# How would this eastern-european name be spelled? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316 "2011-08-27T20:26:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/1 "2011-08-27T20:26:30Z")
When I was young, I had a friend whose last name was pronounced “tah-HAH-check” and I would like to look him up on Facebook or the like, but I don’t know how he spelled it. It was a slavic name, with a lot of consonants and one or two vowels, like ‘tjazgik’ or something like that, but I haven’t clue what the actual spelling was. Do any of our slavic dopers recognize that name? ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/2 "2011-08-27T22:00:34Z")
I’m not Slavic, I just like reading about the histories of surnames and such, but I’m no expert so I could be/am probably wrong. What about this? Tuhacek/Tuháček This is a Czech name and doesn’t fit the description you gave of few vowels, but I think the pronunciation would be similar. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/3 "2011-08-27T22:26:49Z")
I haven’t tried it with a “u”, I will give it a shot. I lost contact with him when I was seven or eight, so I really don’t ever remember seeing it spelled out. My brother agrees on the pronunciation though. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/4 "2011-08-27T23:19:46Z")
Tkachuk, As in the hockey player? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/5 "2011-08-27T23:28:25Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Tkachuk, As in the hockey player? Is that pronounced tah-HAH-check? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/6 "2011-08-28T01:30:07Z")
There seem to be a fair number of Tkachuks on Facebook; just look around until you see one that might be him, is my guess. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/7 "2011-08-29T18:29:46Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Is that pronounced tah-HAH-check? Most NHL [announcers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgdQskHRyV8)- and the player himself - pronounce it “ka-chuck” but that doesn’t mean it’s “originally” pronounced that way; he’s of Ukranian descent, though. I think it would be hilarious if your friend turns out to be Keith Tkachuk. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/8 "2011-08-29T19:16:55Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I think it would be hilarious if your friend turns out to be Keith Tkachuk. Nope. His name wasn’t Keith, and he would be considerably older, 60-65. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-this-eastern-european-name-be-spelled/594316/9 "2011-08-29T21:45:55Z")
It wouldn’t be Tkachuk, in any case; in Ukrainian it’s approximately ka-CHOOK, almost like a fake sneeze.