# Pronunciation of name "Koch" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422 "2015-01-31T13:06:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/21 "2015-02-01T13:38:27Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > If TPTB will forgive a minor tangent, I was stationed on an island where the big town was named “Cockburn”, which always struck me as a good name for a place where you’d want to be VERY careful about contracting an STD. They pronounced it “Coh-burn” Coh-burn is the normal here for this surname (and “Cockburn’s Port,” which made an advertising point out of it) https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ystoRMJnXQ?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=FLc5yS9Yh_FtbSAsOZQYKskg ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/22 "2015-02-01T20:24:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And the German one, which is like “ko[kh]” with the [kh] representing an “h” like sound, like the “h” in “loch.” It’s near-impossible, for me at least, to pronounce it that way. It’s the other ‘ch’ sound, the one farther back in the throat. The one that you start “Chanukah” with. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/23 "2015-02-01T21:04:00Z")
A few months ago, I met someone with that name who pronounces it Kaw. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/24 "2015-02-01T21:42:11Z")
I heard Sam Koch’s (of the Baltimore Ravens) name mentioned on TV today and it was pronounced cook. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/25 "2015-02-02T04:30:39Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > A few months ago, I met someone with that name who pronounces it Kaw. When you say “kaw” is that different from “kah” to you? ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/26 "2015-02-02T06:40:10Z")
If it’s the Billionaire family, I’ve always thought it was pronounce “Coke”- and it bothered me when people (who should know how to pronounce it) would always refer to them as the “Kochtopuss.” ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/27 "2015-02-02T07:13:03Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > When you say “kaw” is that different from “kah” to you? Yes, of course, because I’m from Maryland, which, like most of the East Coast, does not [merge the “cot” and "caught"](http://dialectblog.com/2011/03/08/the-cot-caught-merger/)vowel sounds. If you are a native of New Hampshire, you’re from one of the few areas in the east that does merge them. Or you’re originally from somewhere out West. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/28 "2015-02-02T12:59:08Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Your location says Milky Way Galaxy. Where was your old home? 😃 > > Another statistic for “Cook”: Kid in my Junior High (1963-1966) class was Koch and pronounced it Cook. Koch means cook in German, therefore those Kochs who pronounce their name “cook” choose to preserve the meaning of their name rather than the pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/29 "2015-02-02T14:25:12Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Yes, of course, because I’m from Maryland, which, like most of the East Coast, does not [merge the “cot” and "caught"](http://dialectblog.com/2011/03/08/the-cot-caught-merger/)vowel sounds. If you are a native of New Hampshire, you’re from one of the few areas in the east that does merge them. Or you’re originally from somewhere out West. Nope, I pronounce them the right way (different from each other). I was just checking which you were. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/30 "2015-02-02T15:28:00Z")
A slightly different example is Henry Bloch, founder of H&R Block. He pronounces his own name like the company name, and he spelled the company name that way because most people pronounced his name as “Blotch.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/31 "2015-02-02T16:06:17Z")
On a related note, I went to grade school with two sisters whose last name was spelled Cocke and they pronounced it “coke”. Later in middle school we got a new student who also spelled her name that way. The teachers would mispronounce it as “coke” and the girl would yell out "it’s _COCK_! ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/32 "2015-02-04T12:31:03Z")
Very informative–to summarize: –Ends in hard “k”: Coke Cock Cook –Ends in soft “ch” “sh” or “ah”: Cotch Coach Cosh Kah, Kaw –German: " …which is like “ko[kh]” with the [kh] representing an “h” like sound, like the “h” in “loch.” " ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/33 "2015-02-04T18:57:28Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > –Ends in soft “ch” “sh” or “ah”: > Cotch > Coach > Cosh > Kah, Kaw Again, “Kah” and “Kaw” represent two different pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/34 "2015-02-04T19:30:18Z")
And somewhere out there, there’s probably someone who pronounces it “Throat Warbler Mangrove.” ---
**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:** [February 4, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/35 "2015-02-04T21:04:25Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > –German: > " …which is like “ko[kh]” with the [kh] representing an “h” like sound, like the “h” in “loch.” " If you want to be precise, in IPA the pronunciation is /kɔχ/. Or you can listen to native pronunciations [here](http://www.forvo.com/word/koch/#de). ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/36 "2015-02-04T21:11:23Z")
In college I knew someone who pronounced it Coaf (rhymes with loaf). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422/37 "2015-02-05T00:06:24Z")
Bill Koch, younger brother to the infamous Charles and twin the infamous David, very definitely pronounced it “Coke.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-name-koch/711422.md?page=1)