T17:06:23Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Typing out the last poll option got me wanting to change the question to [neether](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/File:en-us-neither.ogg) or [nyether](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/File:en-us-neither-2.ogg). Good one. I think I use both. And then there are two pronunciations of route. ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/28 "2011-11-23T17:16:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The last time – or one of the last times-- this issue was raised, I recall it being pointed out that black culture seems often to dictate the "ahnt"pronunciation. And many if not most of the blacks I knew in West Texas did say “ahnt,” while the whites pretty uniformly all said “ant.” I’m not sure how widespread this is, but it was true in my own little corner of Kentucky. White side of my family uses “ant”, black side uses “ahnt.” ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/29 "2011-11-23T17:27:22Z")
I grew up in Chicago and say “ahnt”, or “ahnty”. I just realized that if it’s “Aunt (name)” I do change the pronunciation to “ant”, dunno why. edit: Since we’re talking about background, I grew up in a black household and I would say in my experience “ahnt” is more common in black families in Chicago. In Seattle I think everyone pretty much says “Ant” regardless of background. I didn’t have much exposure to white people in Chicago so I don’t know if it’s a white/black thing there. edit2: I would be shocked if I ever heard a black person call their grandma “nana” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/30 "2011-11-23T17:29:35Z")
I’m in the Chicago area so I guess it’s really “Aeeehnt” or something. I’ll go with “Ant” for polling purposes. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/31 "2011-11-23T17:36:47Z")
“Your mother’s sister is coming to visit” ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/32 "2011-11-23T17:39:21Z")
Ahnt. Grew up in New Hampshire. I live in St. Louis, now, so I’m odd. My wife’s family likes to make fun of my pronunciation (they’ll sign e-mail Ahnt Jane and so forth). When we first started dating, she mentioned to one of her cousins that I have ahnts instead of ants, and her cousin replied “Ooh, those are the expensive kind!” A couple of years ago, my wife mentioned to our niece (in New Hampshire) that she has ants instead of ahnts; niece replied “you mean like the bugs that crawl on the ground?” If and when we have kids they are going to be confused, as my sister will be their ahnt, while my wife’s sister will be their ant. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/33 "2011-11-23T17:41:37Z")
Both. If I’m appending it to the name of one of my aunts, it’s ‘ant’. If I’m _saying_ ‘one of my aunts’, it’s awnt. (I voted ‘ant’, because I voted before realizing I do this.) ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/34 "2011-11-23T18:06:28Z")
Ant. Unless I’m referring to a great-aunt or someone else I’ve mostly heard talked about by older, very country people. Then it’s aint. Well, no, that’s actually not quite true. The t gets swallowed, so it’s really more like ain. ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/35 "2011-11-23T18:10:17Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > edit2: I would be shocked if I ever heard a black person call their grandma “nana” 😃 Never heard “nana”, though “mama” happens fairly frequently. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/36 "2011-11-23T18:16:57Z")
In our family it’s generally “ahntie” or sometimes “antie” but has always been the diminutive form. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/37 "2011-11-23T19:27:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Aunt rhymes with font. Pretty much anyone from New England, no matter how little accent they have, will pronounce it that way. Even my cousins who moved south decades ago still say it that way. Aunt as in ant just sounds wrong, wrong, wrong. Ayuh. “Ant” sounds babyish to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/38 "2011-11-23T21:22:31Z")
> [@FlyByNight512](#): > > It varies depending on usage. I use the ‘ahnt’ pronunciation when it’s immediately followed by the woman’s name, but the ‘ant’ pronunciation otherwise. So I have three aunts (pronounced ‘ants’), but my Aunt (pronounced ‘ahnt’) Camille lives the closest. Admittedly I pronounce them with very little difference between the two, my ‘ahnt’ could easily be heard as an ‘ant’. But it’s different in my head, which is what really counts, right? Pretty much this, except there is a noticable difference between Ant and Ahnt. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/39 "2011-11-23T23:40:19Z")
Couldn’t vote because there wasn’t a “both” option, only a “neither” option. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819/40 "2011-11-24T01:10:52Z")
I will write aynt for my pronunciation of both aunt and ant. So I have an aynt Ann (the latter having the pronunciation of the second a in banana. My daughter’s roommate in college from central Mass had an ahnt Aynn. I’m from Philadelphia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/603819.md?page=3)