# How do you pronounce the surname Jurczyszyn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271 "2006-07-05T22:23:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/1 "2006-07-05T22:23:08Z")
I have a meeting with a Mr. Jurczyszyn tomorrow, but don’t know how to pronounce the name. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/2 "2006-07-05T22:30:39Z")
You could politely ask him. I’m sure he’d rather tell you than have you mispronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/3 "2006-07-05T22:35:54Z")
Walk in, shake hands, and say “hi, I’m (real name here)”, after which he’ll automatically respond in kind. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/4 "2006-07-05T22:36:19Z")
“Smith.” ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/5 "2006-07-05T22:37:35Z")
At first glance, I’d look at it and say it’d be, ‘Yur-cha-zin’, but then **Oakminster** has a better idea anyway. Tripler Mine’s of Polish descent, but way, _way_ easier. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/6 "2006-07-05T22:38:34Z")
Throatwarbler Mangrove ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/7 "2006-07-05T22:40:44Z")
Apparently, it’s pronounced [“something like You-rchishin”](http://experts.about.com/q/656/3752577.htm) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/8 "2006-07-05T22:40:51Z")
As I guess I’d have gone for _Yer-shzin_, with the emphasis on the first syllable - can you give us points for how close we are, once you know? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/9 "2006-07-05T22:48:53Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Walk in, shake hands, and say “hi, I’m (real name here)”, after which he’ll automatically respond in kind. Unfortunately he’ll probably say “And I’m Jim.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/10 "2006-07-05T22:54:43Z")
Jurczyszyn - Now, depending on whether he uses an Americanized pronunciation or not (I have a Polish last name myself, but use an English pronunciation), the Polish way to pronoune it is approximately: yoor-CHIH-shin. Accent is almost always on the penultimate syllable in Polish (with exceptions for certain words of Greek origin). ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/11 "2006-07-06T00:25:04Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > You could politely ask him. I’m sure he’d rather tell you than have you mispronounce it. I will once I am in there - but I’ll need to ask at reception for him first, and I’d like a rough approximation of the name so they will know who I am looking for. The suggestions all seem about the same, so I will go with Yoor-CHIH-shin and see how I get on. Will let you know how he likes to say it when I find out. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/12 "2006-07-06T01:37:55Z")
If it’s Americanized, perhaps it’s Jur-coozy-sizzin. No? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/13 "2006-07-06T02:35:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > If it’s Americanized, perhaps it’s Jur-coozy-sizzin. No? :). I’d guess something closer to “jersey-sin”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/14 "2006-07-06T02:38:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > :). I’d guess something closer to “jersey-sin”. Most likely. I used to know a guy who pronounced his name Kreh-ZEW-sky. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/15 "2006-07-06T13:42:11Z")
The author of the Tightwad Gazette books, Amy Dacyzyn, said her name was pronounced nearly identical to “decision”. So I’d go with “yer-cision”, which looks pretty close to what you already have there. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/16 "2006-07-06T14:44:44Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > The author of the Tightwad Gazette books, Amy Dacyzyn, said her name was pronounced nearly identical to “decision”. So I’d go with “yer-cision”, which looks pretty close to what you already have there. You got a little bit of a different collection of consonants there (and you forgot a “z”). “Dacyczyn” would be pronounced “dah-TSIH-chin” A fast & loose (& approximate) guide to Polish pronunciation: Polish - English sz = sh cz = ch dz = dz (as in the sound made by the final consant cluster in “re **ds** ” rz = zh y = short i i = long i ci = chee (an i softens the preceding consonant if it’s a c, s, or z) si = shee zi = zhee dz = j j = y w = v (or unvoiced ‘f’ at the end of a word or immediately preceding an unvoiced consonant, as in “Krzyzewski”) c = ts (as in “tse tse”) r = rolled “r” There’s are also cees, esses, and zees with accent marks which are pronounced “ch,” “sh,” and “zh,” respectively. (One again, this is approximate. Polish actually has two different types of “ch,” “sh,” and “zh” sounds. You also have two nasal vowels (an “a” and “e” with a tail) which we’ll ignore. Note: the combination “sz” appears in many Hungarian names, too. Beware, though, as in Hungarian “sz” is pronounced as “s” and “s” is pronounced as “sh,” the opposite of Polish. So, “Szabó” (“Tailor”) is “SAW-bow” not “SHAW-bow” or “SHAH-bow.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-surname-jurczyszyn/363271/17 "2006-07-06T16:04:13Z")
Hello, Mr. Jurc - sez - whut. 🙂