# How to Pronounce Mayim Bialik's Name **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643 "2014-05-04T16:14:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/1 "2014-05-04T16:14:02Z")
Is it MY-im, or my-EEM? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/2 "2014-05-04T16:26:15Z")
MAH-eem, I think. (It’s Hebrew for “water”) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/3 "2014-05-04T17:58:59Z")
Mah-yim. Yes, it’s Hebrew for “water”. There was a song we had to sing about it in Sunday School. They made us do a folk dance while we sung it too. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/4 "2014-05-04T18:20:03Z")
doesn’t matter what the word means. It’s her name; she can pronounce it however she wants to. The real question should be how does _ **she** _ pronounce it. I could spell my name w-a-t-e-r and pronounce it like “waiter” if I wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/5 "2014-05-04T19:06:31Z")
OK, now that’s been settled, how do you pronounce her last name? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/6 "2014-05-04T19:14:00Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > OK, now that’s been settled, how do you pronounce her last name? I attended school with a couple Bialiks, and, IIRC, they pronounced it “BY-lik” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/7 "2014-05-04T19:28:52Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > OK, now that’s been settled, how do you pronounce her last name? Mayim Bialik (/ˈmaɪəm biˈɑːlɨk/, my-im bee-ah-lik) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/8 "2014-05-04T20:58:41Z")
Accent on the “a” in both names! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/9 "2014-05-04T21:15:05Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Mah-yim. Yes, it’s Hebrew for “water”. There was a song we had to sing about it in Sunday School. They made us do a folk dance while we sung it too. Your Sunday school had you sing songs about Mayim Bialik? I mean, I enjoyed Blossom too, but… ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/10 "2014-05-04T22:01:51Z")
I’ve always pronounced it as “B-L-O-S-S-O-M”. After she got fat, I pronounced it “F-A-T-B-L-O-S-S-O-M.” I still refer to the dude on Breaking bad as Malcom’s Dad, now all my friends are doing it. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/11 "2014-05-05T03:22:25Z")
We used to have to watch Channel One news every morning. Actress in question was on and explained her name and pronounced it for everyone. What Telemark said, if I remember correctly. 'Twas fall '93 or '94. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/12 "2014-05-05T13:43:28Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Mayim Bialik (/ˈmaɪəm biˈɑːlɨk/, my-im bee-ah-lik) The OP’s question was which syllable to accent. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/13 "2014-05-05T15:09:49Z")
If the question was prompted by the fact that most Hebrew words are stressed on the last, or in the case of some four-syllable words (unusual in Hebrew) second to last, “mayim” (water) belongs to a special class of two-syllable words that are stressed on the first syllable. It’s true that the actress can pronounce her name “Ball peen hammer” if she wants, but the Hebrew word is “MAHY-im.” Jeff probably sung “Mayim LeDavid.” I remember that song. Bialik is a pretty common Ashkenazi surname. It’s also a Polish gentile surname, although it is so strongly associated with Jews, that many Poles who had the name changed it (during WWII, you couldn’t really blame them). “Bialy” is the Polish word for white, and “byelo” is the Russian word. The -k makes it a last name in a declined language. “Bia” is one syllable. Think of it as “Bya,” if that helps. I know some people with the name who spell it “Byalik.” Probably an Ellis Island thing. Again, her name, and she can pronounce it “Bagel with lox,” if she wants, but all the people named Bialik I personally know are “BYA-leek.” Usually, the Yiddish word for white is “veiss,” but I have heard people say “byeli” for specific meanings of white. Usually Russian Yiddish speakers. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/14 "2014-05-05T15:14:28Z")
> [@Wojciehowicz](#): > > You say it like it’s spelled! … ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/15 "2014-05-07T13:14:16Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > doesn’t matter what the word means. It’s her name; she can pronounce it however she wants to. The real question should be how does _ **she** _ pronounce it. > > I could spell my name w-a-t-e-r and pronounce it like “waiter” if I wanted to. I’ve heard it said in interviews by castmates, who would assumedly say it the way she would. The first syllable gets the accent, just as everyone else is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-mayim-bialiks-name/687643/16 "2014-05-07T13:40:37Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Mah-yim. Yes, it’s Hebrew for “water”. There was a song we had to sing about it in Sunday School. They made us do a folk dance while we sung it too. > [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Your Sunday school had you sing songs about Mayim Bialik? I mean, I enjoyed Blossom too, but… This was in the early 60s. I guess after you spend a couple weeks on a kibbutz digging irrigation trenches, when the water begins to flow and green stuff begins to appear, you sing a song and do a folk dance about water.