There’s a guy on the Montreal Canadians with the last name of “Spacek”, but he doesn’t pronounce it like Sissy (“Space-eck”), but as “Spot-chek”. Can’t grok that for the life of me.
I used to pronounce Sissy’s name that way when she was an ingenue. Probably heard other people saying it saying like that too–makes as much sense as the way she actually pronounces it.
I have a friend with the last name Garcia. He pronounces it ‘Garsha’ with accent on the front of the word. It’s almost two syllables but not quite.
I know another fellow with the last name Jordan, but he pronounces it ‘Jurrdn’, in a very affected manner.
The hockey player is from the Czech Republic, and pronounces his name in (more or less) his native language’s fashion. That little mark over in the “c” in Jaroslav’s last name is called a haček, and imparts a “ch” sound in that situation.
Depending on which branch of the Coggeshall family you’re from, you may pronounce your surname either “cog-a-shawl” or “cog-sell”.
The Theismann clan pronounced the name “theez-man” until Joe became a star quarterback at Notre Dame, at which point Fighting Irish boosters began saying “thize-man” to rhyme with Heisman, as in the trophy given to the top major-college football player of the year. Now Joe even says it the historically wrong way (at least relatively recent history – in German, the “long i” sound would be featured in the first syllable).
I once had a boss named Melanie.
She insisted it was pronounced Mel AHHHN ie.
We used to have someone at our church who was a cousin of Brett Favre (American football player, for our non-US brethren). Brett pronounces the name “Farve”, while the local cousin pronounced it “Fav-ray”.
It’s FRAHNK en STEEN!
My maiden name is Waring pronounced like Wareing, but I’ve heard it pronounced as Warring.
I know a RYEord’n and a ReeORd’n, both spelled Riordan.
I went to school with a Taliaferro pronounced Tolliver. Later I encountered a coworker with the name. Aha, I know how to pronounce that. Wrong. She pronounced it TAHliaFAREuh.
I also knew some Luccis. Some of them were Luckies and some of them were Loosies, but none of them were Lootchies (like the actress). They were related, except there was something fishy about it, one of them (I forget which) said it was actually a Polish name, and the other side thought it was Italian.
And then there is Smythe, with a long I, and Smythe, pronounced Smith.
My grandmother had a friend named Daugherty, pronouced Dottery.
And a Des Plaines who pronounced it Delplane.
People get to pronounce their own name however they want. I sure resent it when people tell me I’m pronouncing MY name wrong.
One of my old housemates from university has the surname “Bak” (actually, two of them do now, as they got married!).
They pronounce it “Back”, but it’s the same Polish name as this fellow, so I now make a point of calling them “Mr and Mrs Bonk”.
Don’t forget the fellow on Comedy Central named Stephen Colbert (pronounced Col-bert like Ernie’s buddy on Sesame Street) who plays a fake news commentator called Stephen Colbert (pronounced Col-bear like the hibernating mammal).
“It’s FrankenSTEEN!”
Melissa Gilbert of Little House on the Prairie and Ranger’s Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert (pronounced “jill-BERH”).
I share my name with one of the country’s leading skin specialists.
While I pronounce my name as spelled - i.e. Mr Raymond Luxury Yacht (the “q” is silent, as in “fox”) - he uses the alternative pronunciation of “Throat Warbler Mangrove”.
It sounds like Michele Norris on NPR pronounces her name “NEE-Shell” to me. I just looked her up and it is spelled “Michele,” which I’ve always heard pronounced just one way.
My experience with this name came when I was a radio announcer reading local news. I tried the “obvious” TAHliaFAREuh and my boss, who had written the piece, stormed into the control room with, “You idiot! That’s Tolliver!” My meek reply was, “You should have spelled it that way then.”
A similar brouhaha came over Bethshears being “buh-Sheers.”
In Alabama, as often as not, Marion is May-run, and Jordan is Jur-dun.
I friend was nee St. John, pronounced Sinjin.
There was a local family “Featherstonehaugh” which actually pronounced the name the way it’s spelled; but the more common pronunciation (in the UK) is “Fan-Shaw.”
In the South, they pronounce “Beauchamp” as “Beechum.” Others use the French pronunciations: “BOH-shamp.”
My brothers and I pronounce out last name differently. It’s a simple one syllable name, but it’s frequently misprounced. My brothers pronounce it the “mispronounced” way, kind of a “Hell, whatever” attitude. I imagine a lot of last names get changed that way. I knew a guy in high school with the last name Doucet, pronounced “DOW-set.” His ancestors probably just got tired of saying, “No, dammit, it’s ‘doo-SAY!’”
My brothers think my pronouncing our last name the way I do is a laughable affectation. But it’s my last name, dammit.
I once went to camp where there were three girls named Megan, except one pronounced it MEE-gun, one MEH-gun, and one MAY-gun.
The beast with two Baks!
When he first came on the scene as an actor it took a while to figure out that Joaquin Phoenix was pronounced “wa-KEEN” and not “JO-a-quin”.
So when I saw basketballer Joakim Noah’s name for the first time I thought it was definately “wa-KIM”. But when I heard the sportscasters apparently it’s pronounced “JO-a-kim”.
I know two unrelated people with the surname Hui. One pronounces it “hwee”, the other “hway”.
I also know two unrelated people with the surname Baade. One pronounces it “BAH-duh”, the other “BAY-dee”.