# People you've known whose names were pronounced strangely **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374 "2011-07-17T20:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/21 "2011-07-18T05:55:47Z")
A British friend spelled his name, “Featherstonehaugh.” He pronounced it “Fanshaw.” ---
**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 18, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/22 "2011-07-18T06:09:46Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > All right, how come “Nguyen,” pronounced as “Win,” isn’t just spelled “Win”? Or Wynn, or Winn? > > I mean, it had to be translated from Vietnamese, right? Which has a different alphabet. So how does it end up in ENGLISH as “NGUYEN” is this some French thing? [Here is how Nguyen](http://inogolo.com/pronunciation/Nguyen) is pronounced in Vietnamese. Click on the second link. (I have no idea what the heck that first US English pronunciation is supposed to be. I’ve never heard anyone say it like _that_.) It is not “win” in the native language. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/23 "2011-07-18T09:11:24Z")
Re: Meagher and Colquhoun. That’s the way they’re supposed to be pronounced in Ireland and Scotland. The OP gives an exception for some native pronunciations but not others? Another Scottish name is Menzies, often pronounced “Mingiz.” You see, the “z” was originally a “ȝ” (yogh), but replaced with z in modern English. The name Koch. In German it’s kox, where x = the ch in “loch.” I have seen this as “cook,” “koch” (ch as in cheese), but never “cock.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/24 "2011-07-18T09:40:45Z")
I have a friend whose name is Kerstin. It’s pronounced “ShasTEEN”. She says it’s Scandinavian. I don’t get it but hey, it’s her name. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/25 "2011-07-18T11:22:07Z")
I have friends who named their daughter Sara - except they insist it be pronounced \*\* Sah\*\*-rah instead of the common pronounciation **Say** -rah… The kid is four years old now, and for the rest of her life will be correcting people’s pronounciation of her name. I think it’s a dirty trick to play, but hey, not my kid. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/26 "2011-07-18T11:48:17Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I have friends who named their daughter Sara - except they insist it be pronounced \*\* Sah\*\*-rah instead of the common pronounciation **Say** -rah.. The kid is four years old now, and for the rest of her life will be correcting people’s pronounciation of her name. I think it’s a dirty trick to play, but hey, not my kid. I would never think to pronounce that in any way different from the name Sarah, which would be “sah-rah”. I’ve never heard the “more common” “say-rah”. Where are you from? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/27 "2011-07-18T11:59:27Z")
Jenna, pronounced as if it were Gina Alyssa pronounced as if it were Alicia Joan pronouned as if it were Joanne The problem with these is that there is an accepted way to pronounce these names, and yet these parents chose a different way. How are the rest of us supposed to know? Sara or Sarah is generally pronounced as Sare-rah. the r sound is in both syllables. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/28 "2011-07-18T12:29:58Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I would never think to pronounce that in any way different from the name Sarah, which would be “sah-rah”. I’ve never heard the “more common” “say-rah”. Where are you from? The U.S. Although about 20 years of my life was spent living in various other countries (not Canada, however.) The friends in question live in the UK. Maybe there’s some sort of Brit/Canadian difference in pronounciation I’m not aware of. I know or have known several Sara/Sarahs, and they’ve all pronounced in “say-rah.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/29 "2011-07-18T12:33:48Z")
“Sah-rah” is more common in the UK\*; “Sare-rah” is more common in the US. Don’t get me started on “Maurice” and “Cheryl”. \*But they do also use “Sare-rah”. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/30 "2011-07-18T12:49:35Z")
Maybe it’s the Philly accent, but around here Sarah is pronounced with a short A in the first syllable (like “cat”) – “Sa-ruh” – or “Serra”. “Say-ra” sounds strange to me. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/31 "2011-07-18T13:07:26Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Beach um” is the standard way to say that in US English. Not in this neck of the woods. Beauchamp is a fairly common name here, and I’ve never heard it pronounced anything but bo - shamp. We get a lot of French-Canadian names up here that you’d never know how to pronounce them from the spelling. Softening of any “d” sound is very common - DesJardins is Jis-jardins, Bolduc is Boljuk, for example. And then you get into the Finnish names, which are dead-easy to pronounce if you grew up with them, but people from out of the area put the emphasis on the wrong syllable. It’s on the first syllable, not the second - Kinnonen is KIN o nen, not ki NON en. Lepponen, Kivela, the same thing. I get mixed up with words that follow that spelling when they’re not Finnish - I always have to think about the pronunciation of Sonoma, for example. It sounds like it should be SON-o-ma in my brain, but I know it’s so-NOM-a. And then there’s the old joke about the Finn who drives an IMP-a-la to work every day. I had a good laugh when Mr. Athena once took a message for me. “Sue Maki” called me and I wasn’t there. When I got home and looked at the note, it told me to give “Sue MacKay” a call back. Took me a while, but then I figured out who it was, and laughed my ass off. There’s about a gazillion Makis around here, it’s a very common name. Only a non-Yooper would assume it was MacKay. It’d be sort of like misspelling the name Jones or Smith in the non-UP world. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/32 "2011-07-18T13:15:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Beach um” is the standard way to say that in US English. yeah, but why? Beauchamp I guess with a silent ‘u’ and silent ‘p’ and an ‘a’ pronounced like a ‘u’ - but I’ve never seen that in any other word. Do you know where that name is originated? Another weird name - the old penis showing Packer QB should be pronounced Fav rey - not farv ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/33 "2011-07-18T13:52:50Z")
Larry Swindle – who insisted his last name was “Swin-DELL” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/34 "2011-07-18T14:01:12Z")
A lot of these “odd” pronunciations are traditional English pronunciations going back to the Norman era – Beauchamp - Beecham Magdelene - Maudlin Featherstonehaugh - Fanshaw Cholmondeley - Chumley St. John - Sinjin St. Clair - Sinclair Fotheringay - Fungy Leominster - Lemster Milngavie - Mulguy Caius - Keys Gateacre - Gattackar Colquhoon - Cahoon Beaulieu - Bewley Mainwaring - Mannering Menzies - Mingiss Urquhart - Urkett Cockburn - Coburn Dalziel - Deal Worcester - Wooster Woolfhardisworthy - Woolsey Ruthven - Rivven Bethlehem - Bedlam Belvoir - Beaver Marjoribanks - Marchbanks Weymiss - Weems The one I can’t get myself to say is to pronounce “Davies” the same as “Davis.” It just seems wrong to me. ---
**Author:** ![HamishBlake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@HamishBlake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HamishBlake)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/35 "2011-07-18T14:15:21Z")
Janet pronounced zha-NAY ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/36 "2011-07-18T14:31:46Z")
Talliaferro - pronounced as Tolliver. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/37 "2011-07-18T14:31:54Z")
Throat Warbler Mangrove. Come on, people! I’ve known two people named Nguyen. One pronounced it Gwen, the other pronounced it New One. Both were born in the US. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/38 "2011-07-18T14:40:51Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > I think “Brauch” in German would be “Browkh” with the glottal /h/ in the back. I see no way to get an “oo” sound from those vowels. You know that. I know that. \*He \*didn’t know that. Or didn’t \*want \*to know that. Which is even harder to overcome. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/39 "2011-07-18T14:44:51Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Talliaferro - pronounced as Tolliver. I can’t believe I forgot that one. It’s one of my favorites. Also – Pepys - Peeps ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/40 "2011-07-18T15:15:19Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I would never think to pronounce that in any way different from the name Sarah, which would be “sah-rah”. I’ve never heard the “more common” “say-rah”. Where are you from? “Say-rah”? “Sah-rah”? We in Southern Ontario would pronounce it “Serra” or “Sairra” (same pronunciation) unless otherwise advised [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374.md?page=3)