# How is last name "Tufte" pronounced? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331 "2016-01-06T16:36:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![birchtree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@birchtree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/birchtree)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/1 "2016-01-06T16:36:27Z")
I’m reading the book **Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style** , by Prof. Virginia Tufte, mother of Prof. Edward Tufte. How is “Tufte” pronounced? tuft…tuf-tee…tuf-teh…? [wikipedia’s International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) isn’t displaying in my browser] ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/2 "2016-01-06T16:40:12Z")
I have seen that last name before, and I believe it is pronounced tuf tee ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/3 "2016-01-06T17:49:43Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I have seen that last name before, and I believe it is pronounced tuf tee That (or maybe closer to ‘tuft ee’) is how I thought it was pronounced. Though I can’t particularly remember how anyone pronounced it when I saw him speak, I assume that if had been pronounced differently, I would have remembered that. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/4 "2016-01-06T18:32:22Z")
Most likely it’s from Norwegian where it would be pronounced something like Toofteh. In my experience the Americanized pronunciation is Tuftee. (My own last name is similar and I have distant American cousins.) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/5 "2016-01-06T21:47:16Z")
Phone somebody at random with that name (do a google lookup) and ask them. There was an old ballplayer named Cliff Cravath, and in response to a message board query, I phoned a very nice lady in California whose husband was related to him, and she told me how she pronounced it. (But I’ve now forgotten, so don’t ask me.) People are actually pretty nice. ---
**Author:** ![dataguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/6 "2016-01-06T22:44:39Z")
I’ve met him. It’s pronounced: tuf-tee ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/7 "2016-01-06T22:58:14Z")
> [@dataguy](#): > > I’ve met him. It’s pronounced: tuf-tee When I was a kid [I was in his club](http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41331000/jpg/_41331850_tuftybadge.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/8 "2016-01-06T23:35:02Z")
It’s pronounced tuf tee. Or tuft. Or throatwobbler mangrove. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-last-name-tufte-pronounced/742331/9 "2016-01-07T03:30:48Z")
My father and his brother pronounced our last name differently. So you’re going to have to ask Prof. Tufte. Then, for good measure, you’ll have to double-check with the other Prof. Tufte.