# People you've known whose names were pronounced strangely

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/101 "2011-07-20T12:21:26Z")

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One of my supervisors at work is a Thai gentleman who goes by “Tony”, which is spelled “Tone” with a line over the E.

His real name is “Nazareth”. We do not call him as such.

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**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/102 "2011-07-22T01:15:51Z")

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> [@Namkcalb](#):
>
> Ev—Vet

If by “ev” you mean rhyming with “rev,” I’ve never heard anyone pronounce it like this, and I don’t even see how “y” gets pronounced this way.

If by “ev” you mean as in “Eve,” that’s what I meant, and that’s how you pronounce it in French.

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**Author:** ![RoeCocoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@RoeCocoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoeCocoa)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/103 "2011-07-22T20:22:37Z")

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I have a friend who is originally from France and spells her name “Rachel,” but she and most of her friends alternate between calling her “ray-chel” and “rah-SHELL.”

Another friend, West Coast African-American, is named Angel, pronounced “ahn-JELL”

My name is Naomi. My parents pronounce it “nay-O-me,” so I grew up thinking that was the standard pronunciation. But I keep meeting people who pronounce it “nye-o-me,” “nyo-me,” or “NAY-ah-me.”

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**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/104 "2011-07-22T22:46:38Z")

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> [@matt\_mcl](#):
>
> How else would you pronounce Yvette?

Ya-vet  
My first name is spelled Alysia, and because I forget how to write that in IPA, it’s pronounced uh-lish-uh.

I go by Lish.

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**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-youve-known-whose-names-were-pronounced-strangely/589374/105 "2011-07-25T10:46:42Z")

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> [@RoeCocoa](#):
>
> My name is Naomi. My parents pronounce it “nay-O-me,” so I grew up thinking that was the standard pronunciation. But I keep meeting people who pronounce it “nye-o-me,” “nyo-me,” or “NAY-ah-me.”

In my previous workplace, I worked with 2 x Naomis - one of which was Nay-oh-me, and the other Nay-Oh-MY.

Never heard of a Nay-Oh-MY before or since, though I’ve met a few Nay-oh-mes.

Oh me, oh my.

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